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Gatlinburg sits in a narrow valley along the Little Pigeon River, pressed right up against the northern boundary of Great Smoky Mountains National Park. It grew from a small mountain settlement into a resort town as the park drew visitors in the twentieth century, and today its compact downtown mixes pancake houses, attractions and craft shops with views of forested ridges in every direction.
Most days split between town and the park. On the Parkway, people browse shops and ride the Gatlinburg SkyLift up to the SkyBridge, a long pedestrian span over the hollow, while Ober Gatlinburg offers a tram ride to a small ski area and amusement complex. A few miles out, the Great Smoky Arts and Crafts Community loops past studios of potters, woodworkers and weavers. Inside the park, the Sugarlands Visitor Center is the usual first stop, the Roaring Fork Motor Nature Trail winds past old homesteads to the trailhead for Grotto Falls, and hikers tackle the Alum Cave Trail or drive up to Newfound Gap and Kuwohi for wide ridgetop panoramas.
The town suits families and couples who want easy comforts close to serious hiking. Traffic on the Parkway can crawl on summer weekends and during October leaf season, so early starts help. Pigeon Forge and Sevierville lie just to the north for those wanting more entertainment.
WiserMap travel guideGatlinburg Tennessee SkyBridge Views and Craft StudiosPlan a Gatlinburg trip with this guide to the Parkway, SkyBridge, Arts and Crafts Community and top Smoky Mountains sights, plus food, seasons and parking.Read the guide
The main street of Gatlinburg, lined with candy kitchens, moonshine distilleries, pancake houses, souvenir shops and attractions such as Ripley's Believe It or Not. Numbered traffic lights help with directions. Parking fills up fast, so use a paid lot or the Gatlinburg Trolley, and walk the side streets for quieter shops.
An eight-mile loop along Glades Road and Buckhorn Road east of downtown with more than 100 independent artists and craftspeople, one of the largest groups of its kind in the country. Studios sell pottery, brooms, quilts, woodwork, paintings and candles, often made on site. Drive the loop slowly and stop wherever you see an open sign.
A chairlift that has carried visitors up Crockett Mountain from the Parkway since 1954, now topped by the Gatlinburg SkyBridge, one of the longest pedestrian suspension bridges in North America, with a glass-floor section in the middle. The views take in the town and the Smokies. Visit at sunset or after dark to see the lights.
Newfound Gap, on the Tennessee and North Carolina border, has a wide overlook and the Rockefeller Memorial where Roosevelt dedicated the park in 1940. A side road leads to Kuwohi, formerly Clingmans Dome, the highest point in the park, where a steep half-mile path climbs to an observation tower. The Kuwohi road closes in winter.
A mountaintop ski area and amusement park reached by an aerial tramway from downtown Gatlinburg. In winter it offers skiing, snowboarding and snow tubing, and year round there is an indoor ice skating rink, an alpine slide, a mountain coaster and a small wildlife encounter. The tram ride itself gives good views over the town.
A large aquarium on the Parkway with a moving walkway through a shark tunnel, a penguin habitat, a touch pool with stingrays and horseshoe crabs, and a glass-bottom boat ride over the sharks. It is a good rainy day option for families. Buy tickets online, and visit in the evening when crowds are usually thinner.
The main visitor center of Great Smoky Mountains National Park, just two miles south of Gatlinburg, with exhibits on the park's plants and animals, a short film, a bookstore and ranger help. An easy trail leads to Cataract Falls nearby. Buy your parking tag here, as one is required for stops longer than 15 minutes in the park.
A narrow, one-way loop road of about 5.5 miles starting on the edge of Gatlinburg, winding through old-growth forest past rushing streams, log cabins, a historic tub mill and the roadside Place of a Thousand Drips waterfall. It closes in winter and is not open to buses, trailers or RVs. Allow about an hour with stops.
A broad valley in the park about 27 miles from Gatlinburg, with an 11-mile one-way loop road past preserved churches, a working grist mill and log cabins. It is one of the best places in the Smokies to see black bears, deer and wild turkeys. The loop closes to cars on Wednesdays from May to September; go early.
A 25-foot waterfall reached by the Trillium Gap Trail off the Roaring Fork Motor Nature Trail, about 2.6 miles round trip through old hemlock forest. The trail passes behind the falls, which is unique in the park. Llama trains resupplying Mount LeConte Lodge sometimes use this trail. Wear good shoes, as the rocks are slippery.
One of only two trails in the park where dogs on leashes and bicycles are allowed, running about 1.9 miles each way from the edge of Gatlinburg along the West Prong of the Little Pigeon River to the Sugarlands Visitor Center. It is flat and easy, passing old homesite chimneys. Start from the city end near River Road.
One of the most popular hikes in the Smokies, starting from Newfound Gap Road and passing Arch Rock, Inspiration Point and the huge Alum Cave Bluffs at 2.3 miles. Strong hikers continue to Mount LeConte at about 5 miles, with steep sections and cable handholds. Start early, as the trailhead parking fills quickly.
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