These are the best attractions in Gatlinburg in 2025, says Smoky Mountain local Things can move quickly in the mountains. One year, you’re on top. The next you’re being closed to make way for the next trend. The only real thing you can be sure of is that if you have a successful idea in Gatlinburg, somebody’s gonna try to copy
Officials at Dollywood are hinting at a big update to a major attraction in 2026, this is what we know so far In the 40 years since Silver Dollar City became Dollywood, the one constant has been change. But not just change for the sake of change, the park has been on a consistent upward trajectory. It is now considered among
A local offers advice on mistakes to avoid to make the most out of your next trip to Ober Gatlinburg I had given up on Ober Gatlinburg in the autumn a couple of years ago. In the days after Halloween, the park hadn’t transitioned from fall to winter. It was understaffed and underfunded. Then Joe Baker and his partners stepped
A local offers advice on mistakes to avoid to make the most of your next trip to Anakeesta It arrived one day without much fanfare, just seemingly appearing on top of the mountain. Self-billed as Gatlinburg’s “theme park”, there wasn’t a lot to do at Anakeesta that first season. However, a program of steady improvements has seen expansion nearly every
A local offers advice on mistakes to avoid to make the most of your next trip to the SkyBridge With Anakeesta drawing traffic across the valley and Ober Mountain under new ownership, the competition for your “SkyDollars” has never been higher. But the eldest of the major mountaintop attractions isn’t ready to wave a white flag of surrender. The park’s
A Smoky Mountain resident talks about experiences he wouldn’t try twice at Dollywood in Pigeon Forge While I can’t lay claim to being the world’s biggest Dollywood fan, I’ve been visiting since the first year it transitioned over from Silver Dollar City. I’ve watched in awe and appreciation as it has grown through careful planning and execution from a kitschy
A Smoky Mountain local offers his tips on the best things to do at Dollywood that aren’t rides When I first visited Dollywood, it was in the first year after Dolly Parton invested in the park and made the change from Silver Dollar City. At that time, there weren’t many rides in the park other than Blazing Fury. I’d been
A local reflects on his least favorite winter-related experiences in the Pigeon Forge area Winter in the Smoky Mountains is split – as it is in the rest of the world, I suppose – into two segments: Pre-holidays and post-holidays. To the naked eye, there might not be much difference as the festive holiday lights stay up throughout the season.
Dollywood is a hot spot for celebrity sightings – here’s a roundup of some of the biggest stars known to frequent the park The Great Smoky Mountains National Park and the surrounding area are among the most visited tourist destinations in the world. In the mountains, there are surely few places that are more popular than Dollywood. I’ve watched over
A Buc-ee’s fanatic imagines what it would be like if Buc-ee’s built a theme park Now that the Smokies AA baseball team has officially absconded from Kodak to return to Knoxville, the Sevier County entranceway at Exit 407 has a problem. Namely, there’s a gigantic parking lot and a good-sized baseball stadium going to waste. Considering the possibilities, I jokingly