In the Tennessee Smokies there is always something to do! If you have seen the Smoky Mountains, caught a show, tried the wonderful shopping and sampled the food, you are ready to try our attractions. With an endless assortment of different activities, there is something for everyone in your family during each season of the year.
For the outdoor adventurer, the Smokies offer unlimited outside activities. The newest craze to catch on is the action-packed sport of zip lining. Hang out among the treetops of a lush, green forest as you glide your way along the canopy path suspended on a cable. Foxfire Mountain Adventures offers an all-inclusive tour package with exclusive handlebar trolleys that allow you to control your orientation. CLIMB Works Canopy features 13 unique adventures that allow guests to learn about nature and overcome their fears as they make their way over nine different zip lines, three canopy sky bridges and a fun, unique surprise at the end.
Another fun activity for the brave at heart is whitewater rafting with companies featuring up to Class 4 rapids. For the urban cowboy or cowgirl there are several horseback riding companies offering guided and unguided tours.
From May to September you can ride the waves at Dolly’s Splash Country, or if you prefer cold weather sports, ski or snowboard on the slopes at Ober Gatlinburg in the winter. The area also offers miniature golf, exotic and tropical petting zoos and Tennessee’s most visited amusement park, Dollywood, with enough rides, games and activities to keep the family busy all day long. Outdoor festivals such as the Barbeque & Bluegrass, Kids Fest and Festival of Nations—a month long celebration showcasing international dance concerts and ethnic cuisines—are featured throughout the year at this amusement park.
If you are visiting during the hot summer months, try this new sport: rolling down a hill in a large plastic bubble filled with holes. This fun-filled attraction gives visitors a chance to cool off from the blazing temperatures with wet and dry ride options available!
If being indoors better suits your vacation plans, the area has an array of interesting indoor activities. Indoor museums offer lessons from the past, the bizarre and unusual and exciting displays that range from cars to dinosaurs. See natural wonders in one of our local caves, beautiful live animals at the reptile museum, sharks and other aquatic creatures at Ripley’s Aquarium of the Smokies, hands-on adventures aboard the re-created Titanic ship, hair-raising frights at our haunted houses, or take flight at the indoor skydiving wind tunnel.
If a day of exciting activities leaves you hungry, sit down to dinner and a show at the Dixie Stampede, the fun-filled action-packed extravaganza that everyone should experience. In addition to the main event, your ticket purchase includes pre-show entertainment in their world-famous Carriage Room.
Whew! There is so much to choose from, and the biggest decision you have to make is which to do first.