About Gatlinburg and the Smoky Mountains

The Great Smoky Mountains National Park

TThe Great Smoky Mountains National Park is world renowned for its rich scenery, wildlife, and diversity, from its wide range of plant and animal life to its majestic mountain range and Southern Appalachian culture. Bring your camera, because you just might spot elk grazing in a pasture beside the road or a black bear and her cubs in Cades Cove.

With millions of visitors each year, it is the most visited national park in the United States. The park is open year round, though some campgrounds, secondary roads, and facilities close during the winter. There is no fee to enter, but donation boxes are placed throughout the park.

Gatlinburg

Surrounded by the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, Gatlinburg is a destination you have to experience when visiting the Smokies. Only two miles long by five miles wide with a little over 3,500 residents, it is small in size but packed with dozens of restaurants, plenty of attractions, and shopping galore. Gatlinburg is full of fun, beauty, and charm for everyone to enjoy, with a deep well of Smoky Mountain heritage in its crafts, arts, and shops.

You are sure to leave with souvenirs and keepsakes of all sorts. The downtown Parkway is lined with hundreds of shops, village-style stores, and several malls, offering an excellent variety of novelty shops, collectibles, unique jewelry, and handmade arts and crafts. Best of all, staying at Baskins Creek Condos puts you right in the heart of it, just steps from the Parkway.

Pigeon Forge

Pigeon Forge is a vacation destination that everyone can enjoy, and it is only a short drive from Gatlinburg and the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Dozens of attractions and restaurants line the parkway with exciting activities for families to share and real fun for visitors of all ages.

Some of the fun includes go-carts, bumper boats, waterslides, rides, miniature golf, and even an indoor skydiving simulator. There is so much to experience, day and night. No trip is complete without a visit to Dollywood, one of the South's favorite family amusement parks, filled with more than 40 rides and some of the best bluegrass, Southern gospel, and country music anywhere.