The Chattanooga stories to know before you book
The chapter that made this a ghost town in the older sense arrived in September 1878. Yellow fever came up the rail lines from the lower South, and by September 25 the wire column in the Evening Star was carrying Chattanooga among its infected places: four deaths and three new cases that day, with the city's board of health advising anyone who could to leave, because the disease was taking a worse turn. The issue is held by the Library of Congress.
By the end of October the city had lost its mayor to it. "We regret to hear of the death of Mayor Carlisle, of Chattanooga. He was true to the trust reposed in him by his fellow-citizens, and died at his post," the Knoxville Daily Chronicle printed on its front page of October 31, 1878, in the issue held by the Library of Congress. The same page carried private word from Chattanooga of one more death and eight new cases the day before.
Two weeks earlier, thirty miles up the line, the Weekly Herald in Cleveland, Tennessee ran a column of Yellow Fever Notes that put the average death rate in Chattanooga at ten a day. It listed the dead by name, a city policeman and a schoolteacher who had stayed on as a nurse among them, and told readers where to send money and where to send provisions. See the October 17, 1878 issue at the Library of Congress. Guides here do not have to invent a body count.
The addresses come out of that history. The Read House has operated since 1872 and keeps its reputation in a single room number, 311. Citizens Cemetery is where the equipment tour goes, out on the UTC side of downtown. The restored Choo-Choo depot draws reports of porters in 1800s dress moving among the tourists. And there is a tunnel system under the downtown sidewalks that an archaeologist argued in the 1970s was the city's older street level, buried and built over after the floods; the finding is disputed, the tunnels are not. The longer files on every address in this section live in our guide to haunted Chattanooga.
Which Chattanooga ghost tour is right for your group?
The downtown history walk
The Murder and Mayhem Haunted History Walking Tour is our top pick and the deepest record on this page: 4.6 stars across 419 reviews, 1 hour 35 minutes from $25.89, run by Chattanooga Ghost Tours, Inc, which describes itself in its own itinerary as Chattanooga's original and only award-winning ghost tour company. Its listing is also the most forthcoming of the six. It operates in all weather conditions and asks you to dress for that. It carries a Likely to Sell Out chip. It needs a minimum of two travelers and caps the group at 25. It asks that children be accompanied by an adult. And it states plainly that this tour does not go inside any buildings. It meets at 57 E 5th St, on the back side of the building, with Taziki's on the front.
- Choose it if you want the deepest review record in town; 419 reviews is more than three times the next listing on this page.
- Choose it if anyone in the party uses a wheelchair. This is the only one of the six that lists access, and its listing offers a specific arrangement: if desired, guests using chairs can check in by phone and meet us at first stop, to avoid the hill at the beginning of tour.
- Choose it if the forecast is bad; this is the one listing here that commits to operating in all weather conditions.
- Skip it if you need a clock time before you commit; this listing publishes no start time, so the booking page for your date is the authority.
- Skip it if you were hoping to get inside a building; its own itinerary rules that out.
Verdict: the one we would book first, and the lowest starting price on the page.
Book the Murder and Mayhem walk in Chattanooga
The 8:30 PM ghost hunt
The ChattaBOOga Ghost Hunt holds the top rating on this page and the tightest calendar behind it. Its listing shows operating hours of Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday, 8:30 PM to 10:00 PM, which is three nights a week and no others. 4.7 stars across 129 reviews, 90 minutes from $34, run by Your Tour Time, group capped at 30. The route works downtown landmarks including the Fireman's Memorial Fountain and the Hamilton County Courthouse while laying out how fire, flood, disease, and war left this city with so much to talk about. It meets at 700 Cherry St and ends back at the meeting point. Strollers are welcome; wheelchair access is not listed. It runs now as the ChattaBOOga Ghost Hunt, and until recently it was listed as the ChattaBOOga Ghost Walk Tour in Chattanooga.
- Choose it if you want the highest rating in Chattanooga with a real record behind it, 129 reviews.
- Choose it if starting and finishing on the same corner matters; this route ends where it began.
- Skip it if your nights in town are Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, or Thursday; this one runs three nights a week.
- Skip it if you need wheelchair access; only the Murder and Mayhem walk lists it.
Verdict: the top rating in town, sold three nights a week.
Book the ChattaBOOga ghost hunt
The 21 and over pub tour
The Ghost and Booze Tour of Chattanooga is the grown-up lane by rule rather than by tone, and its meeting text sets the rule in one line: 719 Cherry ST Meet your guide inside at 6pm 21 and over only group. ID required. That is the only true 21 and over threshold in this lineup. It runs 90 minutes from $26, holds 4.7 stars across 55 reviews, and caps the group at 10, which ties the cemetery ghost hunt for the smallest cap here. It is also one of the two formats here that goes indoors: it starts inside Cherry Street Tavern, works the Historic District taverns said to be haunted along with the back alleys between them, passes what guides describe as the largest unmarked mass graveyard in town, and finishes at the Chattanooga Billiard Club at 725 Cherry St, a few doors from the start. Drinks are at your own expense. Wheelchair access is not listed.
- Choose it if the group measures a story by the round; this one starts inside a bar and ends inside another.
- Choose it if group size is what ruins tours for you; 10 is the smallest cap on this page, tied with the cemetery ghost hunt.
- Choose it if 6pm suits you better than a 9 pm departure; this is the earliest start on the page.
- Skip it if anyone in the party is under 21; the listing says 21 and over only, and it asks for ID.
- Skip it if you would rather the night stayed outdoors.
Verdict: the earliest start in Chattanooga, and the only tour here that checks ID at the door.
Book the 21 and over ghost and booze tour in Chattanooga
The cemetery ghost hunt
The 1.5-Hour Cemetery Ghost Hunt is the hands-on format: its listing includes use of high-tech equipment for hunting ghosts, and the tour supplies temperature guns, laser grid lights, and an Ovilus X communication device. The route covers the UTC campus and the cemetery beside it. 4.6 stars across 104 reviews, 90 minutes from $33.95, run by Chattanooga Ghost Tours, Inc, capped at 10, carrying a Likely to Sell Out chip at our August 3, 2026 check. Two lines on the listing decide it for most people. The age line: minimum age is 18 years, which is a different threshold from the pub tour's 21 and should not be read as the same rule. And the ground: due to uneven surfaces, this tour is not recommended for those with walking disabilities or using a wheelchair, with the same listing pointing to the operator's downtown hunt and original walking tour as the wheelchair-accessible alternatives. It meets at 613 McCallie Ave, next to the double staircase and the large concrete UTC sign, across from First Christian Church.
- Choose it if you would rather hold the equipment than listen to someone describe it.
- Choose it if a group of ten and 90 minutes in one place is your idea of a night out.
- Skip it if anyone in the party is under 18; the listing sets that minimum.
- Skip it if uneven ground is a problem; the listing says so itself, and names the alternatives.
Verdict: the participation pick, with the strictest rules on the page.
Book the Chattanooga cemetery ghost hunt
The family walk
Chattanooga Ghosts and Legends is the mixed-ages lane: 4.6 stars across 73 reviews, 90 minutes from $29.99 at an 8:00 pm listed start, run by Ghost City Tours of Chattanooga and capped at 30. The route works the riverfront: Ross's Landing Park, what the listing calls Tennessee Riverpark, and the Hunter Museum of American Art are its named places, filled out by three bare street addresses. It meets at W Aquarium Way and Broad St, near the overhead walkway, and where it finishes depends on the night: the listing states that the end location varies depending on what route the tour guide takes, with the Tennessee Aquarium as the nominal end. One inversion is worth stating plainly, because it reads backwards: family-friendly does not mean accessible here, and this listing does not offer wheelchair access. Its posted departure window is March 13 to November 28, 2026; outside it the walk is closed for the season rather than sold out. It runs now as Chattanooga Ghosts and Legends, and until recently it was listed as the Family-Friendly Ghost Tour in Chattanooga.
- Choose it if the youngest member of the group sets the tone for the night.
- Choose it if an 8:00 pm start beats a 9 pm one with kids in tow.
- Skip it if you need wheelchair access; despite the family billing, this listing does not offer it.
- Skip it if you want a fixed finish; the end location moves with the route.
Verdict: the easy yes for mixed ages, with an access caveat that runs the wrong way.
Book the family-friendly ghost tour in Chattanooga
The darker walk
Cursed in Chattanooga is the other Ghost City route and the harder material: dark spirits, tragedy, and a centuries-old curse, with a stop on its itinerary given to witches and dark magic in the 1880s. 90 minutes from $34.99 at a 9:00 pm listed start, capped at 30, and it holds the lowest rating in our table at 4.4 across 95 reviews. Its posted departure window is March 13 to November 28, 2026; outside it the walk is closed for the season rather than sold out. Its web address still carries older age wording the live title has dropped, its Additional Info says most travelers can participate, and its booking form posts a single adult band starting at 16, so check at booking before you bring a teenager. Wheelchair access is not listed. It meets at the corner of E M L King Blvd and Market St, at Miller Park Plaza.
- Choose it if you want the darkest material on the page.
- Choose it if the curse is the reason you clicked.
- Skip it if the numbers decide it; this is the lowest rating and the highest starting price in our table.
- Skip it if you need an age rule you can rely on; this listing does not publish one.
Verdict: the tone pick, bought at the top of the price range and the bottom of the ratings.
Book the Cursed in Chattanooga walk
On accessibility, Chattanooga is blunt: one of the six compared tours lists wheelchair access, and it is the Murder and Mayhem Haunted History Walking Tour. Its listing goes past the checkbox and offers an arrangement: if desired, guests using chairs can check in by phone and meet us at first stop, to avoid the hill at the beginning of tour. The other five do not list access at all. The ChattaBOOga hunt, the 21 and over pub tour, and both Ghost City walks simply do not offer it, and the cemetery ghost hunt explains itself in its own words: due to uneven surfaces, this tour is not recommended for those with walking disabilities or using a wheelchair, with the operator's downtown hunt and original walking tour named as the accessible alternatives. Strollers are the softer yes: the ChattaBOOga hunt and the Murder and Mayhem walk both welcome them. One more thing worth knowing if access decides your evening: the free downtown shuttle that runs the length of downtown between the Choo Choo and the Aquarium is wheelchair accessible on every bus, per CARTA.
Haunted hotels in Chattanooga
Chattanooga's most famous haunting has a room number. The Read House has operated since 1872, and room 311 is where the reports gather: a guest named Annalisa, said to have been murdered in that room's bathroom, gets the blame for lights that switch themselves and for the angry stare male guests say they feel at their backs. The Choo-Choo, the restored depot, keeps a second file, porters in 1800s dress among the tourists and soldiers waiting for a train that never comes. The Hunter Museum, on one of the highest bluffs over the river, keeps a third. We keep the longer versions in our guide to haunted Chattanooga.
Three downtown properties put you within a walk of the meeting points rather than a ride away. Hotel Clemons is a condo hotel about 200 yards from the city center and an 11-minute walk from the Tennessee Aquarium, with kitchenette units and billiards downstairs. The Westin Chattanooga sits in the heart of downtown, 2,625 feet from Warehouse Row and 2,953 feet from the Aquarium by its own listing, with a heated outdoor pool ringed by cabanas. Hotel Indigo Chattanooga is a 10-minute stroll from the Aquarium and steps from the city center, and its listing puts the Hunter Museum of American Art and the Walnut Street Bridge nearby, both of which turn up in the stories on this page. All three carry booking cards in the list above.
The full rundown, the Hamilton Place cluster out by the interstate included, lives in our guide to where to stay in Chattanooga.
Planning your Chattanooga ghost tour night
Two tracks work. The family track books the 8:00 pm Ghosts and Legends walk, which meets at W Aquarium Way and Broad St near the overhead walkway. That puts dinner in the aquarium district first and gets everyone back at a reasonable hour, with one caveat: the finish moves with the route, so agree on a pickup point before you start. Daylight plans live in our guide to things to do in Chattanooga.
The adults track splits by the night of the week. On a Wednesday, Friday, or Saturday the ChattaBOOga hunt goes at 8:30 PM from 700 Cherry St. The 21 and over pub tour meets inside Cherry Street Tavern at 719 Cherry St at 6pm and finishes at the Chattanooga Billiard Club a few doors up. The cemetery ghost hunt meets at 613 McCallie Ave, next to the double staircase and the large concrete UTC sign; take its departure time from the booking page. And Murder and Mayhem meets at 57 E 5th St on the back side of the building, with Taziki's on the front, which is the one meeting instruction on this page to read twice.
Booking early costs nothing here, because all six compared tours cancel free up to 24 hours before start time, six out of six. Getting around downtown costs nothing either. CARTA's Downtown Electric Shuttle is free, runs from the Chattanooga Choo Choo to the Tennessee Aquarium with stops at every block in between, and every shuttle bus is wheelchair accessible, per CARTA's own service page. The same page puts the buses about ten minutes apart, Monday through Friday from 6:30 a.m. until 11 p.m., Saturday from 9:30 a.m. until 11 p.m., and Sunday from 9:30 a.m. until 8:30 p.m. Read that Sunday line before you book a late departure, because the shuttle may have stopped for the night before you finish. The cemetery hunt's meeting point on McCallie Ave is not on that Choo Choo to Aquarium line at all, so plan that ride separately.
Book the most-reviewed ghost tour in Chattanooga
