Attractions

This Classic Attraction And Its Complex Are Links to the History of the Smoky Mountains

Many Smoky Mountain Attractions Sell Themselves As Historic or Use Historic Theming, but the Old Mill Is the Real Deal In the Smoky Mountains, history sells. Countless attractions try to grab visitors’ attention by overplaying their connections to history. They may borrow the history of someone or something local or create a theme around a historic figure or place that

The Best Mountain Parks Ranked: Anakeesta vs Gatlinburg SkyPark vs SkyLand Ranch vs Ober

A Smoky Mountain Expert Weighs In on Which Mountain Park Is Most Deserving of Your Money The best views in the Smokies remain free. You can drive up to Kuwohi – formerly Clingmans Dome – and soak in the natural wonder that made our ancestors see the mountains as something worth preserving. A drive along Newfound Gap Road offers several

The Formerly Abandoned Brushy Mountain State Pen in East Tennessee Is Now a Distillery

You Can Visit This Once Abandoned Notorious Prison in East Tennessee In Morgan County, near the tiny community of Petros – right in the shadow of the Cumberland Plateau- they’ve taken hell on Earth, shined it up and used it to market a peculiar concoction of horrid history, fabricated ghosts, mountain likker and classic Southern café dining. For more than

After 40 Years, This Attraction Is Bringing Polynesian Culture Back to the Mountains

Pirates Voyage Dinner & Show preparing to debut its South Pacific Celebration  It seems unbelievable now since decades of dust have piled around the memories and obscured our vision. But for 12 years, a magical, mystical, improbably and fiscally irresponsible place lived in the Smokies. Porpoise Island, it was called. And it brought – quite literally – Polynesian culture and

Was Dolly Parton’s Inspiration for Dollywood Based on the Hollywood Sign?

The Giant Dollywood Sign About To Take Shape at Dollywood I don’t remember when I first heard about Dollywood coming. It might have been in 1986 as the media covered the park opening or it might have been earlier when the coming of the park was announced. Either way, I was around 11 and I was a hater. I can

Who the Heck Is Kenny? Dollywood’s Co-Owners Just Added Another Wood to Their Portfolio… and a Whole Lot More

Herschend Family Entertainment Just Acquired 20 New Parks and Attractions Including Kennywood, Dutch Wonderland and Something Called the Boulder Dash Herschend Family Entertainment just acquired 20 new parks and attractions including Kennywood, Dutch Wonderland and ….Boulder Dash. I’ll admit it. For a second, I let my imagination run away with me. I saw Kennywood – which is a Pittsburgh icon

Is Dollywood’s Blazing Fury Going To Make a Splash Once Again?

Water is coming back to the best ride at Dollywood, here is what we know Dollywood’s beloved, quirky and bizarre dark ride Blazing Fury is about to be restored – at least in part to its former glory. Officials hinted at a major refurbishment for one of the park’s legacy rides last year. This year, it was announced that the Dollywood

The 10-Story Limestone Tunnel That’s Become a Tourist Magnet

This 850-foot-long tunnel was once called the 8th wonder of the world The irony of aging – or one of them – is that it takes time to acquire the wisdom to grasp the depth and breadth of our ignorance. I was a confident young man. Well-read and inquisitive and possessed a certain acumen for retaining and recalling that which

The Unofficial Scavenger Hunt you can do at Dollywood

There Are Secret Messages Hidden in These Dollywood Signs IN THIS ARTICLE American amusement parks have taken to creating little scavenger hunts for their guests. I don’t know why, but many do. Sometimes it’s organized like the Wilderness Explorer program at Animal Kingdom. Other times, it’s a bit more random, like the ongoing hunt for hidden Mickeys across the Disney

The Strange Tale of Dollywood Almost Being Built in Gatlinburg as a Second Park

The little-known story of how the Smoky Mountains nearly had two theme parks, instead of one There are many great figures who shaped the path of the Smoky Mountains, Gatlinburg and Pigeon Forge over the years. Some are well-known and some mostly forgotten. From Dolly Parton, to the first Ogles who set foot in White Oaks Flats, later known as