Important Dates in the Smokies in 2026

Planning your 2026 trip to the Smokies? Here are the dates you need to know

The leaves are mostly on the ground. The ones that are left in the tree are dead and barely hanging on. Except when the snow falls, the mountains themselves are varying shades of brown.

Here we are, staring the winter doldrums in the face. What is there to do, other than start planning for better, warmer and greener days ahead? It’s winter in the Smokies. Time to start planning for spring and summer and maybe even beyond. With this in mind, here are some upcoming dates for 2026 in the Smokies to look forward to.

February 1 – Smokies Stadium update

This date is a bit loose. But sometime near the start of the shortest month of the year, we should get an answer on the future of the former Smokies Stadium in Kodak.

A quick refresher. The Smokies left Knoxville for Kodak in the year 2000 where they had significant success. Former gubernatorial candidate and the president of the University of Tennessee Randy Boyd, who owns the Smokies, built a baseball stadium/apartment complex in East Knoxville last summer. This left the Kodak stadium – owned by local government entities – vacant.

The government ownership group got proposals from three groups. Ultimately TORG – The Outlet Resource Group – was selected as its partner in April of 2025. TORG won because it was the only proposal to keep the Stadium intact, Sevier County Mayor Larry Waters said at the time.

Per reporting by WVLT at the same time, the plan included “workforce housing, hotel, retail, food and beverage and a vision that keeps Smokies Stadium utilized in a new and exciting capacity.”

Rumors included an expansion team related to the Savannah Bananas. But that was flatly denied by a Banana spokesperson. And Topgolf, which remains a possibility as far as I can tell. Honestly, keeping the stadium intact seems like it limits the options. I’ve heard that Boyd has considered moving a Class A team there, maybe even an independent team but we’ll see.

In the fall of 2025, TORG came back to the city and requested a 120-day extension. That extension will be up in the first of February. So, what will it be? Well, logic says retail outlets… it’s right there in the name. But I can’t figure how they’d incorporate the ballfield. Maybe a partnership with the Ripken Experience?

I, however, have had another recent vision. In the fall, Dolly Parton announced a partnership with a massive Middle Tennessee gas station, convenience center, restaurant and music venue. The idea is to develop a string of Dolly’s Tennessean Travel Stops to compete for the heart of the nation’s highways against Buc’ee’s. I’ve joked a lot about Buc’ee’s opening a second Exit 407 location. But I wouldn’t be shocked if Dolly and her partners built one of their convenience store palaces in her home county.

March 12th & 13th – Dollywood opens

Welcome back to Dollywood where officials keep pushing the season opening closer and closer to February. The company’s President Eugene Naughton has indicated he would like the park to be open – in some capacity year round.

March 13th marks the official park opening but the annual passholder preview is usually the day before. That’s when Dolly Parton usually makes an appearance in the park to talk about the upcoming season. We’ll have to see whether or not Dolly appears at this year’s preview. She’s had to back off her schedule last year, reportedly due to health issues related to kidney stones. If she’s back for the passholder preview, it will be a strong signal that the Queen is ready to resume a fuller workload.

However, Dollywood’s massive NightFlight Expedition is scheduled to make its debut sometime in the spring. Dolly will want to be there for this massive park upgrade. So, it’s possible they hold her return to the park back until the NightFlight event to give her more time to rest and recuperate. It’s also possible we get two Dolly Parton appearances in the park this spring. Time will tell.

April 1 to early May – Smokies road openings

We ain’t fooling.’ The road to Kuwohi – will open for the year on April 1. That’s also my 26th wedding anniversary, if you’re curious. You can make the long, arduous hike up the mountain every day of the year of course. But if you want to drive it, it will have to be in the warmer months.

Other important road openings – according to the National Park Service – include:

April 3 – Little Greenbrier Road (to the Little Greenbrier Schoolhouse)

April 10 – Rich Mountain Road out of Cades Cove

May 1 – Parson Branch Road out of Cades Cove & The Roaring Fork Motor Nature Trail. If you want to see the immaculately named Place of a Thousand Drips, schedule your vacation for after May 1. That said, you might be able to hike up from Ely’s Mill – which is not part of the park – in the off-season.

May 1st – ish – Anakeesta’s new cabin chondolas

Popular Gatlinburg attraction Anakeesta will close its popular ski-lift like chondola on Jan. 5, 2026. The park will reopen in March using its Ridge Rambler to drive people up the mountain. Sometime in the spring, around May 1, the revamped chondola will reopen, offering guests better access to the mountain top park and hopefully, reducing wait times.

Late April – Early May – Synchronous fireflies

The application process to see the synchronous fireflies through the national park will begin in late April or early May. Those who wish to see the rare event can enter an NPS lottery through Recreation.gov.

Unknown Dates

Checkered Flag Slot Cars

The Checkered Flag Slot Car Complex hasn’t set an opening date yet. But it will offer slot car racing and RC drag racing. What’s slot car racing? It’s those mini-cars with the little metal needle that rides in a slot in the middle of the model track, connecting with an electric current that makes the car go. They are incredibly fun.

407: Gateway to Adventure

The development arm of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians announced last year that this massive project on the land where Buc-ee’s is had been halted and was being re-assessed. The plan had been for shops and a hotel and more. It included an attraction built by a French amusement park company that would immerse guests in the world of Cherokee soldiers in the World Wars. Recently though, they have begun teasing an announcement about what is going to happen at the 407 development, which currently has the Buc-ee’s and a hotel.

What do you look forward to in 2026? Let us know in the comments and on the socials!