Memphis to Chattanooga drive: Distance, time & best stops
The best road trip stops on the Memphis to Chattanooga drive are Jackson TN, Earth Experience and Manchester TN. The distance from Memphis to Chattanooga by car is 337 miles, with a 4h53m driving time.
Planning a Memphis to Chattanooga road trip itinerary
The Memphis to Chattanooga drive connects two Tennessee cities with very different vibes.
Memphis, Tennessee, is a pilgrimage site for Elvis fans. The King’s Graceland mansion is one of the top tourist sites in the US. But the cultural heritage extends beyond music, as you’ll discover on an African-American history tour.
Also try the Rock and Soul Museum, plus the Memphis Music Hall of Fame and the 19th century Woodruff-Fontaine House.
Ways of seeing the city include ghost walks, Downtown food tours and musical bus tours. There are also guided walks down music central, Beale Street, and city tours that take you inside the legendary Sun Studios.
Chattanooga in the foothills of the Appalachians is home to the National Medal of Honor Heritage Museum and the Tennessee Aquarium. But it’s mostly an outdoorsy place. Great Chattanooga experiences include rafting on the Middle Ocoee River, backcountry tours in Swincars and kayak adventures to the Nickajack Bat Cave. You can also try Segway tours, guided ghost walks and trolley tours.
Memphis to Chattanooga distance and driving time
By car, the distance from Memphis to Chattanooga is 337 miles. This is along the quickest route – along the I-40, TN-480 and I-24 – rather than the shortest route via Huntsville. You can expect a driving time of around four hours and 53 minutes.
The best stops to add to a Memphis to Chattanooga road trip itinerary are Jackson TN, Earth Experience and Manchester TN.
Best stops between Memphis and Chattanooga: Jackson, TN
Jackson TN is home to the Casey Jones Home and Railroad Museum. For the uninitiated, Casey Jones was about as famous as it gets in the world of railroad engineering. The enormous locomotive outside the house tends to be the most popular attraction.
Also in Jackson is Rusty’s TV and Movie Car Museum, which features more than 50 screen-famous cars and vans. These include a Batmobile, a Jeep from Jurassic Park and Scooby Doo’s Mystery Machine.
Memphis to Chattanooga road trip attractions: Earth Experience
Also called the Middle Tennessee Museum of Natural History, Earth Experience in Murfreesboro is all about archaeological relics. That means gems and minerals, but mainly dinosaur bones.
The highlight is the big T-Rex skeleton, but you can also visit the working paleontology laboratory, see how replica bones are moulded and cast, then touch petrified wood and dino bones.
Memphis to Chattanooga drive: Manchester, Tennessee
The town of Manchester isn’t especially riveting, although you can visit Common John Brewing and the Beans Creek Winery.
It is, however, the gateway to several photogenic waterfalls. The closest to the town centre are Blue Hole Falls and Big Falls in Old Stone Fort State Archaeological Park. Head a little further west, and there are plenty more – Rutledge Falls has a glorious swimming hole at the bottom.
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