The Chattanooga September List: 10 Things We're Doing Before Fall Really Arrives
September might be one of Chattanooga's best-kept secrets.
Summer isn't quite finished. The days are still warm enough for the river, but evenings finally start giving us a hint of what's coming. Football is back. Fall festivals begin opening their gates. Patios get comfortable again. Suddenly, there's an entire month when you can squeeze in one last summer adventure and start doing all the things you love about fall.
So rather than another calendar of events, we've put together our September list—the things we'd genuinely make time for this month.
1. Catch a Double Feature Under the Stars
Before evenings get too chilly, load up the car and head across the state line to Wilderness Outdoor Movie Theater in Trenton.
This isn't an outdoor screening with a projector and folding chairs. Wilderness is an old-school drive-in movie theater—and bills itself as the world's largest outdoor movie theater—with multiple screens, double features and the kind of concession-stand dinner that is part of the experience.
Bring chairs and blankets if you'd rather sit outside the car, arrive before dark, and make a night of it. Movies typically begin at 9 p.m., with gates opening at 7:30. The September movie schedule changes, so check what's playing before you go.
Make it a night: Skip dinner beforehand and eat at the drive-in. Outside food and drinks aren't permitted anyway, and half the fun is ordering movie-theater food once you're there.
See what's playing at Wilderness Theater
2. Spend a Friday Night Under the Lights
You don't need a kid in high school to appreciate Friday night football in the South.
September is full of local matchups, but Boyd Buchanan vs. Chattanooga Christian School on September 18 is the one we'd circle. It's a Friday night region game between two Chattanooga schools, with kickoff scheduled for 7 p.m. at Boyd Buchanan.
Show up early, grab something from concessions and settle into the stands. There's something wonderfully familiar about the marching band, student sections, stadium lights and everybody running into somebody they know.
If that date doesn't work, Signal Mountain at Soddy Daisy on September 4 gives you another very local Friday-night matchup.
3. Be Among the First to Try The Trinity
September is also a good excuse to try someplace completely new.
The Trinity Restaurant has brought a little New Orleans to Market Street, with French Quarter inspiration, classic New Orleans dishes, cocktails and plenty of Big Easy personality.
We'd make this one a proper night out: dinner at Trinity, then walk through the Choo Choo and Southside afterward. Chattanooga's restaurant scene has become one of our favorite things about living here, and trying a new opening before you've already heard everyone else's opinion is half the fun.
Go for: New Orleans classics and one of the house cocktails. This isn't the night to order something you could get anywhere else.
4. Take One Last Trip Down the River
Don't put away the swimsuits yet.
September is your chance to sneak in one final river day, and you've got two very different ways to do it.
For the easygoing version, head to the Hiwassee. Hiwassee Outfitters offers self-guided floats through the beautiful Cherokee National Forest area, making it a great option for families or anyone who wants scenery with just enough excitement.
For the adventurous version, you've still got the Ocoee. September releases continue on weekends, with the Middle Ocoee's famous Class III-IV whitewater still running into fall. Outfitters including Outdoor Adventure Rafting and RaftOne can handle the details.
Our vote: Hiwassee if you're taking younger kids or want to relax. Ocoee if your definition of relaxing involves a helmet.
5. Kayak the Tennessee River Gorge at Sunset
This one is too good not to include.
On September 3, Outdoor Chattanooga and the Tennessee River Gorge Trust are hosting a guided Sunset Kayak through the Tennessee River Gorge from 6–10 p.m. The trip combines paddling with a closer look at the ecology and conservation of one of the most beautiful stretches of river anywhere around Chattanooga.
Even if you've driven through the Gorge a hundred times, seeing it from water level as the sun goes down is a completely different experience.
6. Eat Your Way Through the Fall Food Truck Rally
The Chattanooga Market deserves a September visit anyway, but September 6 gives you an especially good excuse.
The annual Fall Food Truck Rally takes over the market with local food trucks gathered along Reggie White Boulevard, alongside the regular mix of produce, makers, artists and live entertainment.
Come hungry. Trying to behave yourself at a food truck rally defeats the purpose.
7. Welcome Fall at Mayfield Farm Park
Here's where we officially allow fall to enter the conversation.
Mayfield Farm Park in Athens opens its Fall Festival on September 26, with the corn maze, pumpkin patch, farm activities, U-pick flowers and plenty of reasons to stay until evening. Opening weekend is also one of the farm's value weekends, with discounted online admission.
And yes, get the Mayfield ice cream while you're there.
This is about an hour from Chattanooga, which is just far enough to feel like a day trip without sacrificing the entire day.
Mayfield Farm Park Fall Festival
8. Watch Chattanooga Become an IRONMAN City
You absolutely do not have to swim 2.4 miles, bike 112 and then run a marathon to enjoy this one.
IRONMAN Chattanooga returns September 27, and race weekend changes the energy downtown.
Pick a spot along the course and cheer. Cowbells are encouraged. Watching athletes who've trained for months make their way through Chattanooga is inspiring even if the most athletic thing you plan to do that Sunday is walk to brunch.
The finish-line atmosphere is especially worth experiencing at least once.
9. Try Something You've Never Done Outside
September is arguably Chattanooga's best outdoor month because you get all the adventure without quite as much August heat. Outdoor Chattanooga has several unusual events on the calendar this month, including Try Caving! with Chattanooga Grotto Club on September 13. Caving may not be everyone's idea of a relaxing Sunday morning. That's exactly why we like it for this list. Living in Chattanooga means having access to the kind of outdoor experiences most people travel somewhere else to find. Every once in a while, it's worth taking advantage of that.
10. Give Summer One Last Proper Weekend
This one doesn't need tickets. Pick a September Saturday when absolutely nothing is on the calendar. Have brunch somewhere you love. Get outside. Walk the Riverwalk, take the boat out, hike Signal Mountain, paddle the river or simply spend an afternoon downtown.
Have dinner on a patio. Stay until the sun goes down.
September in Chattanooga sits in that wonderful little window between seasons when you can still do almost everything you loved about summer while feeling the first hints of fall arriving. Don't rush through it. October will bring pumpkins, leaves, football and sweaters soon enough. For now, we'd squeeze every last drop out of September.