Outdoor Adventure: Spend the night in Paddler’s Perch and canoe Lookout Creek at the Chattanooga Arboretum & Nature Center
Location: Chattanooga, Tenn.
Best time to go: Spring and Fall
Cost: Paddler’s Perch is $35 per night for two guests and $10 for each additional guest (regardless of age). A Chattanooga Arboretum & Nature Center membership is required (family memberships are $60). Canoe and lifejacket rentals are included in the membership fee.
The routines of everyday life – endless driving, too much scheduling – can easily build a wall between us and the natural world. Fortunately, nature is a refuge that always welcomes us back, even when we’ve been away too long. Taking the time to immerse yourself – and your family – in the outdoors can be wonderfully restorative, and can help make the day-to-day grind easier.
If your family, marriage or inner introvert is in need of a nature adventure, you don’t have to travel far. The Chattanooga Arboretum & Nature Center has your ticket to an outdoor stay-cation: A night spent in Paddler’s Perch – a 635-square-foot rustic bungalow situated in a canopy of trees – and a leisurely canoe trip on Lookout Creek.
Paddler’s Perch is set in the middle of paddler’s paradise on the banks of Lookout Creek, a slow-moving river that empties into the Tennessee River at Moccasin Bend, just a mile or so downstream from the Arboretum & Nature Center. According to Tina Harvey Crawford, director of development and marketing at the center, Paddler’s Perch is the Hilton of the Tennessee River Blueway, a designated “river trail” that spans 45 miles along Tennessee waterways.
Overnight guests to this whimsical river cabin climb up a winding set of stairs to a breezy one room screened-in cabin with a wrap-around porch, which offers a private perspective of the creek and all that lives there: an elegant Great Blue Heron fishes for a meal, a kingfisher takes flight, and turtles bob their heads just above the water while sunshine beams through the trees. At night, the center’s resident red wolves make themselves known.
Paddler’s Perch sleeps up to 8 people and can be rented for one or two nights. Guests must bring sleeping bags for this “camping in the company of trees” experience. Screens, shutters and doors keep insects and wildlife out. The cabin also features a small food prep counter, kempt composting toilet, and lockable storage areas. Paddler’s Perch does not have running water or electricity, so guests are encouraged to bring drinking water, as well as flashlights and lanterns.
The Arboretum & Nature Center’s canoe storage area and dock are located at the base of Paddler’s Perch, offering easy access to Lookout Creek. This flat water creek is a great waterway for beginning paddlers and children. Each canoe can seat up to two adults and a small child; one adult is required per canoe. Downed trees can offer an occasional challenge for canoes, but paddling upstream and downstream is generally a breeze.
For those with more time to explore, the Chattanooga Arboretum & Nature Center is a great place to picnic, walk, explore and learn about the plants and wildlife native to the southeastern United States.
To learn more about Paddler’s Perch, visit the Chattanooga Arboretum & Nature Center website or call (423) 821-1160 ext. 102 to make reservations. Be sure to make a reservation for canoes when you make reservations for Paddler’s Perch – the secret is out about this great getaway!
Jenni Frankenberg Veal enjoys writing about the natural world and the people who work to protect it. She is rarely found without her daughters and a pair of shoes appropriate for hiking and rock-hopping in creeks. Visit her blog at YourOutdoorFamily.com.
