The Tour
Covenant College sits 2,000 feet up on the brow of Lookout Mountain, its campus built around Carter Hall, the fairy-tale 1928 hotel once nicknamed the Castle in the Clouds. This short walk takes in the castle, a mountain overlook with a seven-state view, the college's marble-cross chapel, its library, and two academic halls. Wear comfortable shoes and mind the brow's edge.
Covenant College Campus Tour is a self-guided walking tour of Lookout Mountain, built around its campus side.
The walk covers 6 stops over about 0.9 miles and roughly 55 minutes, entirely at your own pace. Each stop's story unlocks on your phone the moment you arrive — GPS-triggered, hands-free, no guide and no tour group to keep up with.
What you'll see
Few colleges begin with a castle, but this walk does. Carter Hall was a Jazz Age resort hotel with red roofs, half-timbered gables and a tall tower. It still dominates the top of Lookout Mountain, and its old ballroom now feeds the whole college. Covenant bought the empty building in 1964, and for years the entire school lived inside it.
A few steps away, the brow of the mountain drops off sharply. On a clear day the views run across valleys and ridgelines, and the college likes to say you can see seven states from up here. It's easy to see why someone built a hotel on this spot. The walk also passes a chapel whose white marble cross, roughly 67 feet tall, faces the mountain, as well as the library and the newer academic and science halls that let Covenant finally grow beyond its one building.
The route is under a mile, on paved paths with some slopes, and takes about an hour. Stay well back from the edge at the overlook. Late afternoon and sunset are the best times for the view, and fall color on the mountain is spectacular. This is a working residential campus, so be respectful around dorms. The Georgia Roam app tells each stop's story as you arrive.
Georgia
