🏛️ CulturalLong weekend · from Chattanooga, TN
The Mountain — Sewanee, Monteagle & the Cumberland Plateau
About fifty minutes northwest of Chattanooga, the Cumberland Plateau rises into a cool, forested tableland that locals simply call 'the Mountain' — home to one of the South's most beautiful college campuses and a pair of storied summer assemblies. This three-day journey begins at Sewanee, the University of the South, whose Gothic sandstone quadrangles and soaring All Saints' Chapel feel transplanted from Oxford. Day two explores the genteel Victorian cottages of the Monteagle Sunday School Assembly and the fierce social-justice history of the Highlander Folk School, which trained civil rights leaders including Rosa Parks and Martin Luther King Jr. Day three walks a stretch of the Sewanee Perimeter Trail to the plateau's dramatic bluff overlooks and traces the Swiss heritage of Grundy County before the return. With overnights on the Mountain, the trip braids Gothic architecture, mountain wilderness, spiritual retreat, and social history into a memorable plateau weekend.
Day 1 — Sewanee, the University of the South & All Saints' ChapelDay 2 — Monteagle Sunday School Assembly & Highlander Folk School heritageDay 3 — The Sewanee Perimeter Trail & Grundy County Swiss heritage
Day 1 — Sewanee, TN
Day 1 — Sewanee, TN
🚗 50 min driving📍 6 stops
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Morning
🚗
Drive
Chattanooga, TN → Sewanee, TN
50 min8:00 AM → 8:50 AM
University of the South (Sewanee) Campus
★ 4.8Founded in 1857 by leaders of the Episcopal Church, the University of the South occupies a 13,000-acre 'Domain' atop the Cumberland Plateau, one of the largest campuses in the nation. Its academic buildings are a magnificent ensemble of collegiate Gothic architecture in local sandstone, arranged around leafy quadrangles that evoke an English university transplanted to the Tennessee mountains. The stone gates, ivy-clad halls, and the tradition of gowned professors give the campus, universally known as 'Sewanee,' a distinctive Old-World atmosphere. Walking tours take in the quadrangles, the historic cemetery, and the university's long literary heritage as home to the venerable Sewanee Review. It is an enchanting, unhurried place to begin a plateau weekend.
8:50 AM📍 See location
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Lunch
🍽️ Lunch9:50 AM
Shenanigans
A Sewanee institution since 1974, Shenanigans occupies a rambling old house near campus and has fed generations of students, faculty, and visitors. The menu runs to hearty sandwiches, burgers, soups, salads, and a rotating list of craft beers, served in a cozy, wood-paneled space with a welcoming front porch. It is the natural, well-loved lunch stop on the Mountain, informal and reliably good. Expect a friendly college-town crowd and unpretentious, satisfying fare.
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All Saints' Chapel
★ 4.9The spiritual and architectural heart of Sewanee, All Saints' Chapel is a soaring Gothic Revival church of local sandstone completed over decades and dedicated in the twentieth century, its nave rising to vaulted stone ceilings and jewel-toned stained glass. The chapel houses the magnificent Leonidas Polk Memorial Carillon, whose bells ring out across the Domain, and its Rose Window and carved woodwork reward a slow, quiet visit. Beside it, the Shakerag stained-glass windows and the memorials trace the university's history and its Episcopal roots. Whether or not a service is underway, the hushed, luminous interior is one of the most beautiful sacred spaces in the region.
10:50 AM📍 See location
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Afternoon
Memorial Cross & Green's View
★ 4.9At the edge of the Sewanee Domain, a towering stone Memorial Cross stands on the bluff overlooking the Lost Cove far below, honoring the university's war dead and offering one of the plateau's grandest views. A short drive away, Green's View delivers an even more expansive panorama across the Cumberland valleys, especially glorious in late-afternoon light and in autumn. These easily accessible overlooks reveal the dramatic geography of the plateau's edge that the campus sits atop. It is a spectacular, contemplative way to close the first day before dinner.
12:00 PM📍 See location
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Evening
🍽️ Dinner5:00 PM
Sewanee Village Dining
Evening on the Mountain is a quiet affair, with a handful of restaurants and pubs in and around the Sewanee village serving dinner to the university community and visitors. Options range from the upscale seasonal plates at IvyWild to casual pub fare and pizza, all a short distance from the campus lodging. The pace is relaxed and the atmosphere collegiate and warm. It is an easy, low-key close to a day of Gothic quadrangles and bluff-top views.
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Sewanee Inn / Monteagle Lodging
The Sewanee Inn, owned by the university and set beside a golf course on the edge of the Domain, is the most convenient and characterful place to stay on the Mountain, with comfortable rooms and mountain views. Nearby Monteagle offers additional inns, cottages, and bed-and-breakfasts, including historic options within the Monteagle Sunday School Assembly grounds visited the next day. Booking one property for both nights keeps the plateau weekend simple. Reserve early during university event weekends, when rooms fill fast.
Day 2 — Monteagle, TN
Day 2 — Monteagle, TN
🚗 15 min driving📍 5 stops
🌅
Morning
🚗
Drive
Sewanee, TN → Monteagle, TN
15 min8:00 AM → 8:15 AM
Monteagle Sunday School Assembly
Founded in 1882 as a Chautauqua-style summer retreat for education, culture, and religion, the Monteagle Sunday School Assembly is a National Historic District of roughly 160 Victorian cottages set among shady lanes on the plateau. Modeled on the Chautauqua movement of upstate New York, the gated community was built as a place where families escaped the summer heat for lectures, concerts, and worship, and it continues its summer programming to this day. Strolling the grounds among the gingerbread-trimmed cottages, the open-air auditorium, and the mess hall feels like stepping into a genteel nineteenth-century world preserved intact. It is a serene and architecturally rich morning; visitors are welcome to walk the historic district.
8:15 AM📍 See location
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Lunch
🍽️ Lunch9:15 AM
High Point Restaurant
Set in a historic 1920s stone mansion once reputedly owned by Al Capone as a mountain hideaway, the High Point Restaurant in Monteagle serves upscale steaks, seafood, and Southern classics in an atmospheric setting perched on the bluff's edge. The building's speakeasy history, wine cellar, and panoramic plateau views make it a memorable midday or evening splurge. White-tablecloth service and a serious wine list distinguish it from the Mountain's more casual spots. It is the natural choice for a special lunch on day two.
2 options · tap to switch
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Afternoon
Highlander Folk School Historic Site
★ 3.6In the hills near Monteagle stands the surviving library building of the Highlander Folk School, one of the most consequential sites in the American civil rights movement. Founded in 1932 by Myles Horton as a training center for labor organizers, Highlander became in the 1950s a rare integrated space in the segregated South where activists gathered to plan and learn — Rosa Parks attended a workshop here just months before the Montgomery bus boycott, and Martin Luther King Jr. visited, while the anthem 'We Shall Overcome' was shaped and spread through its programs. The state revoked the school's charter and seized its property in 1961, but the modest library building survives as a Tennessee historic site and quiet monument. Standing here, in an unassuming plateau clearing, brings home how much of the movement's groundwork was laid in obscure, brave places like this.
12:00 PM📍 See location
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Evening
🍽️ Dinner5:00 PM
Monteagle / Sewanee Dinner
A second evening on the Mountain offers a relaxed dinner back in Monteagle or Sewanee, with casual taverns, cafes, and the village's markets rounding out the options. After a day that moved from Victorian retreat to civil rights history, an unhurried meal and an early plateau night suit the mood. The compact area keeps every option a short drive from lodging. Choose comfort food or a light supper depending on the day's High Point lunch.
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Sewanee Inn / Monteagle Lodging
A second night at the same Sewanee or Monteagle property keeps the plateau weekend simple and restful, well positioned for the next morning's hike on the Perimeter Trail. Those seeking a change could book a historic cottage within the Monteagle Sunday School Assembly for a night amid the Victorian district. Either way, the cool mountain air makes for excellent sleeping. Turn in early for a morning on the bluff trails.
Day 3 — Sewanee Perimeter Trail & Grundy County, TN
Day 3 — Sewanee Perimeter Trail & Grundy County, TN
🚗 1 hr 5 min driving📍 3 stops
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Morning
🚗
Drive
Monteagle, TN → Sewanee Perimeter Trail Trailhead
10 min8:00 AM → 8:10 AM
Sewanee Perimeter Trail
The Perimeter Trail is a roughly 20-mile loop that traces the sandstone bluffs around the edge of the Sewanee Domain, and even a short out-and-back stretch delivers the plateau's finest scenery. The path threads through hardwood and hemlock forest to a string of dramatic overlooks — Proctor's Hall, Morgan's Steep, and the natural sandstone arch — where the land drops away to the wooded coves hundreds of feet below. Waterfalls, rock houses, and mossy bluff-line ledges make the walking endlessly rewarding, with sections easy enough for a casual morning ramble. It is a superb final immersion in the wild character of the Mountain; wear sturdy shoes and mind the unfenced bluff edges.
8:10 AM📍 See location
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Lunch
🍽️ Lunch9:10 AM
Dutch Maid Bakery, Tracy City
In Tracy City, the Dutch Maid Bakery is the oldest family bakery in Tennessee, founded in 1902 by Swiss immigrant John Baggenstoss and still turning out its signature salt-rising bread, fruitcakes, cookies, and pastries from historic recipes. A visit is both a meal and a heritage stop, the shop's old ovens and family history a direct link to the Swiss colonists who settled Grundy County. Grab fresh-baked breads and sweets for lunch or the road, alongside the town's other casual eateries. It is a delicious, authentic taste of the plateau's immigrant past.
2 options · tap to switch
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Afternoon
Grundy County Swiss Heritage & Gruetli-Laager
★ 4.8In the 1860s and 70s, waves of Swiss and German immigrants settled the Cumberland Plateau's Grundy County, founding colonies at Gruetli and Laager whose descendants and traditions shape the area still. The Swiss Historical Society preserves this heritage, and sites around Gruetli-Laager — including the old Swiss Memorial cemetery and church — mark where these hardy settlers cleared farms from the mountain woods. The nearby Grundy Lakes and the historic Lone Rock coke ovens add the region's coal-mining chapter, part of the same state-park system. It is a quiet, off-the-beaten-path close to the trip, honoring the plateau's layered immigrant and industrial history before the drive home.
12:00 PM📍 See location
🌙
Evening
🚗
Drive
Grundy County, TN → Chattanooga, TN
55 min5:00 PM → 5:55 PM
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