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Stuff to do in Gatlinburg, TN?

OREOSpeedwagon

OREOSpeedwagon

Diamond Member
We're leaving tomorrow morning and don't have a whole lot of stuff planned, anyone thats been there know anything fun to do?
 
First off where are you staying?

That would help greatly! I've been there many times and I love it! I will warn you that it's probably going to be hot as heck down there this time of year, otherwise things to do

Gatlinburg itself has a HUGE arts and crafts district, ask around town someone will point you in the right direction.

Downtown gatlinburg has a bunch of shops and such also good to hit up, Ripley's Aquarium is good, and so is the restaurant next to it, No Way Jose's Cantina

Dollywood is only a short drive away, only a couple roller coasters but lots of other nifty stuff to do.

Of course you can go into the mountains and do some scenic trails or whatnot. Definitely get a good map of the area and explore.

Pigeon Forge, which is just a couple miles from Gatlinburg, has TONS of go-carts, arcades, live shows, shops and restaurants, also well worth the look.

Lastly pick up some local brochures I'm sure you'll find something to do. White-water rafting comes to mind. If you have any questions just ask I'll watch the thread for a few minutes
 
We actually don't have any reservations, we're the kinda people that go down there with not a whole lot planned and just kinda wing it. Probably not the best idea, but it's how we've done just about every other trip we've taken. We're definitely going to go on some scenic trails in the smokies (I'm sure my 512mb CF card will fill up REALLY quickly) and definitely check out Pigeon Forge. Any other restaurants you'd recommend? I'm writing this stuff down and will check out No Way Jose's. Thanks for the ideas 🙂
 
Like DeathBUA said, it just depends on what you're interested in. Are you going to have kids with you? If so, all the arcades, go-karts, putt-putt, DollyWood, etc. is out in Pigeon Forge. That's also Outlet Mall country, loads of restaurants, country music shows, hotels and motels all along the main strip.

If you don't have any kids with you or you're mainly interested in the Park, then downtown Gatlinburg is best, that's where I always stay. Pigeon Forge feels nothing like a national park. Also, Pigeon Forge is semi-dry, beer only and only at certain times. Let me know what kind of activities you're looking for and I can help you out.

Here's the Chamber of Commerce site.

Edit: P.S. For wildlife pics you have to go to Cade's Cove in the early morning.
 
Yea No Way Jose's is pretty decent Mexican, try the chicken quesadilla it's the sh!t, other restaurants, this steakhouse called The Alamo(I think) it's a steakhouse, they serve some monster as$ steaks, I know they have a 2lb steak but I forget what cut of meat.

Another restaurant is in the art and crafts district, called The Fox and Parrot, it's authentic British/Irish/Scottish food and they have about 40 kinds of English beer 😀

Oh and the art and crafts district isnt actually in town it's like an 8 mile long loop just outside Gatlinburg. I'm sure some local store will have a brochure somewhere.

Thats about it as far as my memory can remember with food mostly because we normally rent a house in the mountains and cook/grill our own food. I will say that some of the mom and pop restaurants will serve some real southern style cooking if you are looking for that.

Best thing to do in that town is just explore it and dont be afraid to try new things, OH and if you want to fill up that 512MB CF card in a hurry take the Ober Gatlinburg lift
 
I had a blast there when i was kid, i dunno now. The great smokey mnts are close, clingmans dome is cool....
 
Hey GeekDrew, I'm going to be down there at the end of July too, for the Arts and Crafts Fair. I'll look for a guy with a brown fu-man-chu and a blue shirt.
 
The stupidity of certain people is quite annoying, if you have nothing to add to this thread then dont! The man is asking for honest help....some of us are kind enough to do so!:disgust:
 
Originally posted by: DeathBUA
The stupidity of certain people is quite annoying, if you have nothing to add to this thread then dont! The man is asking for honest help....some of us are kind enough to do so!:disgust:
Click to expand...

:Q
 
Go horseback riding.. There's lots of guides there and it's fairly cheap. We did a 4-hour ride up an abandoned highway and I got a ton of good pictures.

Don't even try to find an Internet cafe.. no one there has Internet access. (Was trying to register for classes last vacation.. It sucked.)

You might wanna try for some fishing.
 
Originally posted by: DeathBUA
The stupidity of certain people is quite annoying, if you have nothing to add to this thread then dont! The man is asking for honest help....some of us are kind enough to do so!:disgust:
Click to expand...

Jesus Fvcking Christ, man! You haven't been here even a month (assuming you aren't a returning bannee), and you're already yelling at people? *Especially* since (besides Safeway), you're the newest member here, and I'm assuming, one of the least respected. Just let the thread play out.
 
I apologize I've dealt with a bunch of stupid people today not to mention I'm sick and tired so sorry about that

And brxndxn, there is ONE internet cafe is gatlinburg, JUST one, they had really good smoothies but the computers were like 4 year old Dell's it was harsh as I had to register for classes also.
 
brxndxn is correct in that there are no internet cafes there, but many of the hotels in Gatlinburg have internet access if you have your laptop and the local library has computers for the public to use, but they charge like $5 for a half hour or something like that.

DeathBUA, do you remember the name of the cafe? They hadn't opened one that I could find last summer, but I was only in downtown.
 
We're definitely going to do some shopping, I've heard there are huge outlet malls in the area. I don't know that I've actually had Irish/British/Scottish food before, so we'll also check out The Fox and Parrot for sure. I doubt we'll do any cooking ourselves, eating out the whole time and checking out new restaurants is half the fun to me 😀

Thanks for the photo tips, I'll be sure to check out the Ober Gatlinburg lift and Cade's Cove. I really appreciate the help, you guys are awesome! 😀
 
Originally posted by: montanafan
Hey GeekDrew, I'm going to be down there at the end of July too, for the Arts and Crafts Fair. I'll look for a guy with a brown fu-man-chu and a blue shirt.
Click to expand...

I doubt that I'll be outside of the hotel or convention center (Music Road Hotel & Convention) very much... I'm the main registrar, so I'll have my hands busy, for a while. 🙁

I'll have the nights, tho. 😉

But I'll be wearing a red shirt, and I've got a full beard, no just a Fu Manchu 😛
 
I was in Gatlinburg for a wedding a few years back. The hotel we stayed in, can't remember the name but it's the one way up on a hill, had a freakin' bear digging through the trash outside. Watch out for the bears!

-Jason
 
Originally posted by: montanafan
brxndxn is correct in that there are no internet cafes there, but many of the hotels in Gatlinburg have internet access if you have your laptop and the local library has computers for the public to use, but they charge like $5 for a half hour or something like that.

DeathBUA, do you remember the name of the cafe? They hadn't opened one that I could find last summer, but I was only in downtown.
Click to expand...

I do believe the place was called Fermata Cafe, something like that, they actually have two of them but the one that has internet access was on the East Parkway just before you get downtown where the road does that 3-way split, it's a hole in the wall place thats very easy to miss. They were reasonable about internet access like 5-6 dollars got you an hour's worth of time which is way more than you should need considering everything else you should/could be doing
 
OREOSpeedwagon, if you like to ride bikes, they close Cade's Cove to motor vehicle traffic 2 mornings a week, I think it's Wednesdays and Saturdays from 7am til 10am. It's an 11 mile loop and you can rent bikes there. If you do the whole loop it's pretty rough going. All paved road, but some big hills. If you go really early take the first path off the main road, can't remember the name of it but you'll get a map and it cuts across the entire loop, and you'll probably see a herd or two of deer in the early morning mist not 10 feet from where you're riding. Great pics. Check up in the trees as you ride and you'll probably see some bears. They're everywhere though.
 
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