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Great Smoky Mountains Heritage Center, Townsend, TN

Photo: Brian Stansberry, CC BY 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons. Cropped and resized.

Museums

Great Smoky Mountains Heritage Center

A private nonprofit museum near the Great Smoky Mountains National Park entrance that covers regional Native American and Appalachian history.

123 Cromwell Dr., Townsend, TN 37882 · Townsend, TN

About Great Smoky Mountains Heritage Center

Set near the Townsend entrance to the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, this private nonprofit museum preserves the heritage of the region's Native American peoples and its Appalachian settlers. Visitors can view prehistoric and historic artifacts, including pottery and stone tools, and a notable Cherokee collection. An outdoor historic village holds preserved 19th-century buildings, and staff in period dress demonstrate daily crafts. The center also offers guided bus tours of Cades Cove, educational programs, a summer concert series in its covered amphitheater, and festivals throughout the year.

  • #museum
  • #history
  • #Appalachian culture
  • #Cherokee collection
  • #historic village

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What's around here?

The closest stops to Great Smoky Mountains Heritage Center, ordered by straight-line distance. A few more like it, plus some different kinds of fun so you can build a full day.

  • Sports & Outdoors
    Iconic

    Cades Cove

    No admission fee

    An 11-mile loop through Great Smoky Mountains National Park's most famous wildlife valley.

    5.3 mi awaySwitch it up: Sports & Outdoors

  • Sports & Outdoors
    Family Favorite

    Ober Mountain

    $25–$50

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    11 mi awaySwitch it up: Sports & Outdoors

  • Sightseeing
    Family Favorite

    The Parkway

    No admission fee

    Walk the Parkway, Gatlinburg's main street of candy shops, restaurants and attractions at the edge of the Smoky Mountains.

    Transit: reachable by public transit

    12 mi awaySwitch it up: Sightseeing

  • Museums
    Quirky Fun

    Ripley's Believe It or Not! Odditorium

    Under $25

    Ten rooms of oddities, shrunken heads, and optical illusions on the Gatlinburg strip.

    Transit: reachable by public transit

    12 mi awayMore like this

  • Museums
    History Buff

    Titanic Museum Attraction

    $25–$50

    A half-scale ship replica houses hundreds of recovered artifacts and passenger stories.

    Transit: reachable by public transit

    13 mi awayMore like this

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    Mabry-Hazen House

    Under $25

    Historic 1858 hilltop house museum in Knoxville preserving three generations of one family's belongings and local history.

    23 mi awayMore like this