Why Visitors Make Yearly Trips to Gatlinburg and the Smoky Mountains

A local’s take on why Gatlinburg and the Smoky Mountains have such lasting appeal

Humans – quite frequently – are creatures of habit. Sure, we’ll try new things. But we often find comfort in the tried and the true. For instance, do you have a favorite Mexican restaurant? Do you have a favorite order there? Maybe it’s not something you have every time, but more often than not.

In my younger days, before I had a family, I made it to Europe five times. Did I venture into new spots each time? Did I try Eastern Europe or Scandinavia? Nope. Each of my trips included at least a stop in France and England. Even my most adventurous trips were somewhat routine.

And so, I get it. I get people who enjoy a place so much that they buy timeshares. Also, I get that some may plan annual visits to their favorite vacation destinations. After all, vacations are expensive in both money and time. There is a great opportunity to plan a trip to someplace you’ve never been. But also there’s a risk. What if you don’t like it or something doesn’t go well? You get two weeks a year to take a break, and you just flushed one of them down the toilet.

A trip to “the beach” or to Gatlinburg

At the newspaper where I work, we had a reporter who would say that anytime a person from the area went on the lam to look for them at the beach. The mountain people, he said, always want to see the beach one last time before they go in the pokey. I don’t have scientific information to support that. However, there was some anecdotal evidence over the years.

As a former Hoosier, I often note that the people of the Midwest – like my grandparents – love Smoky Mountain vacations. My first time in the mountains was as a young Hoosier on vacation with my aunt and uncle. I moved down with my mom and stepdad four years later. But before that, so many of my schoolmates’ summer vacations included a trip to the mountains.

So, how do you choose whether to go to the beach or the mountains? Some of it is where you’re starting from and how far it is to the nearest beach. But also whether or not your closest beach is any good. Since I live in the mountains, I don’t vacation there. Sure, we’ll have a weekend getaway or a special overnight stay for a birthday or something. But the idea of vacationing a half hour from home isn’t appealing.

How is the vacation choice made?

For some people, the choice between the beach and the mountains is simply a personal preference. It is two massive, ancient natural wonders. Pick your favorite. But for others, it’s tradition. My grandparents and my parents brought me here. So, I’m taking my kids here. For some, it’s economics. In my experience, a beach vacation is costlier than a mountain one.

Finally, it’s proximity. East Tennessee is accessible by car from a shocking number of the Eastern half of the country I am using the arbitrary number of a 10-hour drive which is about the distance I’m willing to go on vacation without booking a flight. Places within a 10-hour drive of Gatlinburg include everything north of Orlando, east of the Ozarks and south of Allentown, Pennsylvania. Cleveland, Ohio is less than a nine-hour drive, as is Detroit, St. Louis, New Orleans and Chicago. London, Canada is 10 hours and 20 minutes, per Google.

If you want to do the “Smoky and the Bandit” trip from Texarkana it’s 10 hours and 45 minutes, though you can make it quicker if you have the Snowman blocking for you and you’re driving a bitchin’ T-top Thunderbird.

How much does a typical trip cost?

Typical is hard to nail down. In Pigeon Forge, I can get you six nights in a pretty decent hotel – rated 8.8 or higher on Hotels.com for $532 including taxes and fees. The food budget – $40 for breakfast, $60 for lunch and $100 for dinner – comes out to another $200 per day. If you go to Anakeesta or Dollywood or other high-dollar attractions it can raise the rate. But the national park is free – at least for now. I think you can conservatively get by at $400 per day, which puts us at $3,000 for a week’s vacation, though I imagine you could shave some off of that if you want.

The first comparable hotel I found at Myrtle was $1,163 for the week. That hotel would not be – in my opinion – within walking distance of the beach. Could you get by on the same $400 per day at Myrtle? Maybe? After all, the beach – like the mountains – is free. However, you’re looking at $600 more, just for the hotel.

Why the lasting appeal?

Look, for all the fun things to do in Gatlinburg, there’s a reason the federal government moved heaven and – quite literally – Earth to create the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. The park is majestic. It’s gorgeous. It is one of the natural wonders of the world.

Within the park, there are connections to history and prehistory. I don’t know if a more peaceful spot in the world exists than some spot deep in the park next to a mountain stream or waterfall. You can disconnect from the modern world. You can reconnect with nature, with God. How many places in the world can you truly find that?

On top of that, the region has had more than 100 years now of building up the tourist trade. We know what to do and how to do it. It is about selling fun and memories. But also traditions, moonshine and pancakes. I mean, the question is, why aren’t more people vacationing here every year?

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