Sequatchie County enjoys the convenience of location just 40 minutes from
Chattanooga with the remoteness of being surrounded by greenery and wilderness in
every direction. The area is the ultimate hub for outdoor activity, ranging from some of
Tennessee’s best bike trails to paragliding, rock climbing and hiking. The area’s post-
Civil War history is steeped in coal mining that never quite paid out for industrial scale
harvesting of the material, but the landscape is marked by its influence, regardless.

Located along the Sequatchie Valley National Scenic Byway—a 70-mile mountainous
route that passes through Bledsoe, Sequatchie and Marion counties—this area is
popular among motorcycle and hotrod drives, especially during the Saturday cruise-ins.
The Sequatchie Valley Cruising Tour speeds into a different town in the valley every
weekend from April through December with the Dunlap Cruise-Ins taking place on the
2nd Saturday of every month. Hotrods line up in the lot between Citizens Tri-County
Bank and the Sequatchie County-Dunlap Chamber of Commerce, and the event is free
to attend.

Looking to explore this area of Southern Tennessee more closely? Here’s how to plan a
weekend trip to the Sequatchie Valley.

Day 1 in Sequatchie Valley

Dunlap is the county seat of Sequatchie County and hosts several annual events that
are worth planning a trip around. The first weekend in May is BTC Fiber Valley Fest
while June brings both the bluegrass-infused Coke Ovens Festival and the Songwriter
Festival that, in addition to music, highlights heritage craft-making like iron, wood,
ceramics and food preservation. From mid-April through late-October, the vendors at
Dunlap Farmers Market open their booths under the covered pavilion ever Saturday
morning, as well as on select weekends in winter months.

Have lunch at Cookie Jar Cafe

A working dairy farm in Dunlap is also the site of a sprawling restaurant, the Cookie Jar
Cafe can accommodate families and large groups both inside and out. The eatery
dishes out classic Southern food like country-fried steak, catfish, pork chops, chicken
tenders, potato salad, deviled eggs, green beans and fried dill pickles, for starters.
Chase that down with a bottled soda, sweet tea or domestic beer, but be sure to save
room for the star of the show: a slice of cream pie, a strawberry torte or one of the many
flavors of cupcakes that irresistibility stock the front display case. Large touring groups
can make a reservation in advance.

Go shopping in Downtown Dunlap

For more than a century, the Dunlap Mercantile has anchored the downtown, but the
massive, historic building had fallen into a state of disrepair until locals—with the help of Dunlap-born country music artist Cody Carver—completely rehabbed the 1894 brick
structure, turning it into a museum, hat bar, retail shop and event venue that regularly
hosts songwriter nights. Upstairs is worth poking around if you have the time and
inclination for a flight of stairs to see the tastefully curated period furniture,
advertisements and documents in the mercantile’s vast collection.

In Downtown Dunlap, you’ll also find art studio the Crafty Canary, which regularly hosts
art camps and paint nights; Dolce in Dunlap, a boutique specializing in floral and flowy
women’s clothes; and Natural Affinity, which sells hand-crafted teas, tinctures, soaps
and jewelry. A couple miles south of downtown is the Sequatchie County Veterans
Memorial Park, a granite tribute wall to honor all service members from the area and an
outdoor exhibit that features helicopters, aircraft and Army vehicles.

See the sunset from above the Valley

You can’t leave Sequatchie Valley without seeing the paragliding scene: Dozens of
candy-colored parachutes floating above the valley floor are a regular occurrence due to
the ideal conditions for gliding on the updrafts along the sheer cliffs of the valley. While
you have to be a member to access the facilities at Tennessee Tree Toppers, right next
door is Flying Camp, where you can sign up for a tandem flight or even enroll in flight
school to get your certification to be a solo paragliding pilot. Flying Camp owner David
Hanning allows students to tent or RV camp on his family’s expansive property, home to
the best treetop views of the valley, and invites spectators to come by and watch for
free. Flying Camp has a second flying site nearby in Whitwell.

Don’t have time to go paragliding in Tennessee or make it all the way to the top of the
bluff? You can still enjoy the sunset views from the TN-111 Sequatchie Valley Overlook,
which houses one of the state’s many colorblind viewfinders.

Dine and drink in Dunlap

A couple of home brewers opened Dunlap’s first brewery a few years back to much
excitement: Sequatchie Valley Brewing Co. now serves several of its own beers, as well
as rotating taps of craft brews made elsewhere and gluten-free hard lemonade. They
also whip up a handful of food items like flatbreads and pizzas (both regular and gluten-
free), sandwiches and wraps. Down the road, Andy’s Pizza and Steakhouse specializes
in hearty Italian fare like lasagna and chicken parmesan and has the only salad bar in
town. If you’re a brewery-touring type, 20 minutes away in nearby Pikeville is another
young small business, Bankwalker Brewing Co., that puts its own spin on creating local
fermented beverages.

If you want to forgo the beer for a sweet treat after dinner instead, Udder Yum Ice
Cream Shoppe is open six days a week until well after dark. Looking to continue the fun
in Sequatchie County? The Yard, Dunlap’s open-air music venue, hosts live music most
weekend nights in warmer months.

Where to stay in Sequatchie Valley

Downtown Dunlap is home to the Silver Eagle, a quartet of country musician-themed
suites that’s part of Studio Dunlap, the multimedia production and recording studio run
by Cody McCarver. Less than a mile away, the Honey Bee Motel is a 12-room
inn—several suites are outfitted with kitchenettes—with its own on-site bar and
restaurant.

If you want to enjoy the remote nature of staying in Sequatchie Valley while still being
just minutes from downtown Dunlap, there’s nowhere better to do that than at Coops
Creek Cabins. Husband-and-wife team Lonnie and Angela Pope took his childhood
home and turned the land into a collection of well-curated, lofted-style cabins and
treehouses where guests can stay right along Coops Creek. Each cabin is built to
maximize space and comfort with kitchenette and bathrooms on the ground floor and a
bed up in the loft accessed by ladder. Cabins also boast outdoor patios with firepits that
overlook the creek below. Guests can hike the path straight to the historic coke ovens
when the water level isn’t too high.

Day 2 in Sequatchie Valley

Your second day in Dunlap begins with breakfast at the Game Shack Café, where you
can test your mettle with classic video games—consoles are installed at select
tables—while you sip an Italian soda, brewed tea or specialty latte. Game Shack Café
also has board games, cards and chess available, as well as breakfast items like
muffins and biscuits and sandwiches and salads for lunch. If you’re traveling with kids,
there’s a picnic pavilion and playground nearby at Harris Park, as well as a splash pad
open in the summer. The greenway that connects directly to Coops Creek is another
great spot to expend a little energy.

Explore the Coke Ovens

Down the road from the beloved breakfast shop is the Dunlap Coke Ovens, where the
coal was burned in large ovens to produce coke, a key ingredient for the making of
steel. In the heyday of coal mining in this region, there were 118 coke ovens in the area;
only a few remnants now remain. Operated by the Sequatchie Historical Society, the
coke ovens house a large, free museum that tells the story of the area’s Civil War and
mining history. While the coke ovens are the 88-acre park’s centerpiece, its eight miles
of shaded walking trails—which include bike paths that snake around the compound
and strategically placed benches for rest stops—are equally enticing.

Explore the outdoors of Sequatchie Valley

Dunlap is prime mountain biking territory, and those wanting to bike the trails of
Sequatchie County can book a guided bike tour of the area through Velo View. Owner
Shannon Burke creates custom road or gravel bike tours for cyclists visiting the greater
Chattanooga region, spanning 10 counties that include Sequatchie. Burke is also the brains behind Cycle Sequatchie, a four-route ride that takes place in the Sequatchie Valley during the same weekend as Dunlap Oktoberfest every October.

Those traveling to Tennessee without their own bikes have two options: to rent one from
a bike shop in Chattanooga or to ship theirs in via freight. Shipping programs like
BikeFlights simplify the process, and many bike shops in Chattanooga are happy to
assemble shipped bikes then pack them up when you’re heading back home for a
reasonable fee. There are plenty of ambitious bike routes through the area like the 48-
mile Lower Sequatchie Valley Loop that climbs 1,600 feet and can be easily paired with
the 29-mile Middle Sequatchie Valley Loop starting in Dunlap.

Biking isn’t the only outdoor activity in Sequatchie Valley, though. Woodcock Cove with
its freestanding sandstone pillar and impressive dihedral walls is one of the Southeast’s
premier rock-climbing spots. The mile-long cliff has both a continuous single-pitch sport
and traditional climbs. For water recreation enthusiasts, the Sequatchie River Blueway
makes use of the 116-mile Sequatchie River that begins at Cumberland Trail State Park
and ends near South Pittsburg. For those bringing their own kayaks or canoes, the river
offers several public access points for putting in.

Stay longer in the Sequatchie Valley

The Sequatchie Valley is a central base for exploring the Cumberland Plateau and all
the state parks that surround this verdant region of Southeast Tennessee. South
Cumberland is home to numerous notable waterfalls like Savage Falls, Foster Falls and
Greeter Falls, in addition to Monteagle Mountain and Sewanee, which houses the
University of the South, a spectacular college campus built in the Gothic architectural
style from local sandstone.

For those with off-road vehicles, the Coalmont OHV Park draws regular crowds who
flock to its 1,300 acres and 40 miles of hill climbs, rock crawls, and challenging dirt trails
that are suitable for full-size 4x4s, ATVs and motorcycles. The park also supplies
primitive campsites, RV hookups and dump stations.