Gatlinburg vacation

[willtim]

Spend as much time as you can in the Park.

 

[summs]

The smokeys is the most visited NP every year for the last 10. 13mil + people. It's crowded. You need additional parking passes just to park, and there's very limited parking spots.
Gatlinburg is ehh, you can sample some moonshine and walk around the salt and pepper shaker museum. Lots of good breakfast joints, If you like good fried catfish, there was a lot of it down there.

 

[HOCM60]

Cades Cove for elk!

 

[loganwayne]

Cades Cove for elk!

No elk in cades cove yet. But some massive bucks and lots of bears

 

[xcutter]

HIking and Activities:
Mt LeConte via the Alum Cave Trail Head - More of a difficult hike but awesome view on a clear day.
Laurel Falls - Very easy hike. Paved trail.
Roaring Fork Drive Loop, Gatlinburg - Rainbow Falls is a moderate hike but beautiful waterfall. Lots of hikes on this loop.
Clingmans Dome
Oconaluftee Visitor Center - Good place to see elk. Talk to workers there and they will tell you where to hike and see them.
Mingo Falls - Fairly easy short hike but has a lot of steps.
Cades Cove - Abrams Falls - Moderate hike but kids can swim there.
Ripley's Aquarium, Gatlinburg
Comedy Barn, Pigeon Forge
Hatfield and McCoy's Dinner Show, Pigeon Forge
Metcalf Bottoms - Nice place to hike or let kids swim. Picnic. Hike to little greenbrier school.

Food:
Pawpaw's Catfish, Sevierville
Gaucho Urbano, Pigeon Forge- Brazilian steakhouse. Kind of pricey but execellent food.
Five Oaks Farmhouse, Sevierville - Good breakfast.
Taste of Tokyo, Sevierville - Hibachi grill for kids.
Mellow Mushroom, Pigeon Forge
Bennett's Barbecue, Gatlinburg or Pigeon Forge
Boss Hogg's Barbecue Shack, Pigeon Forge
Mel's Diner, Pigeon Forge
Davy Crockett's Breakfast Camp, Gatlinburg
Kilwin's Ice Cream, Gatlinburg
The Peddler Steakhouse, Gatlinburg
No Way Jose's, Gatlinburg
Alamo Steakhouse, Gatlinburg or Pigeon Forge

 

[satchamo]

Yeah it will be crowded but if you avoid Gatlinburg and pigeon forge that does away with 50% or the crowding. We go every year but never go into those towns and stay out in the smaller towns.

Most trails in the park are gonna be crowded. Honestly with young kids we find a place to park and play in the river as much as anything. Cades cove is worth the drive, there’s no denying the abundance of wildlife there. Fishing can be had but it’s pressured so don’t expect a ton of success

If you’re feeling super rambunctious there’s a place called cataloochee valley full of elk but it’s on the North Carolina side and a good haul from the Gatlinburg side. But there’s some big old bulls up there and lots of bugling if it’s that time of year. I know Cherokee has them too but they’re a bit more humanized there.

 

[loganwayne]

Yeah it will be crowded but if you avoid Gatlinburg and pigeon forge that does away with 50% or the crowding. We go every year but never go into those towns and stay out in the smaller towns.

Most trails in the park are gonna be crowded. Honestly with young kids we find a place to park and play in the river as much as anything. Cades cove is worth the drive, there’s no denying the abundance of wildlife there. Fishing can be had but it’s pressured so don’t expect a ton of success

If you’re feeling super rambunctious there’s a place called cataloochee valley full of elk but it’s on the North Carolina side and a good haul from the Gatlinburg side. But there’s some big old bulls up there and lots of bugling if it’s that time of year. I know Cherokee has them too but they’re a bit more humanized there.

Just an FYI for anyone looking to go but cataloochee was hit pretty hard during halene, and is still closed right now. Alot of roads were washed away or slid off the mountain

 

[7Bartman]

For the more avid hikers, the hike up to Mt. Leconte/Leconte lodge is fun, but challenging. Plenty of waterholes to swim/jump in to.
For family activities I like the Hillbilly putt-putt golf course on the side of the mountain in Gatlinburg. Lots of fun and they usually run a bear off the course most days.
For total tourist trap cheezy fun I recommend Frizzle Chicken for breakfast and a singing-chicken show.

 

[omicron1792]

Saltwater taffy

Dollywood is a really clean nice park. My kids loved it.

That said, compared to Disney, it reminds me of the casino on Vegas vacation movie where the games were ones like “guess what number I’m holding up behind my back.”

 

[bozeman]

Fly fishing in Cherokee, NC.

 

[tony]

8 kids and 12 adults? - A pound of weed and a case of whiskey

Theres all kinds of stuff for everybody to do while you're partaking in the above.

 

[peewee]

My family loves that area and I really like Dollywood but I’m a 50 year old kid who still loves roller coasters. Everything has about been covered but I only saw 1 post recommending white water rafting. We drove and went on Nanatahala white water rafting tour and it was the most fun we had. I’d highly recommend it, fun for all ages.

 

[Fullfan]

Don't go unless you like being around lots and lots of ppl. Daughter was married near there last Aug. Way too many ppl for me.

 

[-bowfreak-]

The only must see in that area is the Micro Wrestling Federation in Pigeon Forge.

Thank me later.

 

[lmeyer]

Thanks for all the suggestions so far.
How about a good swimming hole or creek for the little kids to play in?

 

[streamguy]

There's a nice waterfall hike outside of Gatlinburg. Rainbow Falls is abt 2.5 mile off the trailhead. Nice stream at great waterfall at the top.

 

[MTriplett]

Make a day trip to Cades Cove. Take food and charcoal. There are some beautiful picnic areas. Stop at every stop in the Cove and drink in the history. I try to put my mind back in the times of the cabin or church that I am visiting. Pay special attention to all the small details.
There is outstanding hiking in the park. You can choose easy to strenuous. I especially enjoy the various waterfall hikes. There are still small virgin stands of timber.

I did the same thing and it’s really cool to imagine how it was back then.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[PhotonSlinger]

Took my family in July in 2023 and it has been our most memorable vacation yet. Two week roadtrip from the panhandle of Texas to Pigeon Forge with a 7 and 9 yr old. We spread the activities to one a day so we weren’t rushing and stressing. Highlights were Dollywood Splash Country, Anakeesta was fun, The island in Pigeon Forge(4 story tall structure attached by a harness walking balance beams), putt putt courses everywhere, drove to Chattanooga and went through Ruby Falls-lookout mountain-and rock city, rafting with SMO rafting at Hartford, pirate show for dinner one evening, multiple days in the park hiking. I went to the local REI and asked two older women working there where we could hike without seeing anybody or very few people and they delivered! We hiked multiple days and saw hardly anybody, I would rather walk an unpopular trail than to a waterfall and feel like I’m at a mall. One of the trails we went down paralleled a stream the entire time for miles, under tree canopy the entire day, amazing! Traffic sucks so just expect it and plan accordingly. You can find crowds and you can find solitude. We found both with expectations of both and still talk about doing that trip again. Enjoy it!