15 Fun Things to Do in Gatlinburg and Pigeon Forge

Looking for the most fun things to do in Gatlinburg and Pigeon Forge on your next Smoky Mountains vacation? We spent ten days trying out all the food, fun, and family-friendly activities we could to put together the ultimate guide to visiting the area!

Sponsored by: Redweek – all opinions and ideas are 100% honest and my own.

The Ultimate Guide to Gatlinburg for Families

My family just got back from a ten day trip to Gatlinburg and Pigeon Forge where we did all sorts of fun things as a family, and we barely scratched the surface of all of the possible things you could do. We easily could have spent another week there without doing everything, and we’ve already decided we need to go back soon!

Whether you want to see bears, ride as many coasters as possible, or do things just available in that region, you’ll find it all right here! And I’ve included our honest opinion on everything we did, the absolute best place to stay, and ways to save money on the entire trip!

When my family travels, we typically try to fill our time with things that are unique to the area. If it’s something we can do at home (like go see a movie), we’ll save it for when we’re at home!

There are about a million things to do in Gatlinburg and Pigeon Forge, these are the ones we found to be the most fun and unique!

1 – Spend a Day at Dollywood

We are theme park junkies so Dollywood was a must-do on our Smoky Mountains bucket list. After visiting the park for the first time, I recommend everyone who enjoys amusement parks at all add it to your Pigeon Forge to do list!

If you’ve ever been to Silver Dollar City in Branson, Dollywood is very similar because they are sister parks and owned by the same company. The feel, the design, and even the attractions feel very similar other than Dollywood has more Dolly Parton integrated into the park.

We love Silver Dollar City so it’s probably not surprising that we also loved Dollywood. It’s everything a theme park should be in my opinion – great rides for thrill seekers but also families, fantastic shows, delicious food, and beautiful scenery and settings.

I actually rode my 300th roller coaster at Dollywood, so it holds a special place for me now!

Some highlights for us included:

• Smoky Mountain Summer Celebration – beautiful summer themed decorations, interactive fountains for cooling down, fun summer themed foods like a delicious watermelon lemonade slush, fun dance party, and a nightly drone and fireworks show that was amazing.
• Dolly Parton Experience – if you’re a Dolly fan, this is a must-do.
• Gazillion Bubble Show – I’ve never seen someone do such incredible things with bubbles, this is definitely a must-see, especially for families!
• Cinnamon bread – buy more than you think you need, you can thank me later. You can watch them make it fresh and it tastes just as good as it looks.
• Lightning Rod – if you’ve ever been on a hybrid coaster before, you’ll know why this is a must-try. It’s fast, intense, and easily my favorite coaster there.
• Big Bear Mountain – a super fun family coaster that gives you enough thrills to make it feel like a real coaster for adults but chill enough that kids can ride too.
• Mystery Mine – while my husband and I didn’t love this one, it was both of my boys’ favorite so I have to include it here. It’s unique for sure.

2 – Ride a Mountain Coaster or Nine

One of the things you’ll quickly notice as you drive around the Great Smoky Mountains area is that there are mountain coasters everywhere. The region has the most mountain coasters of any one destination in the world, so I highly recommend you try out at least one! It was one of our favorite things we did all week!

We tried out nine different ones during our visit, and I’ve included notes below about what we loved and didn’t about them so you can choose the best fit for your group!

Goats on the Roof of the Smoky Mountains – our group had mixed reviews on this one. My husband and 13 year old thought the cars were uncomfortable, which ruined the experience for them. I personally thought it was the best of all of the coasters we went on because it was the fastest, one of the only ones I felt like I had to brake on because it was flying. And my youngest son loved that there were actual baby goats on the roof by the coaster (and goats to feed). I personally wouldn’t miss this one, just know it might be a bit uncomfortable to hold the gas down.

Pigeon Forge Racing Coaster – this one features two mountain coasters built right next to each other so you feel like you’re racing, giving it a completely unique feeling compared to the others we tried. This was a favorite for our family because of the racing element, especially because the winner got a poof of smoke at the end congratulating them on their win! Plus, there were two different coasters to try in one place!

Rocky Top Mountain Coaster – this one was super unique because there are four different lift hills and downhills after the lifts. It gave the coaster a feel of being really long (because it was) but all of the different lifts also made it feel like you never really got going because you stopped soon after to go back up again. Another bonus was that it had some fun bear theming along the way that my kids thoroughly enjoyed, and it made the uphills more exciting.

The Wild Stallion Mountain Coaster at Skyland Ranch – this is one a lot of people love but it was lower on the list for our group. It was average speed, average scenery, and really just average in all ways for us. My kids did like that they could see some animals as we walked around Skyland Ranch but other than that, there really wasn’t anything unique to this one for us.

Lost Mine Mountain Coaster in Pigeon Forge – this one is completely different than the others because it combines staged scenery (like a bear zip lining and bears mining) with the mountain coaster track. Parts of it are slow and scenic and parts of it are fast – a cute intro mountain coaster that I think younger kids will really enjoy, I know my 7 year old did!

Smoky Mountain Alpine Coaster – I was really excited about this one because it’s one of the longest mountain coasters in the area, but it was a letdown for me especially since it had the longest line to wait by far. The track feels like it’s going to be fast, but it slowed you down anytime you started going on fast sections, so it was actually kind of annoying. I will say the scenery on this one was gorgeous, so that’s a bonus for sure!

Rowdy Bear Smoky Mountain Funpark’s Avalanche Snow Coaster – While not technically a mountain coaster, my family loved that you could control the cars completely by twisting the knob forward and backward, it was actually my husband’s favorite out of all of the “mountain coasters” we rode.

Rail Runner at Anakeesta – this was the only single rail mountain coaster we tried and it was a completely different experience than all of the other coasters. It’s actually the only single rail mountain coaster in North America, and you legit felt like you were going to fall off the track if you went full speed. I’m sure it’s completely safe, but doing this one in the dark was a pretty scary experience! It also goes straight down a mountain, so yeah recommend this one but know it’s pretty intense.

Hellbender at Anakeesta – unlike the single rail Rail Runner, Hellbender was just an average mountain coaster for me. It was smooth and straight down the mountain but shorter than others on this list and really other than going straight down the mountain, there wasn’t anything special about it.

3 – See a Dinner Show

I love a good show, especially when you’re going to feed me at the same time! Not to mention, dinner shows are a great chance to get a break from the heat if you’re visiting during the summer!

When searching for fun to things to do in Gatlinburg and Pigeon Forge, these were the dinner shows that came up over and over again:

• Dolly Parton’s Stampede
• Pirates Voyage Dinner & Show
• Hatfield & McCoy Dinner Feud
• Paula Deen’s Lumberjack Feud Supper Show

We let our boys choose the one show they wanted to watch, and they went with Dolly Parton’s Stampede, and it did not disappoint.

Dolly Parton’s Stampede included a delicious meal of pulled pork, fried chicken, biscuits, mashed potatoes, soup, and a dessert served while we watched horses jump through fire, singing performances, magic tricks, and even pig races. My kids were entertained the entire time, and it was definitely worth the cost of the tickets!

We’ve previously seen the Pirate’s Voyage show in Myrtle Beach, and my boys loved that one too! And we watched a lumberjack content during our trip to Maine, but that one looked fun too!

4 – Visit Anakeesta

There are a number of mountain top parks in the Smoky Mountains – Anakeesta, Skypark, and Ober Mountain Park. You could visit one, two, or all three of them and have fun I’m sure, but we went with Anakeesta because of its two mountain coasters.

I honestly waffled back and forth on whether or not we were going to go to Anakeesta at all because so many people said it wasn’t worth it. Or that the lines would be so long to take the gondola up that we’d hate it.

My family loved everything about it. We literally walked onto the gondola and were at the top in minutes. There was so much to do with kids, so many different places to explore, and it had kind a really fun mountain theme park vibe to it.

My boys spent forever going through the different treetop playgrounds, trying out all of the different slides, and doing the ropes walk through. Add that to delicious food, incredible views, and two fun mountain coasters and I am so glad we went.

They also had a really fun United Tastes of America thing going on while we were there that felt a bit like food and wine festival at Disneyland with all sorts of fun foods to try out. I always like trying out new foods, so that was also a huge win for me!

The one thing we skipped because the line was really long was the firefly experience. Oh and Astra Lumina was sold out, so we missed both of the nighttime light shows but I’ve heard incredible things about both of those as well if you can make those happen.

5 – Get out On the River

There are a ton of opportunities to get out on the river whether it’s white water rafting or tubing, but I highly recommend doing one or the other.

We went tubing with Smoky Mountain River Rat Tubing & Rafting and had a great time. We had younger kids so had to do Outpost A, which is more relaxing than thrilling, but they also have another Outpost B option that definitely has more rapids and thrill than the one we did.

And you can do both with just one day pass if your kids are old enough. You just show up, rent tubes, and float the river. My kids loved that Outpost A had an area with designated rock jumping spots that were perfect for a mid-river break. We probably spent thirty minutes just watching them take turns jumping off then climbing back up!

They also offer whitewater rafting if you’re up for more adventure than relaxation, we just weren’t up for it this time around!

6 – Zorbing

Outdoor Gravity Park offers the only zorbing park in the United States and is an absolute must-do for adventure people. You literally squeeze into a giant ball with some water then roll down the hill.

I’ll be honest, the first roll down the hill was intense. I had no idea what to expect, but it was a bit crazier than I imagined, in a good way. My boys absolutely loved it and did all three courses plus the standalone fishpipe.

It’s a bit pricey but totally worth it if you consider this is literally the only place you can go zorbing in the US. You can also buy larger packages and split them among your group to save some money, but this is one you don’t want to miss.

7 – Drive the Cades Cove Loop

I assume if you’re headed to the Smoky Mountains that you’re going to get out and hike somewhere. It’s a National Park with incredible hikes, scenery, and waterfalls so make sure to add that to your plan.

But if you want something pretty unique, drive out and do the Cades Cove Loop. It’s an 11 mile loop where you drive slow and literally just look for wildlife along the loop.

We went right before sunset and ended up seeing three different bears within a few minutes. It got dark quicker than we were expecting so we didn’t see anymore bears after that, but we did see a couple of deer that walked right by our car.

It was such a unique experience to just drive around this valley where wildlife regularly come to eat, feed their babies, and just explore. If you want to see bears safely, this is a great option.

8 – Get into the mountains

My family isn’t huge into hiking and exploring national parks, but Gatlinburg and Pigeon Forge are obviously a part of the Smoky Mountains so I recommend spending at least half a day exploring the national park.

Here’s a good guide on the Smoky Mountains National Park with info on the best hikes, drives, and more. It’s not my forte, so I recommend reading that post if you want details on the actual national park itself.

9 – Visit the Gatlinburg Arts & Crafts Community

I love all things local, handmade, and unique. So it’s probably not surprising that I added a half-day of exploring the Great Smoky Arts & Craft community to our Gatlinburg itinerary.

It’s an 8-mile loop filled with bakeries, craft shops, gift shops, experiences, and more. And my family absolutely loved it.

In addition to just being able to drive around the loop and shop all of the places, there are a number of them that offer hands-on craft workshops that you can book ahead of time to really make the most of your time.

We did a pebble art class at Make It Magic and made bear pendants at Love Life Live Life. And if I was there on a girls trip, I would have spent the entire day doing different crafts around the loop. It was one of my favorite things we did the entire trip. You can see a full list of make your own craft options on the community website.

And a total hidden gem on the loop? Mining for gems at Agnes’ Appalachian Gems. We’ve done a lot of gem mining but nothing ever like this. They have an entire room in the back dedicated to mining and the things my boys were finding were actual gems, huge ones even. My oldest even found an incredible ruby that I may be stealing from him!

10 – Go mini Golfing on a Mountain

There are a ton of miniature golf courses in Gatlinburg and Pigeon Forge but if you’re going to do one, make it Hillbilly Golf. We’ve played a lot of mini golf courses but this is the first one we’ve played where you have to ride an incline lift 300 feet up into the mountains to get started.

There are two 18-hole miniature golf courses literally built into the side of the mountain, but they don’t just assume the scenery will make the course worth it. Both courses are well designed with fun elements, trickier holes, and surprises like a pool table right in the middle of the mountain. Highly recommend fitting this one in!

11 – Head to the Island

If you want a ton of things to do all in one place, check out The Island. It has a ton of different attractions (escape rooms, soarin’ ride, shooting gallery, ropes courses, amusement park rides, etc.) all in one place along with all the food options you could ever want.

Grab an unlimited rides pass to ride the Smoky Mountain Wheel and all the outdoor rides as many times as you want in 48 hours or add the ropes course to your pass for even more fun.

If you don’t want to pay anything, it’s free to get in and explore the area. There’s a really fun musical fountain show, dinosaurs planted throughout the area, and plenty of space to walk around and just enjoy the atmosphere.

12 – Do an escape room

If you’re not flying into Nashville, we did two escape rooms in the area that are unique and totally worth doing. The first is Masters of Magic at Gatlin’s Escape Games on the Parkway and the second is the licensed Monopoly Game at Breakout Games in downtown Gatlinburg.

The magic room had some really unique features and tech that were different than things I’ve seen before. It really felt like there were magic elements at work, and I thought it was great!

The Monopoly Game was well just a lot of fun. It literally uses Monopoly theming, pieces, and clues. But it wasn’t just the theming, the actual room itself was a lot of fun with interactive element like throwing things, riding a bike, and having to solve riddles using Monopoly Chance cards. Choose the one that interests you the most and book it for a rainy or super hot day!

Oh and if you’re flying into Nashville, I highly recommend staying one night and doing Ruins at The Escape Game in Berry Hill. It’s a must-do.

13 – Spend an Hour at Rowdy Bear’s Funpark

Rowdy Bear’s Funpark was one of those places that exceeded our expectations. There’s not a ton to do so a 1-hour unlimited attraction pass was perfect, but we easily spent that hour being entertained.

There are two coasters – the mountainish coaster I mentioned before where you control it completely – and a coaster where you get a gun to shoot targets as you go. Both were surprisingly fun and with zero lines, we just hopped on and off again and again.

But the biggest surprise of the park was the tubing. It doesn’t look like much, but the tubing runs were SO fast. Like I caught my breath on the way down because I was flying and afraid that I was going to hit the wall at the end. Spoiler alert, I didn’t.

My boys tubed down over and over again and since you don’t want to actually carry the tube up yourself, it’s just fun and not as exhausting as some tubing hills.

14 – Explore Downtown Gatlinburg

Downtown Gatlinburg is a combination of touristy and charming that somehow works. There are tons of local shops, eateries, and attractions you can do as you walk around the area.

I actually was expecting it to be more touristy than it was, it actually reminded me a bit of an European village with little alcoves and hidden alleys with fun things to do, unique things to eat, and plenty of tasty treats to try.

There’s everything from the Ripley’s Aquarium to homemade candy stores to Gatlin’s mini golf and ropes course. We spent a few hours here shopping, eating, and hopping from attraction to attraction.

15 – try local eats

I could do an entire post on places to eat in the Gatlinburg area but won’t because there are plenty of those out there. I’ll just highlight a few of our favorite places that are unique and local to the area.

• Peaceful Side Social – if you’re out in Townsend tubing, this is a great restaurant serving delicious sourdough pizza and flavorful mains. Plus, there is plenty of outdoor seating and a nature playground our kids spent a solid hour playing on.
• Southern Comfort – the restaurant on-site at Westgate Smoky Mountain Resort was fantastic. Highlights for me were the shrimp and grits and make your own s’mores dessert!
• Five Oaks Farm – a farm to table restaurant that serves breakfast, lunch, and dinner. It’s Southern style food that tasted farm to table fresh.
• The Donut Friar – a cash only donut restaurant in downtown Gatlinburg that serves up soft and fluffy donuts that are always fresh and tasty.
• Cookie Dough Monster – burgers, shakes, and cookie dough bites. All fresh, all delicious, and absolutely worth the few minute wait!
• Cruze Farm – fresh churned soft serve ice cream from a local dairy farm. I was skeptical when I saw it was soft serve, but it was delicious. Plus, they use actual ingredients and not just dyes – I wish we’d had a chance to go back twice!
• Apple Barn – this is more than just a barn. There’s a restaurant, a grill, a winery, an ice cream shop, a general store, and even a candy apple store. Everything we tried from the apple fritters (in the restaurant) to the homemade ice cream was delicious.
• Gatlinburg Grind – homemade pastries, meat pies, and dirty sodas (my kids loved the ones with gummy sharks). It’s right on the arts and crafts path and a fun stop!
• Olga’s Yodel Cinnamon Rolls – tons of different varieties of homemade cinnamon rolls. They’re soft, fluffy, and a must-try!
• Glade’s Soda Fountain – another stop on the arts and crafts loop, it’s a fun old-fashioned soda shop with delicious Italian sodas, milkshakes, and floats!
• La Creme Cheesecake – yet another stop on the craft loop, they serve all sorts of different types of cheesecake. Every one I tried was fantastic.

We stayed at Westgate Smoky Mountain Resort right in between Gatlinburg and Pigeon Forge, and I couldn’t recommend it more.

It was the perfect location for getting to everything throughout the area. Our room was up in the top of the resort so it felt like we were staying in the mountains, but we had all the amenities and resources of a luxury mountain resort.

There were two pools, a 9-hole mini golf course, a playground, an arcade, on-site restaurants and convenience stores, a spa (my pedicure was fantastic), and my kids favorite – a huge indoor waterpark with some of the fastest water slides we’ve ever been on.

This was our first time using Redweek, a timeshare rental company, to book the resort. We travel a ton and always need multiple bedrooms, so Redweek is my new favorite way to get access to larger family rooms and resort amenities at a huge discount.

Here’s just an example of the pricing for dates in August 2026. There are ranges of everything from a 1 bedroom villa to even a 4 bedroom villa and because timeshare owners get to set their price, there are all sorts of price ranges to choose from. There are options of full week rentals plus shorter ones like the first that is for just 4 nights.

People with timeshares list their properties for rent, so you can access to timeshare resorts like the Westgate Smoky Mountain Resort & Waterpark without having to pay for a timeshare yourself. And Redweek manages and confirms everything for you with the actual property, so there’s no worry about showing up to a vacation rental and an individual owner backing out last minute or the property being filthy or even worse, unsafe.

We booked a 2-bedroom suite and it ended up being two connected rooms with two bedrooms, two full kitchens, two living areas with sofa beds, three bathrooms, an in-room jacuzzi, laundry, dishwasher, and more! If you have questions about a specific property, you can message Redweek – they were super helpful in helping me choose the right property!

And my favorite part – a huge balcony with the most incredible view of the mountains. I could have sat out on that balcony all day long and just enjoyed the view.

Plus, it came with all of the timeshare owner perks like free waterpark passes, access to owner only events like cosmic mini golf, and more. And we paid less than half what we would’ve paid if we booked a 1-bedroom directly through Westgate, for that huge rental.

We were in the 177 cabin and one of our neighbors (who go all the time) said that it’s one of the most recommended properties at the resort because it’s higher up and you often get the chance to see bears walking around. We saw a mama and baby bear right outside our rental patio. It was seriously incredible.

Redweek offers timeshare rentals around the world, not just in Gatlinburg. I already have my eye on properties in the Bahamas (to get access to Atlantis without staying at Atlantis), Hawaii, and Aruba for future trips! Browse all of their timeshare rentals to find one that works for an upcoming trip!

There are quite a few airport options you can use when planning your trip to Gatlinburg, just choose the ones with the best flight options for your family!

• Nashville International Airport – tons of nonstop flight options from places around the country, just over 200 miles from Gatlinburg, about 3 1/2 hours
• Knoxville Airport – less non-stop flights and a smaller airport but much closer to Gatlinburg, about 40 miles and 1 hour and 15 minutes away
• Asheville Regional Airport – great place to fly into if you’re really exploring the Smoky Mountains and want to do the North Carolina side as well but way less nonstop flight options. About 90 miles from Gatlinburg, just over 2 hours.
• Charlotte International Airport – another good option if you want nonstop flights and are okay driving a bit further. It’s about 200 miles from Gatlinburg and about a 4 hour drive.
• Atlanta International Airport – another good option for nonstop flights, about 200 miles and 4 1/2 hour drive from Gatlinburg

If you want to save money on your trip to the Gatlinburg area, here are a few things to help!

1. Rent a timeshare through Redweek – like I mentioned, our rental cost about half what it would have if we booked a different way!
2. Book a property with free amenities – we spent a lot of time at the free amenities at our resort. My kids were happy as can be at the pool, mini golf, and water park and so was my wallet.
3. Skip eating out for all your meals – get a rental with a kitchen and grab groceries you can eat at home or in the car to save money on food. We ate most of our breakfasts in our rental and a number of lunches/dinners while we were watching the World Cup games.
4. Buy combo packages – tons of places offer attraction packages like the Smoky Mountain Park Hopper Pass, the $5 upgrade to Gatlin’s Escape Rooms, or the 48 hour rides pass at the Islands, that give you access to other attractions for cheap.
5. Book tickets ahead of time – there were quite a few attractions (tubing for instance was $5 cheaper booked in advance) that would have been cheaper if we’d booked them before the day of.
6. Rotate between cheap and paid activities – there are a ton of things you can do for cheap like driving the Cades Cove Loop and hiking in the National Parks, switch between those and the free ones to get a lot in without spending a lot of money.
7. Make the most of paid parking time – if you’re going somewhere that requires paid parking, just go there once and spend a good amount of time there instead of going multiple times for short spurts. Combine things like Anakeesta with downtown Gatlinburg and the Ripley’s Aquarium for instance so you just pay one flat rate for a day of parking.
8. Take the free trolley – we never did this because I like to drive but there is a free trolley that runs throughout Gatlinburg. You can see the full trolley map and find the closest trolley on the trolley locator page.
9. Grab a Smoky Mountain coupon book – you can request one on the website, pick one up at the visitor’s center, or grab a coupon pamphlet at one of the attractions that has a display of attraction flyers. There are coupons for a few dollars off almost every attraction we did.

I always think it’s helpful to see where things are located in relation to each other when I’m planning my itinerary, so I created a custom map of all of the things that I’ve recommended in this post. I also included restaurant recommendations I did not personally try but that were highly recommended by others in case you want to eat out more than I did.

You can click on the map to open it in Google Maps and from there you can make a copy of it to customize your own trip.