The Best Holiday To Spend in the Smokies

From Arbor Day to Presidents’ Day, we rank the best holidays to spend in the Smokies

We don’t think about it much. But for many of us, the big clock of our lives is set to the coming and going of holidays. It started for many of us in school. From Labor Day to Memorial Day, our lives were set to the calendar breaks that offered reprieve. A day to spend at home hanging out with friends or watching The Price is Right. We learned from an early age that the milestones of our lives were set by closed banks, schools, and postal delivery. 

Even our lesson plans were set to the arrival of St. Patrick’s Day, Groundhog Day, or whatever holiday popped up big or small. Our teachers used them to educate us and keep our attention. 

And the lessons learned in youth linger through the rest of our lives. I’m a grown man with vacation days at work. In theory, I can take off any time I choose. But no vacation time is quite as good as landing that three-day weekend filled with freedom to do what we want. And when you’re able to tie those off days into a little weekend getaway in the mountains? It’s even better. 

But which holiday should we target? Assuming you can’t just take them all and come to the Smokies, we’re here to help with a highly scientific ranking of holidays you should spend in the mountains.

Which Holidays are best for visiting the Smokies?

1. Memorial Day

Is this a shocker right out of the gate? Maybe so. But there’s no better time to visit the Smokies than as we make the unofficial transition from spring into summer. Memorial Day is set to remember the men and women who gave the last full measure of devotion in service to our country. As such, some feel the day should be spent in somber remembrance, and I respect that impulse. But I would argue that spending the day celebrating the very freedom they died to preserve and protect is the perfect way to honor their sacrifice. Just remember to take a moment to acknowledge it.

Ultimately, Memorial Day is about hope. The possibilities inherent in warm summer days are filled with the green of the verdant mountains and the bright blue sky above. Spending the day hiking, tubing, or wading in the cool of a mountain stream. Enjoying a picnic in the mountains with friends and family, again, celebrating the freedoms we have been provided. 

The Smokies may well be the best picnic destination in the world. I don’t know, but they’ve got to be close. From Metcalf Bottoms to Cades Cove – to the Chimneys picnic area – there are few more appropriate places to celebrate the inherent freedom of summer in America and to acknowledge the paths we took to get here.

Additionally, some of the attractions and restaurants in the area will offer discounts on this day. Be sure to ask in advance.

2. Thanksgiving

The mountain culture is a Thanksgiving culture. The traditional foods of the Smokies make for a perfect Thanksgiving meal. At the same time, Thanksgiving is something of a starter’s gun for the Christmas season. There are few places better to celebrate Thanksgiving and transition over to Black Friday and the Christmas season, and all that comes with it.

Might we suggest making base camp at one of the Dollywood resorts? There, you can enjoy a scrumptious Thanksgiving feast and explore the myriad outlet shopping destinations the next day. If you play your cards right, you can even transition from Thanksgiving to Christmas Spirit with a visit to Dollywood as the lights come up. 

3. Labor Day

The Yen to Memorial Day’s Yang – or vice versa – Labor Day marks the end of summer as we turn to the looming autumn. As kids in the area go back to school in early August, Labor Day has lost some of that vibe. It’s no longer the line of demarcation that it once was. But it still carries that inevitable turning of the page. It moves us a season closer to the impending winter with all its gray and brown and cold. It’s a little like cresting the last hill on a roller coaster and finally seeing the end of the ride in the distance. 

Still, it’s another classic day for picnics. And again, the mountains are the perfect spot. It is especially nice if you get there early enough to catch the first hints of a crisp fall morning, the first sign of changing color in the trees.

While Memorial Day is full of hope and promise and possibility, Labor Day is trying to squeeze the last of those things from the disappearing summer.

4. Christmas

Speaking of Christmas, I assume most people would have ranked this holiday first. After all, Gatlinburg and Pigeon Forge go all out with lights and yuletide cheer. There are few better places to celebrate the Christmas season than Dollywood.

But, as I considered it, most of the festivities are for the season, not so much Christmas Day. It can be great to spend Christmas in the mountains, especially if you don’t have a large family. Christmas Day in the mountains means you’re likely helping to draw someone else away from their friends and family as they work in the shops and the restaurants and the hotels that are open on Christmas Day. When it comes to the mountains and Christmas, I prefer the build up more than the actual holiday.

5. Fourth of July

A day for patriotism in a place that embraces the concept like few others. Gatlinburg does the day up right with its annual Independence Day Parade. There are also a variety of fireworks show from the region that you can choose. Maybe the best thing about the 4th in the Smokies is getting up into the mountains and finding a cool stream where you can beat the heat. 

6. St. Patrick’s Day

A lot of the history of the mountains is linked to Irish settlers who made their way to the Smokies. Bluegrass and traditional mountain music has its roots in Ireland as does many other mountain customs. And, if you’re one to partake in the spirits, the arrival of a variety of distilleries make celebrating St. Patrick’s Day with a warming beverage or two an easy mission to accomplish.

7. Veterans Day

Not a big day for celebrations, per se. I often wonder if Veterans Day and Memorial Day should be switched. This often cold November day feels more appropriate for honoring the fallen. What better way to celebrate our living veterans than to take them to a national park and cook them burgers and the like, thanking them for their service?

Nevertheless, there are always many events honoring Veterans throughout the mountain communities. Many Smoky Mountain restaurants and attractions are also happy to offer veterans discounts or special meals.

8. Halloween

Dollywood hosts special after-hours events and offers a Harvest Festival, but otherwise does not celebrate Halloween.

But at least two mountain coasters celebrate Halloween, including Rocky Top’s ‘Coast and Goblins’ and ‘Halloween in the Holler’ found at Moonshine Mountain Coaster. The latter specifically warns that the Holler can be scary for small kids, though. However, The Island in Pigeon Forge also costumes up and offers a special night for trick-or-treating. Appalachian Ghost Tours offers year-round tours, but Halloween is especially fun to visit. 

9. Arbor Day

You want to celebrate trees? There are few better spots in the world to take in the majesty of a mighty Scots pine than the Smokies. Its very existence is owed in part to aggressive deforestation in the days before the park was established. Maybe make a trip to Elkmont. That community began as a timber town or stop by The Sinks on the Little River. The Sinks were created by lumberjacks trying to clear a logjam as they floated timber down the river. 

You want to speak for the trees? The Smokies are a great place to do it.

10. Cinco De Mayo

For a long time, Hispanic food culture was underrepresented in the Smokies. In recent years, that’s changed significantly. If you have a hankering to celebrate Mexico’s victory over the French in 1862, you now have a lot of places where you can do just that, including Azul and many of the distilleries that make their own brand of Tequila.

11. President’s Day

Tennessee’s presidential lineage is, to put it bluntly, pretty bad. Andrew Johnson – from nearby Greene County – is generally considered among the worst presidents in the country’s history. In fairness, though, he was thrust into an untenable situation following the assassination of Abraham Lincoln. In all of history, is there anyone you’d rather have to follow less than Honest Abe? It’s like when Jimi Hendrix opened for the Monkees, just a historically impossible act to follow. 

James K. Polk, for whom Polk County in southeast Tennessee is named, wasn’t as incompetent as Johnson, but overall, America might have been better off if he were. In his single term, he acquired Oregon and California, lowered tariffs, and created an independent treasury. He also led the country into the Mexican-American War, expanded slave states, and supported the removal of Native Americans. 

Andrew Jackson, Ol Hickory, was one of the more brutal presidents in the country’s history. He was a staunch supporter of the slavery system, and his Indian Removal Policy led to the national atrocity that was the Trail of Tears. He even butted heads with East Tennessee icon, legend, and folk hero Davy Crockett. Even Crockett thought Jackson was awful. 

In short, there are a lot of things worthy of celebrating in the history of American presidents, but few of those exist in Tennessee.

Do you head to the Smokies on holidays? Tell us about it in the comments and on the socials!