7 Things Not to Do While Visiting Gatlinburg, From a Local

An insider’s guide on what not to do when visiting Gatlinburg, the surrounding area

As someone who lives near the Smokies and frequents the main strip every chance I get, I can tell you from first-hand experience that there are several ways to approach a visit to Gatlinburg.

Or really any vacation for that matter. But no matter how you approach it, a vacation is an endeavor of diminishing commodities.

So here I humbly offer some of my greatest Gatlinburg misses so you can learn from my mistakes.

1. Don’t fall for a tourist trap

Nearly everything under the sun is reviewed online – restaurants, attractions, you name it. And there are a lot of temptations to spend your hard-earned vacation dollars along the Gatlinburg strip. And sadly, tourist traps are a dime a dozen, as are less-than-great eateries.

Reviews can take some of the adventure out of a vacation, but as someone who once got food poisoning from a back-alley Thai place on the way to the Six Flags Over Georgia theme park, sometimes adventure ain’t all it’s cracked up to be.

2. Don’t skip the local gems

I am often perplexed by people who travel long distances and wind up doing the same stuff they can do at home. For instance, we have Pizza Hut at home. Places like Shoney’s, Pizza Hut or McDonald’s are fine. But I always say, live a little and try something you can’t get back home.

Delauder’s BBQ, Jimmy’s Smokehouse and Pizza Joint and Crockett’s Breakfast Camp are among my favorite spots.

3. Don’t stop at every gift shop in Gatlinburg

Some folks love vacation knick-knacks – at the mountains, the beach or even France. You see shop after shop after shop selling the same things in basically the same price range. If they do a good business, good for them. But I’d pick one or two curio shops and then move it along.

4. Don’t pass on the specialty

Don’t go to restaurants with a particular food in their name and not at least try the specialty.

For instance, don’t go to Smoky Mountain Trout House and order the barbecue, at least not on the first visit. Certainly, if you’ve been a couple of times, you have my permission to experiment.

But if you’re walking out of the restaurant and someone says, “How’s the trout?” You darn well better be able to answer.

5. Don’t fall for freebies

Look, I understand the allure.

A free room.

Maybe a free meal.

Or perhaps some other awesome thing. All in exchange for giving up two hours of your time to hear a timeshare pitch. However, know what you’re signing up for. They don’t want to give you more time.

They want you to share your time with them. Sometimes, these aren’t time sharers, they’re time thieves. Remember, the clock starts ticking on your vacation when you leave the driveway.

You only have so many hours left.

Therefore, try not to waste any of them being bombarded by carefully vetted buzzwords that are designed to break down your better judgment unless you just enjoy that sort of thing.

6. Don’t leave your cars and trash bins unlocked

Never forget, this is bear country, and unfortunately, black bears in the area have learned to associate cars with food, and they absolutely know how to open doors. The same goes for garbage cans.

This, of course, is dangerous for both people and bears, so be sure to lock up whenever you visit the area, and never purposefully offer food to a black bear.

7. Don’t forget to pack your patience

Keep in mind that Gatlinburg is a tourist town.

It will likely be crowded, especially on weekends or the holiday season. Streets may be crowded and restaurants may be short-staffed. Your trip will be what you make of it, so be patient and expect delays here and there.

Still, I’m sure you’ll enjoy a great Smokies vacation as long as you plan ahead and set your expectations accordingly.

Make reservations where you can, buy tickets in advance and avoid peak times for best results.

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These Are the 4 Absolute Worst Times to Visit Gatlinburg, Says Local

If you visit Gatlinburg during one of these times, you may swear you’re never going back

As a local who has been knocking around Gatlinburg for more than 30 years, I’ve developed something of an informal guide system on when it’s a good idea to go to the Burg and hang out.

Gatlinburg – unlike its sister city Pigeon Forge – was built in a spot that doesn’t leave a lot of room for expansion.

There are not a lot of options for overflow when the big crowds hit. Gatlinburg’s main drag is perfect for walking, shopping and enjoying the atmosphere.

But it’s also compact. There are only so many places for people to go.

And while there has been some growth up 321 heading to Cosby, it’s not enough to help mitigate the crowds.

There are just some times of year when the hassles begin to outweigh the positives. These are the worst. 

1. Three-day weekends

Memorial Day. Labor Day. Anytime everyone gets Monday off. Gatlinburg draws visitors from around the country for much of the year.

While locals will visit during the busy season, we tend to take advantage of the off-season as well. What a three-day weekend does, is expand the definition of the term local.

While someone from a place like Nashville might not want to make the seven-hour round trip to Gatlinburg for a quick stay, the three-day weekend makes it more palatable.

If you can drive over Friday night and back Monday, you get a full two days in G-burg.

Any three-day weekend means the crowd sizes are going to swell. 

2. Fourth of July 

Independence Day? I want my independence from the crowds.

It’s the height of the busy season anyway. People have an extra day or two off work – see above – and everybody and their grandmother is looking for a place to picnic for the holiday.

There is even a parade. It’s just too much. There are a lot of towns around the region that celebrate the Fourth spectacularly.

I’d go to one of them and save the mountains for another day. 

3. Third weekend of October

Leaf-peeping season in the Smokies is a wonderful thing.

I’ve written before about a spot on the way to Cades Cove where the trees are all the same and the leaves turn a bright, golden yellow. It’s one of the prettiest spots on Earth.

It’s also not much of a secret. Late October draws massive crowds to the mountains and clogs the arteries in Gatlinburg specifically.

If leaf-peeping is your goal, there are a lot of spots – not that far off the beaten path – that will give you beautiful views without the massive crowds.

Consider a visit to a spot like Max Patch, where you can get wonderful scenery without the hassle. 

Now, you might have thought – if you’re a college football fan – that I was going to make a Tennessee-Alabama reference here.

But honestly, the game shouldn’t have much bearing on the leaf-peeping. It is, however, very near the traditional peak of the leaf-peeping season.

That said, I would say to keep your eye on predictions, however, as the leaf-watching season might come a little earlier or later. 

4. Hell Week

The week from Christmas to the New Year is aptly known, locally, as “Hell Week.”

It is by far and beyond the busiest week to visit the Smokies.

Restaurants and attractions are overcrowded, wait times are at their peak, and traffic is a nightmare.

Don’t get me wrong, the Smoky Mountains are a beautiful place to visit during the holiday season thanks to Winterfest. The problem is, the secret is out.

Gatlinburg has a very nice ball drop event for New Year’s Eve with fireworks and the whole shebang. The problem? Gatlinburg is not a late-night town. It shuts down famously quickly and is not well equipped for a late-night party scene.

In other words, it ain’t New York. The event – which has been held since 1987 – is billed as the Best New Year’s Eve Show in the South.

I don’t know about all that. It’s nice. Certainly, it’s fun. But it’s also cold and unless you’re staying in a G-Burg hotel, you’ve got a long, sober drive home. 

Gatlinburg is one of my favorite places in the world and I don’t mind sharing with a few million friends each year.

But sharing it doesn’t mean we all have to be there at the same time.

There are days that I – as a local – just give to the visitors, vacationers and other – braver – locals who don’t mind the crowds. 

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Gatlinburg vs Pigeon Forge: Which Town is Better?

Gatlinburg vs Pigeon Forge: A side-by-side comparison by a local

It’s the showdown we’ve all been waiting for. Gatlinburg vs Pigeon Forge. Mano a mano.

Who ya got?

Look, we understand there are no right answers here, everything’s subjective – unless you pick Sevierville, then we award you no points.

But when it comes to Gatlinburg and Pigeon Forge?

With these major tourist destination towns, you can’t go wrong. It is, of course, possible to like both but virtually impossible not to have a favorite.

So, let’s get scientific with this thing and go to the tale of the tape.

1. Which town has more attractions?

Winner in this category: Pigeon Forge

There are a lot of things for visitors to do in either Pigeon Forge or Gatlinburg.

But each has a signature attraction, the crown jewel of civic tourism.

As far as Pigeon Forge’s attractions, the jewel is Dollywood, which is almost unfair.

Dollywood, frankly, has surpassed Sevierville as the third-best community in Sevier County, and it’s not even open year-round.

With its own hotel, and an exceptional water park, Dollywood’s Splash Country, in addition to the theme park itself, Dollywood is not only a massive attraction for Pigeon Forge – it’s a massive, famous attraction for East Tennessee.

Pigeon Forge also has the Titanic Museum, Wonderworks, the Alcatraz East Crime Museum and many dinner shows, like the Hatfield and McCoy Dinner Feud or Dolly Parton’s Stampede, formerly known as the Dixie Stampede.

But Dolly Parton’s Dollywood is the winner in this category and it’s not even close. It is continually recognized as among the best amusement parks in the country.

For years, Gatlinburg’s signature attraction has been Ober Gatlinburg or the Gatlinburg Space Needle. And that case could certainly still be made, but Anakeesta is charging hard into that territory.

To me, when I think Gatlinburg, I think Ripley’s Aquarium of the Smokies. One of the country’s premier aquarium experiences, Ripley’s offers a new experience every time you go. And they have penguins.

2. Which is easier to navigate?

Winner in this category: Gatlinburg

Traffic in either city can be a nightmare.

Gatlinburg has the excuse of geographical limitations, but Pigeon Forge – with hectares of wide open space – was a victim of its own lack of vision.

Pigeon Forge has more side roads by which you can circumnavigate some of the traffic, but for much of it, you have to risk the Parkway.

Gatlinburg, however, is a city where you park your car and stretch your legs.

A little bit of a hike and avoid a soul-crushing traffic jam?

3. Which is more fun to cruise?

Winner in this category: Gatlinburg

Often, you come to the area with the idea of getting out and exploring. But which offers more “cruising” potential?

First of all, if you want to hit the trails or go to the Great Smoky Mountains National Park and maybe drive over to the North Carolina side, Gatlinburg is a clear choice.

But if your idea is to explore more of East Tennessee, then Gatlinburg is actually a little bit out of the way. The decider here for me is Cades Cove and Townsend.

The road from Pigeon Forge through Wears Valley is a mostly pleasant, quite beautiful drive.

The road from Gatlinburg to Cades Cove is an unrelenting, twisting claustrophobic hellscape. Don’t be fooled by the babbling stream.

That road hugs the bottom of a holler with a mountain jutting up on either side.

If you suffer from the slightest bit of motion sickness, it is a torturous nightmare.

It’s literally the only place in the world where I’ve gotten car sick in the driver’s seat.

4. Which has the best shopping

Winner in this category: Pigeon Forge

Again, there’s a bit of pick your flavor here.

The Pigeon Forge area has more discount outlet shopping but also more cheesy tourist shops that look like they got picked up in a Myrtle Beach hurricane and landed here like Dorothy and Toto.

Pigeon Forge is also hit by a few unlucky boundaries. The best shopping in the county now resides in Sevierville at the Tanger Outlets, which has siphoned off some of Pigeon Forge’s outlet business.

Gatlinburg has a wider variety of unique shops, especially in the Arts and Crafts Community.

However, you can get some of that stuff in Pigeon Forge, too.

Gatlinburg’s biggest problem for serious shopping is the very thing we awarded a point for in traffic – walking.

In Pigeon Forge, you’re rarely far from your car – and therefore your trunk – where you can drop off your purchases, rest for a second and recharge for round two.

If you buy too much stuff in Gatlinburg, you’re schlepping stuff up and down the mountain like a Sherpa ferrying adventure-seeking tourists up and down Everest.

5. Which has the best-themed dining?

Winner in this category: Pigeon Forge

I’m a child of the late ’80s and early ’90s.

Growing up, I thought Hard Rock Café was cool – not like pseudo-Boomer cool but actual honest-to-God cool.

Give me a burger, some over-priced nachos and sit me next to some fringed Jimi Hendrix jackets and a guitar once played on stage by the backup guitarist from Slayer and I’m a happy man.

Gatlinburg’s best chance for competition is Ole Red, which resides in the former Hard Rock location right at the entrance to the strip.

Ole Red is a better live music venue and it pains me to say, it has better food.

However, it does not have a Native American-themed dress worn by Cher when she performed “Gypsies, Tramps and Thieves” at the Whiskey A Go-Go in the winter of 1971.

I’m voting with my heart, not my head.

6. Which has the best restaurants?

Winner in this category: Gatlinburg

Sure, you can find a good steak dinner or a delicious pancake breakfast at either place.

But Gatlinburg has The Melting Pot, The Peddler Steakhouse and the Pancake Pantry.

Pigeon Forge has Paula Deen.

7. Which has the best thrills: Gatlinburg or Pigeon Forge?

Winner in this category: Gatlinburg

Pigeon Forge has a wide array of slingshots, high-rise Ferris wheels and a variety of things that make you go viral on YouTube.

Gatlinburg has a glass sidewalk in the sky that occasionally gets cracked by guys doing baseball slides with keys in their pockets.

There’s fear and then there’s fear. Why does Gatlinburg get knocked down?

So it can learn to get up, baby.

8. Which is more family-friendly?

Winner in this category: Gatlinburg

I’m calling this one the “dad vote”. Dads have some traditional roles in vacationing.

Ideally, to have some fun, enjoy spending time with our families and relax.

Often, during vacation, all we really want is some peace and quiet.

Perhaps try a cabin with a hot tub. And have a few moments to ourselves.

Gatlinburg clearly is the favorite here. The family walks so we don’t have to drive all the time.

Also, there are a lot of benches where we can rest and check sports scores on the phone while the family spends 35 minutes inside another shop that sells all the same stuff as the last four shops we went in.

Also, I’ve seen dads fly fishing in the middle of the river in Gatlinburg while their families shop. That’s peak dad-ing.

Our conclusion: Which is better overall?

Winner in this category: Gatlinburg

This is it. We’ve done the science. We’ve broken down the tale of the tape.

We’re all tied up. We’ve eaten at a lot of pancake houses.

So, vacationers, it comes down to a little thing I like to call heart, chutzpah, and a little je ne sais quoi. Who’s the best?

It’s gotta be Gatlinburg, my friend.

Sure, Pigeon Forge has go-karts but when you visit Gatlinburg, you may have a better chance of viewing wildlife.

In fact, bears might come to your hotel to get a sup of cider, which has happened before. That’s the kind of world I want to live in.

Which do you prefer? Gatlinburg or Pigeon Forge? Let us know in the comments below.

Looking for a place to stay in Gatlinburg? Check out the Best Hotels in Gatlinburg

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