Pigeon Forge area

[fsufantoo]

Okay, I just got back from a week in Pigeon Forge, TN. What a nightmare. I had no idea that this was literally a bad redneck version of I-Drive in the mountains. We had rented a place for the family (grown kids and a grand-daughter) to get together and on VRBO, the Pigeon Forge/Gatlinburg area had the best cabin selection for what we needed. I knew it would be commercialized, but I now realize that I really had no clue. This was my first foray into the Tenn side of the Smokies. We have been on the Carolina side for many years.

The Tenn side really embraces the cartoonish hillbilly caricature. Huge billboards advertised dinner shows featuring barefoot goobers with blacked out teeth, wearing straw hats and bib overalls. Granny with a corn cob pipe, jug of shine and toting a shotgun… ugh. It was damn sad that people considered this entertainment.

Traffic was bumper to bumper most all the time and a simple ride (maybe 8-10 miles round trip) to the store to get some food or beer was an hour plus in the car. Traffic light after traffic light of stop and stop and then crawl a few hundred feet, then stop some more, traffic. This was 6 lane wide traffic/parking lot.

We went to Cades Cove and stayed up in the Natl. Park as much as possible. Went on a few hikes. We did walk around Gatlinburg late one morning (11:30 ish), prior to the crowds filling up the street and hit some of the distilleries for shine tasting and that was nice.

I guess if you had some kids that are pre-teen aged (8-12), maybe it would be a trip for them. But you will never get my tail up there again.

I am heading back to Franklin, Bryson City area from now on. My grandkids can hike sections of the AT and find waterfalls, go tubing and rafting with me like my kids did when they were young.

 

[kc78]

Went a few years ago. My wife and I both said it was our version of Hell.

 

[Nole Lou]

I like Cades Cove. We went to Pigeon Forge a couple years ago and stayed in that waterpark motel. We didn't venture out all that much.

I don't mind the commercial silliness, I kind of like it myself, even though we don't really partake in much. I just like being able to walk around and look at stuff.

But what gets me is the traffic, like you said. There is nothing there that is worth sitting in that stupid traffic. My family lives in Knoxville so we're in the area many times a year, and I think we've done Pigeon Forge/Gatlinburg that one time in the last 12 years, and maybe twice in 20 years.

 

[cfbfan23]

Did you visit any of the sequin mines while you were there?

 

[FSUTribe76]

I like Cades Cove. We went to Pigeon Forge a couple years ago and stayed in that waterpark motel. We didn't venture out all that much.

I don't mind the commercial silliness, I kind of like it myself, even though we don't really partake in much. I just like being able to walk around and look at stuff.

But what gets me is the traffic, like you said. There is nothing there that is worth sitting in that stupid traffic. My family lives in Knoxville so we're in the area many times a year, and I think we've done Pigeon Forge/Gatlinburg that one time in the last 12 years, and maybe twice in 20 years.

I don't get the hate unless you're going there for the wrong reasons. It's a tourist place for families, not a secluded mountain resort/hunting type of place....so it's got lots of stereotypical tourist things.

For one, Dollywood is actually pretty good theme park. While I prefer Universal Studios, Islands of Adventure, Knoebels, both Busch Gardens, Magic Mountain, and Six Flags New Jersey better, I put it on par with Kings Dominion (which has better adult rides but worse shows and much worse food) and better than all of the Disney parks, Carowinds, all other Six Flags and Cedar Fair parks, Dorney, Canada's Wonderland, Knots Berry Farm, Hersheypark, the various Sea Worlds, etc... It's firmly a top quartile theme park with a handful of nice rides (Wild Eagle would be in my top ten steel coasters near the bottom, Thunderhead is my fifth favorite woodie coaster after the three at Knoebels and Cyclone at Coney Island, but ahead of El Toro in 6FNJ, and Mystery Mine is my sixth favorite dark ride after both Harry Potters, Mummy, Spiderman and Transformers), some quality musical entertainment (even though I'm not a fan of white gospel and modern country, but the bluegrass, roots and blues are nice), and some of the best food in theme parks period (only Knoebels would be on par).

Then in addition to a top quartile theme park, you can get literally trashed if you want to for free by hopping from moonshine distillery to moonshine distillery. They've got an least six moonshine distilleries there now plus four or five wineries and most if not all have free tastings. And the live shows are usually pretty good. Not as good as NYC or Vegas but better than those in Otown or other random cities.

Plus...they've got a ton of great putt putt places (Hillbilly golf is my favorite anywhere) and four or five standalone alpine coasters now, all of which are great. And the Great Smokey national park is literally next door.

 

[OrlandNole]

I don't get the hate unless you're going there for the wrong reasons. It's a tourist place for families, not a secluded mountain resort/hunting type of place....so it's got lots of stereotypical tourist things.

Yep. Even the most cursory of internet searches would reveal this. With all due respect to the OP, it's his own fault for not doing his homework.

 

[cfbfan23]

I would shy away from PCB and/or Myrtle Beach if your looking to vacation on the coast.

 

[jamnolfin]

I stayed 2 nights there on the wat up to the Louisville game last fall. It took us almost 2 hours to go from Cherokee to Gatlinburg, it was a nightmare. If you go there again get a cabin close to Gatlinburg so all you have to do is drive into Gatlinburg and you can walk around there. Everything in Pigeon Forge is spread out so you have to drive a lot. I will be staying there 2 nights in August at a hotel on the Gatlinburg strip for a wedding.

 

[fsufantoo]

I did my homework and read up plenty. I realized it would be commercialized but not to the ultra-crowded extent of what I ran into. No where did I find that traveling from one end of town to the other would be a +1 hour trip (about 6-8 miles) with more than a dozen (non-synced) traffic lights and 6 lanes of traffic.

And it was literally just Pigeon Forge that was so crowded and crammed up with shops. Gatlinburg had a totally different feel and you could walk the downtown area.

To me the Tenn side is just weird/different. You go from the Knoxville area (turn off at Kodak) which is seems pretty flat and then just jump into the mountains, like there is not a real foothills region.

Our cabin was up in the mountains heading towards Gatlinburg and from the deck, you could not tell that just a few miles away was arcade hell. So we hiked in the park, drove thru Wears Valley to go to Cades Cove and then stayed out at the cabin (4 bedroom, game room, 2 covered decks with views).

There was a poster earlier on this board who raved about the place and loaded a bunch of suggested things to do. Folks on TripAdvisor were saying all these good things about the place. As I said, it was my first time on the Tennessee side of the Smokies and I now know the score.

 

[89nole]

I did my homework and read up plenty. I realized it would be commercialized but not to the ultra-crowded extent of what I ran into. No where did I find that traveling from one end of town to the other would be a +1 hour trip (about 6-8 miles) with more than a dozen (non-synced) traffic lights and 6 lanes of traffic.

And it was literally just Pigeon Forge that was so crowded and crammed up with shops. Gatlinburg had a totally different feel and you could walk the downtown area.

To me the Tenn side is just weird/different. You go from the Knoxville area (turn off at Kodak) which is seems pretty flat and then just jump into the mountains, like there is not a real foothills region.

Our cabin was up in the mountains heading towards Gatlinburg and from the deck, you could not tell that just a few miles away was arcade hell. So we hiked in the park, drove thru Wears Valley to go to Cades Cove and then stayed out at the cabin (4 bedroom, game room, 2 covered decks with views).

There was a poster earlier on this board who raved about the place and loaded a bunch of suggested things to do. Folks on TripAdvisor were saying all these good things about the place. As I said, it was my first time on the Tennessee side of the Smokies and I now know the score.