Toddlin’ Baby: Things To Do in the Smokies With a Toddler

From the mountains to the attractions, how to have a great vacation with the littles

Mountain coasters, ziplines, moonshine distilleries – so many of the new, hot attractions in the Smokies aren’t what you’d call toddler friendly. And while the Smokies are extremely family friendly, a lot of the things you can do are better built for kids five and older. At many of the Smokies attractions, the only thing a small child can do is tag along.

But that’s always the case. It turns out there’s plenty of things that will keep you and your toddler well entertained. You can build memories for the family and a lifetime of stories you can share with them.

Things to do with your toddler

The Island

The Island in Pigeon Forge is like a self-contained vacation destination. There is plenty of shopping, drinks, food and rides for adults. But there are also lots of activities for the toddlers.

Sky Tykes is a mini ropes course that offers harnesses where the little ones can adventure safely. There are also toddler friendly rides, such as the FARM’n, Lil’ Ribbits and a carousel. The Island fountain is fun for all ages.

And this summer, for a limited time, the kids can enjoy the Jurassic Adventure available until Nov. 2, 2025. Parking is free at The Island and unlimited ride wristbands are available for purchase.

Big Rock Dude Ranch

Big Rock Dude Ranch is a place that can keep the little ones busy for hours. While it may be known for horseback riding, the ranch also offers gem mining, a picnic area, a playground, a family friendly fishing pond and a petting zoo.

While there is a fee for horseback riding and gem mining, there is no admittance charge to visit the ranch and they encourage folks to do so. The picnic areas, kids’ playground, and petting zoo are free to visit. Bags of food for the petting zoo are available for purchase inside the General Store.

Crave Golf Club

While toddlers may not yet understand mini golfing, Crave Golf also offers mini bowling that is perfect for the little ones. This fun place for kids also sells ice cream and has a candy store as well.

Frizzle Chicken Farmhouse

This breakfast and lunch eatery in Pigeon Forge is wild enough as an adult. Dozens of animatronic singing chickens that will periodically cluck out the Star Wars theme or “Let it Go” from “Frozen?” It’s enough to make a season veteran of the world reconsider reality.

But imagine it from a toddler’s point of view. They’re still getting a handle on what exactly the world is going to be. A single breakfast with musical clucking robot chickens could readjust their understanding of the possibilities of life.

“Johnny, you’re a genius. You just figured out the cure for cancer and stopped global warming at the same time. How did you do it?”

“Well, when I was three years old my parents took me to Pigeon Forge. I had a hearty country breakfast surrounded by singing robot chickens. It was at the point, I realized reality is just a construct and the world can be whatever I choose.”

Dollywood

Specifically, toddlers love the County Fair area at the theme park. I don’t think the very small ones will get much out of the Tennessee Tornado. However, a visit to the Country Fair is perfect for them. It’s especially nice if you’re going anyway, because children under four get in free.

There are several flat rides – Piggy Parade, Lucky Ducky, the Amazing Flying Elephants – that serve as perfect introductions to the world of amusement parks. You can also go up to the Village Carousel and catch a ride on the Dollywood Express. While the larger park may be too much for your littles, Country Fair is essentially a theme park for smaller kids unto itself.

Mountain Picnic

Get them kids into the mountains. Give them a little freedom – but keep an eye on them, you know. Let them run the trail up to the Elijah Oliver Cabin in Cades Cove. Get a good picnic spot – Cades Cove picnic area is best for this age. Go ahead and let them wade in the water. But do exercise some caution. Keep them to the shallow parts and away from swift water. Unless the water at Cades Cove is way up, it’s unlikely to be dangerous. But you don’t want an unfortunate fall to create a bad memory.

I mention it because one of my earliest memories is of our family hiking at Lake Lure in North Carolina. I was on a leash but slipped and came close to falling down what seemed to me to be a massive chasm at the time. Mom assures me it was a gentle ledge of a couple of feet. But we forget toddler perspective is different than ours. Get those kids to the great outdoors, get them used to enjoying life in the mountains. Build the habits that will last them a lifetime.

Apple Picking

This is mostly a fall activity of course. But there are some U-Pick-Em farms in the Hendersonville area that have other options earlier in the summer. Hendersonville apple picking has been a family tradition of ours since my oldest – who is getting ready to turn 20 – was a toddler herself.

The accoutrements of fall like pumpkin patches and apple cider and long “trains” pulled by a teenager on a John Deere make the experience even better but all three of our kids have loved getting out into the orchards, picking and sampling apples that they can bring home to share with their class and teachers. That plus all the apple-related treats like donuts, turnovers and pies make a day at the apple orchard a massive success, especially for the littles.

See the trains

My middle child – the boy – was absolutely obsessed with trains. The other two liked trains but for John Paul it was beyond. So, taking a scenic tour on the Great Smoky Mountain Railroad was a must.

However, we didn’t even know about the Smoky Mountain Train Museum with its massive model train set-up. That was almost as big a hit as the actual train was. The Historic Railroad Depot in Hendersonville – not far from downtown – also has a nice model train set up done by the Apple Valley Model Railroad Club. If you’ve got a train obsessed little, I recommend both.

Ripley’s Aquarium of the Smokies

Beautiful exotic displays of fish, a moving walkway in which sharks swim overhead, several interactive exhibits and marching penguins? Ripley’s Aquarium of the Smokies is a toddler’s paradise. Kids under 2 are free. Kids from 2-5 are $9.99. So not too bad.

Do you have a favorite toddler-friendly activity in the Smokies? Let us know in the comments!