The cover story lauded the city not just for its world-class outdoor attractions, but also for its gigabit Internet, emerging startup scene and trendy downtown.
The cover photo featured a picture shot from Chattanooga's North shore looking south over the Market Street bridge, and displayed pictures of the Hunter Museum of American Art, The Farmer's Daughter restaurant and a hang glider taking off just outside the city.
"When I was growing up an hour south of Chattanooga in the eighties and nineties, the city was best known for MoonPies, those sinfully delicious chocolate, graham cracker and marshmallow hockey picks," wrote Graham Averill, who penned the article for Outside. "Fast-forward a couple of decades and I'm standing in a juice bar on the edge of downtown, wondering what happened to the corny place I once knew."
The Scenic City defeated Roanoke, Virginia; Raleigh-Durham, North Carolina; Beaufort, South Carolina; Eau Claire, Wisconsin and Port Angeles, Washington in a 64-town contest that saw more than 1.5 million votes cast.
"The quanity and quality of adventure playgrounds - including the Tennessee River, which wraps around the city, and a bevy of Class IV=V rapids on the nearby Ocoee - helped it win our Best Towns contest four years ago," wrote Averill. "But now the city itself has caught up with the surrounding action."
For a two-day trip, the magazine advises that adventurers seeking a good time in Chattanooga start out with a Nightrider Nitro at Velo coffee roasters, then head to Racoon Mountain for 30 miles of singletrack biking, then grab lunch at Taqueria Jalisco downtown. In the afternoon, the magazine advises adventurers to take up paddleboarding, then grab some ramen at Two Ten Jack and finish the night at Flying Squirrel.
On day two, Averill recommends eggs at the Bluegrass Grill, then a three-mile run on Bluff Trail before lunch at Farmer's Daughter. In the afternoon, spend a few hours working up the Tennessee Wall at the rim of the Tennessee River Gorge located 20 minutes from downtown. And finally, finish the day at Urban Stack with a burger and Cumberland cask whiskey.
"Two days in the city should be enough to convince you to make the move," Averill wrote.