Thrift Trail › How-to guide
That is all you need. Everything below is for making the Trail fit you.
The Trail takes every shop that is on the route and open right now, then puts them in a driving order that forms a loop. It starts where you are and carries you around the neighborhoods, so you end near where you began. Shops that are closed today, or that close before you could reach them, are set aside automatically in More Shops under the list.
The route recalculates live. When a shop closes for the day, it drops out; when you add, remove or reorder shops, the order and the total miles update on the spot.
Hours come from each shop’s listing and can change, especially around holidays, so confirm before you drive.
The small Filter link right under “Your Route” opens the filter panel, just below the orange Let’s Go Thrifting box. By default the Lookout Loop is checked. Uncheck it to choose your own mix; with nothing checked, the map is blank until you pick again or tap Reset. Change it to fit your mood:
Mix and match. Every box you check adds its shops to your route, and no shop is ever listed twice. Tap Everything to check the three shop types at once. If you uncheck every box, the map and lists go empty on purpose; check one again or tap Reset.
Whatever you check becomes your route. Every other shop drops into the second list under the route. With the classic view it is called More Shops; with any other mix it is called All Other Shops. Pick Antique malls only, for example, and the thrift stores and vintage shops wait in that list, one tap on a plus button away from joining your route. Shops that are open right now are listed first, then the closed ones. The map re-frames to fit exactly what is on your route.
Check Lookout Loop or Scenic City Loop along with the other boxes to add the moderators’ hand-picked favorites to your route. Check it alone and you see only those shops, and you can still narrow them by area, open today and the other options.
The panel shows how many shops match. Your choices are saved on your device. Tap Reset to go back to the default, and the link shows a count, like Filter (2), whenever filters are on.
Every shop in the list has small controls. Use them to shape the day:
Filter: Thrift stores only. Remove the shops you have visited lately and pick one neighborhood, such as Brainerd or Hixson, for a short loop.
Filter: Curated shops plus Antique malls. Start at Poor Taste downtown or in the North Shore cluster and let the Trail link them up.
Filter: Supports a charity. Tap Done and read the 💛 notes in Shops & Charities to see where your money goes.
Filter: Open late. Plan for the evening with the Later tab (see below) and check closing times before you leave.
Filter: Everything. Remove anything that does not interest you, add a bonus shop or two and set a lunch break in the middle.
Above the list, switch from Today to Later to plan a future day. Pick a date and a start time, and the Trail builds the plan using that day’s hours, so shops that are closed that day are set aside. Most shops close by 6 to 8 PM, so an early start gives you the longest day.
You can share a plan with a friend. The shared link carries your added and removed shops so they see the same route.
Tap the big Continue to button, or tick the Visited box on a shop card, as you finish each shop. Visited shops are crossed out and the remaining miles update. Your visited shops and any changes you made are saved on your device and come back if you refresh the page.
If you come back on another day, the Trail offers to pick up where you left off and skips the shops you already visited. If your browser is in private mode, it may not be able to save, and the Trail will tell you.
Open a shop card to read what other thrifters say, and leave your own rating or review. Each day one shop gets the gold star as the Featured Shop. Poor Taste is the Saturday feature.
The Trail is a web app: nothing to download and no account. To get it on your phone, open it in Safari on iPhone, tap the Share button and choose Add to Home Screen. On Android, open it in Chrome, tap the menu and choose Add to Home screen or Install app. It then opens full screen like an app. See the blog for step-by-step help.
Your filters may be too narrow, or the shops that match are closed. Tap Reset in the Filter panel.
If you tapped Don’t Allow, the site cannot ask again. Turn location back on in your phone or browser, then reload the page and tap the big button again:
Without location, the Trail starts with the shop that opens soonest, and you can tap ▶ on any shop to choose your own start.
Double-tap the button, or tap Undo under it, and the shop goes back to not visited. Each double-tap or Undo goes back one more step. You can also untick it in the Visited list under your route.
Yes. Below the shop list, in the Your own stops box, tap ➕ Add Your Own Stop. Start typing a name and pick a common Chattanooga place from the suggestions, or type a street address, then choose an icon. The Trail places the stop for you. If you add an appointment time, it goes where you can finish the shops before it, and the card shows about when to leave (an estimate, with no live traffic). Without a time, it goes where it adds the least driving. Your stop stays on your device only and clears itself the next day.
Yes. Tap ☕ Add a coffee stop, right beside Add Your Own Stop below the shop list, and the Trail offers up to three open coffee shops on the way to your next shop, with the moderators’ favorites first. Tap Add to Route to drop one in before that shop, or Directions to go straight there. Coffee shops also show on the map with a ☕ marker.
No. The Trail checks for updates by itself when you open it, when you come back to it, and every few minutes. When a new version is ready the page quietly refreshes itself at a safe moment, with no banner and nothing to tap. Your progress is saved first.
Private or incognito browsing can block saving. Open the Trail in a regular tab.
Hours come from listings and can change. Call the shop or check its page, and remove it from your route with the minus button.
Google Maps limits how many stops you can add to a route, and leaves the order up to you. The Trail has no built-in shop limit and orders your loop around each shop’s hours. Each shop’s Get directions link opens the maps app you choose (Apple Maps, Google Maps or Waze), so the two work together. Read why not just use Google Maps.
Not right now. The tip buttons at the bottom are optional.
No. It is a web app that runs in your browser. Add it to your home screen if you want it to open like an app (see Get the web app above).
more than forty thrift stores, vintage shops and antique malls around Chattanooga and nearby North Georgia.
Yes. Open Shops & Charities for the full list by neighborhood with addresses, hours and the cause each charity shop supports.
Open the Community Calendar. It shows church sales, shop events and special thrift days by month, with event names right in the calendar. Anyone can submit an in-person event with a street address.
Open Update Your Shop Listing (also in the menu under Shop managers). Tell the moderators your hours, sales and what shoppers should know, and they review it before changing anything. You can also download the Trail Poster there to display in your shop.
Your choice. The first time you tap Get directions, the Trail asks whether you use Apple Maps, Google Maps or Waze and remembers it. Change it any time in the menu under Maps app.
Site sponsored by Thrifty Flea