Chickamauga and Chattanooga National Military Park

Trust for Public Land has helped protect significant historical resources at Chickamauga and Chattanooga National Military Park, including the 24-acre Ruby Falls tract on Lookout Mountain, an important inholding of the eastern battlefield offering spectacular views of historic Moccasin Bend, Missionary Ridge, and distant Cherokee Forest. This land and other key properties on the mountain have been secured using Title V and the Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF) and transferred to the National Park Service.

Since 2001, Trust for Public Land has purchased five Civil War battle sites and historical transportation corridors on Lookout Mountain, as well as two historic properties in the Moccasin Bend Archeological District, all of which have been transferred to the National Park Service for permanent protection and management. Today, more than a million people come to visit the battlefields and protected sites annually.

Thanks to TPL’s involvement, key parts of Lookout Mountain and Missionary Ridge—including Billy Goat Hill, a prominent rise on Missionary Ridge known for its sweeping views and surviving Civil War entrenchments—now reside within Chickamauga and Chattanooga National Military Park. In 2025, TPL donated another five historically and environmentally significant parcels on the ridge to the City of Chattanooga, extending the total land protected in perpetuity on the ridge to some 150 acres.