Things to do in Gatlinburg & the Smokies

Dolly Parton's home-turf theme park mixes wooden coasters with Appalachian craft and music.

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

The highest point in the Smokies, with a 360-degree observation tower above the treeline.

The lowest drivable pass across the Smokies, straddling the Tennessee-North Carolina line.

A 680-foot pedestrian suspension bridge with a glass floor section above the treetops.

An aerial tramway ride up to alpine coasters, a ropes course, and mountaintop views.

A mountaintop adventure park reached by gondola, with treetop rope courses and zip lines.

A glass tunnel moves visitors through shark and stingray tanks in downtown Gatlinburg.

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

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

Vintage steam and diesel excursions roll along the Tuckasegee River from Bryson City.

A dinner-and-horse-show spectacle with a four-course meal eaten entirely by hand.

A free-to-enter entertainment district built around a 200-foot observation wheel.

A 407-foot observation tower with a glass elevator ride to a 360-degree viewing deck.

A working 1830s grist mill turned restaurant district on the banks of the Little Pigeon River.

Fresh-pressed cider, apple fritters, and homemade preserves in a working orchard barn.

A quiet 5.5-mile loop past waterfalls and preserved log cabins deep in the national park.

A mountain town bordering Great Smoky Mountains National Park, a gateway for rafting, hiking, and the Cherokee reservation.

Explore hands-on exhibits about Oak Ridge's role in the Manhattan Project and the science and energy research that followed.

Tour George Vanderbilt's 250-room mansion, then wander the Olmsted gardens and taste wine at the estate winery.

Drive, hike and camp among forested ridges, waterfalls and preserved mountain homesteads on the Tennessee and North Carolina line.

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