January 14–17, 2027 · UTC Fine Arts Center, Chattanooga · About 1 hour from The Canyon
Every January, Chattanooga fills a theater with people who would rather be outside. Lookout Wild is the city’s outdoor adventure and conservation film festival: climbing, paddling, long trails, wild places and the people who give their lives to them. It’s nonprofit, run by volunteers, and it has been going for more than a decade.
Four days of films about wild places is a strange thing to watch from a hotel room downtown. Watch them in town, then drive an hour up onto the Cumberland Plateau and sleep in one.
Why stay at The Canyon for Lookout Wild
- An hour from the theater. Close enough for the evening screenings, far enough that the drive back feels like leaving town.
- 447 acres of your own. Six private domes on a canyon rim, each with its own hot tub. A January hot tub after a night of adventure films is hard to beat.
- The films, then the real thing. Pond Creek Crag is on the property, with sandstone routes a short walk from the domes. Cool, dry winter days are good climbing days on the plateau. Or hike down to the falls.
- Winter skies. Long, clear nights with very little light around. Step out of the hot tub and look up.
Planning the weekend
- Thursday: Check in, settle into the dome, hot tub.
- Friday and Saturday: Morning on the property (crag, trail, coffee on the deck), afternoon and evening screenings in Chattanooga.
- Sunday: Final session in town, or one more slow morning before checkout.
Check lwff.org for the film lineup, passes and schedule. Festival weekend is one of the busier January weekends in Chattanooga, so book the dome early.
Getting there
From The Canyon it’s about an hour to downtown Chattanooga. See Glamping Near Chattanooga for directions from Atlanta, Nashville and beyond.
