So I am taking the family in the Family Truckster to this area at the end of the month, and I would like some suggestions of things to do with the family up there. All the stuff touristy stuff too would be much appreciated. Thanks.
Gatlinburg/Pigeon Forge suggestions please
- Thread starter Nole Daddy
- Start date
Unfortunately my favorite mini golf/putt putt course in the entire world did not survive the fires from late November.
http://www.golfdigest.com/story/bel...ourse-destroyed-in-gatlinburgs-historic-fires
I haven't been back since Nov 29th to see what has made it as I'm giving them time to recover before going back. I know most of downtown Gatlinburg survived as did Dollywood but there may be some other things that didn't make it beyond the list here.
http://www.knoxnews.com/story/news/...te-list-structures-damaged-wildfire/94673508/
I'll come back when I have more time to go in detail but as a quick reference guide of my suggestions.
1) Dollywood is a must do. It's not really big enough without little kids to be what I would consider an all day park but it a really nice combo of excellent rides (especially Wild Eagle, Lightning Rod, Mystery Mine and Thunderhead which you'll want to do more than once), good live shows (especially if you can tolerate country music and white gospel "music" but even if not they've got some other decent shows focusing on old 50s-70s rock standards) and absolutely amazing food. Dollywood routinely wins Golden Ticket (theme park industry) awards for best food which it alternates with Knoebels, friendliest park and best live shows. As far as best food goes, make sure you go to Aunt Granny's for their AYCE Mountain comfort food buffet but save room for the absolutely amazing cinnamon bread with icing at the working flour mill, it's made completely from scratch using the recently ground and therefore remarkably fresh flour.
2) Going to Cherokee is a must even if you don't want to gamble at the surprisingly nice casino there (my favorite "Indian" casino not associated with the sin cities and resorts of Vegas, Atlantic City, Tunica or Biloxi). The Cherokee history museum is the nicest native culture museum which blows away the larger and showier Smithsonian version in DC. The performance show Unto These Hills is the nicest "native" Cultural show I've seen other than Hâ- Breath of Life at the Polynesian Cultural Center in Oahu. The drive between Gatlinburg and Cherokee USED to be one of the best drives in Mericuh (although with the fire so recent I don't know if it still needs time to recover) and there are a ton of nice Park and walk viewpoints along the way for great views and photos especially Clingman's Dome. Also along the way is Oconaluftee which at dusk but especially dawn usually features large herds of "wild" (actually pretty tame and used to humans because of all of the tourons but free roaming) elk. Honestly the views and hikes between Gatlinburg and Cherokee are better imo than the ones in the official Great Smoky Mountain NP.
3) You have kids in tow so it sounds like you'll miss out on one of my favorite things to do...get drunk for free by walking from free moonshine tasting to free moonshine tasting in Gatlinburg. Each place will give you a little half or a third shot of each of their moonshines which doesn't sound like much until you realise you're getting 12 or more at each place and you're only a five minute walk to the next. Ole Smoky is the largest national brand of moonshine and they've got two places in Gatlinburg, you might think they offer the same stuff but they don't. One offers their more mainstream varieties (unflavoured and mainstream flavors like "apple pie") while the other has more unusual flavors as the second tasting location used to be called Daniel Boone moonshine and while owned by Ole Smoky was kept as a second separate production line like Bud and Busch but now it's all just Ole Smoky. It's the most commercialised product but they're decent and the original location frequently has live local bands playing mountain country music on a regular basis. Sugarlands is also pretty good and while I don't think they have the best base moonshine, some of their flavoured varieties are really good (for example I love their blackberry, apple pie and butterscotch varieties the best). But the best moonshine in the area (and there's a lot including the popular Old Forge Distillery) is Doc Collier. Their straight from the still 125 proof moonshine is by far the best base and is smoother than most high end vodkas despite the high proof (they won't give you a tasting of this unless you specifically ask for it as they don't want chase off Joe Sixpack fresh from the weak 40 proof flavoured moonshine tastings). Honestly I like Doc Collier's 125 "moonshine" better than even Maker's Mark "white bourbon" and I REALLY like the Maker's Mark unaged product you can only get straight from the distillery. Doc Collier also makes the best cinnamon liqueur I've had, blowing away Fireball and other cinnamon moonshines (only Universal Studio's proprietary Fire Whiskey and Goldschlager comes close).
4) There are a lot of standalone "alpine coasters" built around the mountains, at least four that I know of. However I don't know if they all survived the fires. But I highly suggest doing one as a family even if someone is squeamish about coasters. They LOOK wild as you're very exposed in your own little coaster cart BUT they're actually pretty slow even all out (I think maximum 25 - 35 mph) and you can apply brakes if you get nervous to slow down. They FEEL pretty quick despite being slow because you're basically all by yourself on a little sled, so it feels intense but really is very tame.
5) Applewood Farmhouse is very touristy but it does live up to the hype. It's got the best mountain comfort food in the area other than Aunt Granny's inside Dollywood. AND they have a nice free tasting room of apple wines and apple plus other fruit wines.
6) If you have small kids up to about 12-13 they will love English Mountain Trout Farm as it's a fully stocked (really overstocked) little trout pond where they toss in only large ready to eat Rainbow Trout from nearby farms into a small barely Olympic Sized swimming poolesque cement "pond" that you then fish for your dinner. It's literally shooting monkeys in the barrel as they've been raised to eat whatever is tossed into their pool. So you can get a nice "look what I caught" moment and photo with a pretty large rainbow trout and then you have the onsite restaurant serve up your catch. That's where as adults you will love it because they cook nothing all day everyday but fresh rainbow trout in six or seven different preps and they are ALL good. Ignore the closed for season on the attached website it just hasn't been updated, they opened March 1 per Facebook.
http://www.englishmountaintroutfarm.net/
Take the rental van across the Tail of the Dragon and have lunch at Deals Gap. Tree of Shame if you've never seen it always results in pictures and laughs. Cherahola Skyway is a great drive.
If anyone in your family likes birds, Parrot Mountain near Pigeon Forge was really nice. You can get close to all kinds of parrots.
http://www.parrotmountainandgardens.com/
http://www.parrotmountainandgardens.com/
My favorite drives are the unimproved roads and loops. Cherokee Orchard leaves from right near downtown Gatlinburg, Greenbriar is nice. Parsons Branch is nice out of Cades Cove, it takes you across the mountain to the Fontana Dam. From there it's some nice switchbacks roads along some finger lakes. Cades Cove is lame, it's only nice in the fall when leaves change. If you catch Smiths Mountain road (one way) out of Cades Cove open, take it. The view from up there at the little church in the valley is the prettiest picture in that area. The tourist have ruined the area with traffic, I think the place sucks now. Traffics hell
Hey motorcycle run wish list of mine that I have yet to do.
I agree with the Cades Cove comment. That area looks just like where my wife grew up which is only a 20 minute drive from out house. I was joking while in the cove that we would put a 11 mile loop around her Dad's farm and force people to drive 5 mph on it. Ohhh get the camera, there is a wild turkey! Ohhh stop the car, a DEER!
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We have done the Parson's Branch at Cades Cove and wanted to do Smith's Mountain rd this past Oct while we up there in the Jeep, just wasn't sure how long it takes to get to the other end. Also we weren't really sure about where it started, is there a sign on the Cades Cove loop to mark it? How long did it take you to drive it.
Do it. Such an easy thing to mark off the list. When I was living in Atlanta, we'd likely hit the area 3 times a month in the summer. Good times. Ride up. Ride the Gaps (not just Deals) go for a swim, get lunch many times at Two Wheels at Suches, couple more hours of riding and then head home for dinner.
It got to the point that the drive up was just silly so we'd trailer up and unload at the Home Depot down in Dahlonega.
We really enjoyed Dolly's Dixie stampede. The food was pretty good too. There are 3 or 4 coasters open. More were under construction in January. Snow tubing was fun at Ober Gatlinburg. If you do the tubing, make sure and reserve your timeslot. It sells out months in advance.
The aquarium was OK.
The aquarium was OK.
You had best check ahead and confirm what is open and where... there was widespread fire devestation not so long ago. We always have hiked "above" town and sometimes gorged on pancakes in town. We typically hike over Gatlinburg and then eat in Sylva on the way home.
Yes, it's one way. The ranger comes into park in the morning and unlocks the gate. It was closed the last time i was there and the weather was perfect. I think it has something to do with what I posted earlier, to many people. Theres a road that cuts right through the middle of Cades Cove, when you enter you come to the road Smith Mountain entrance is straight across from the road. It takes about a hour depending on how many times you stop, its pretty up there.
Ummm...aren't you a tourist in that scenario?
Yes, I've been a tourist in that area since I was 5 years old and my dad was at UTChattanooga. I don't like it much any more because it's insanely crowded, that's not difficult to understand. Last time i was there when my buddy got married in August it took us 2 hours to get from Cherokee to Gatlinburg, same when I drove to the Louisville game in 2014 and we drove that way going up there. Leaves were changing and it was beautiful but I wont be there in the fall/summer/late spring any more.
Hike up to LeConte Lodge. It's beautiful and can only be reached by hiking. Heat and light are provided by propane and kerosene since there is no electricity.. Water is either packed in by llamas or hand pumped. The log cabins and dining room are very cool and close to 100 years old. It would be really difficult to get overnight reservations at this point. It is typically sold out months in advance. But, it's a great hike and they serve sack lunches to day hikers in the dining room. If you're looking for something different...this is it. It's one of those trips you talk about years down the road. Have fun!
http://www.lecontelodge.com/
Cucumber Gap trail is a great family trail. Goes along the river and, if my memory serves, there are some interesting old ruins of a former resort.
For a pretty easy afternoon or morning stroll, slip into one of the few eastern US old growth timber tracts never logged. https://friendsofthesmokies.org/blog/hike-smokies-albright-grove/ This is a few miles outside of Gatlinburg.
It has been several years since I was there, but this is an easy walk. You walk up through a pretty nice yellow poplar forest that probably went back to woods in the 40's, but once you enter the old growth area the whole experience changes. It feels softer and more lush with more moss and lichens in addition to the big timber.
The Albright Grove is a smaller version and much more accessible than the more well known Joyce Kilmer Memorial Forest in far western NC.
It has been several years since I was there, but this is an easy walk. You walk up through a pretty nice yellow poplar forest that probably went back to woods in the 40's, but once you enter the old growth area the whole experience changes. It feels softer and more lush with more moss and lichens in addition to the big timber.
The Albright Grove is a smaller version and much more accessible than the more well known Joyce Kilmer Memorial Forest in far western NC.
Avoid it like the plague. Hard to imagine the allure of enormous crowds, traffic jams, and wall to wall tackiness. Go on a tour combining great state parks in Tennessee and GA like Roosevelt State Park in GA (Along with Roosevelt’s Little White House), Black Rock Mountain State Park, Lookout Mountain, etc. Tons of great hiking in these areas. Hit a couple of family friendly places like the Aquarium in Chattanooga or the nearby caverns, etc.
I will second this post. I'm headed that-a-way in mid-April. Three nights at a cabin in Tellico Plains and hit as many twisties as I can.
Is there a time when it is not crazy busy with people and traffic? Live about 3 hours away. Wife and I are thinking of visiting but hate crowds.
I don't mind the touristy stuff. This is a family vacation that my kids will love all that stuff. Now if it was just the wife and I then I would not want so much of it. I do appreciate all the great info.
Once again thanks for all the ideas. We have a really nice cabin that has everything we could ask for. So far we have done the sky coasters( awesome); walked around the stuff in Gatlinburg; did Cades Cove( great); horse back riding up and down a mountain; and hiked a bunch. The kids want to do the snow tubing which is still open, but will be fake snow( at Ober Gatlinburg). I want to do some more hiking and I am debating Dollywood. It's been really fun. One thing I am surprised is there is not as much fire damage as I expected. There is some but not nearly as much as I thought we would see.
I really highly rec Dollywood even if you hate country musical and white gospel (if you love either then it is an absolute must do). It's one of my favorite theme parks in the US as it's a really pleasant day. There are better themed parks (Universal and Islands of Adventure), parks with a better collection of rides (Six Flags Magic Mountain, Cedar Point) and parks that are more beautiful to walk around (BG Williamsburg) but it has a nice combo of rides, a nice selection of shows, great food and a really pleasant park to walk around. I've taken skeptics before including a really picky and complainy sister in law and everyone has really enjoyed it.
So we did not do Dollywood, even though we wish we could have. We had such a good time hiking the Smokey Mountains that everyone wanted another day of that. We will definitely come back, because my girls loved the trip and we will do Dollywood next time. It was a very good family vacation for sure.
Gotcha. The names I am not so good with because we just pulled over a bunch in the Smokey Mountains park. We did a neat one to Laurel Falls; some inside Cade's Cove; We got on the Appalachian Trail. There are so many so you will find something to your liking.
Yessir, lots of good spots over that way. The only place with more pancake places is Myrtle Beach, with Williamsburg, Va. trailing in a far distant third. Glad y'all had a good trip.
