Smoky Mountains, TN - What to See and Do?

The river rafting is 45 minutes away in Hartford, TN and you need to allow time because it is totally worth it. They sell trips inside PF and GB but that is not where you raft. The ads are misleading. There are some wellmarked trails in the mountains that include waterfalls. Stop at the park's visitor center.

I would suggest Lumberjack Feud dinner show, Dollywood(new coasters),
and ziplining. There are horse stables available, but we never did that.
Ripleys Aquarium is a must do.

I would skip The Tomb, The Island(unless you want to ride the giant ferris wheel/shywheel), the wax museum, and castle of chaos. Magic Quest seems better at Great Wolf Lodge.

Go for a long hike. Your kids are old enough. Aim for waterfalls and vistas. Get a brochure on the plants you will see and do review bear safety. Backpack with lunch supplies and make a day of it. We made a point of skipping the towns as best we could. Major tourist trap. The drive through the park is very nice, but you can end up in a traffic jam, so be careful of the day and time when you go. I've also heard of cabins to rent, rather than a hotel. It is a beautiful place. Enjoy.

We (my kids are a tad younger than yours) went there for a vacation last summer and we loved it! We didn't do a lot of the commercial stuff there along the "strip." Instead we opted for only a few of those things (like Hillbilly Golf and Dixie Stampede) and then we did the nature stuff. Dixie Stampede wasn't cheap, but the kids got a kick out of it. We did do the white-water rafting in Hartford on the Pigeon River (I think that was the name). Again, not cheap, but our whole family really enjoyed it and can't wait to do it again! It's about a 45 minute - 1 hour ride from the Pigeon Forge area. (www.noc.com) is the one we did. Nantahala Outdoor Center. We did horse back riding (you can find lots of decent places to do it on Tripadvisor.com). We spent a day in Cades Cove in the mountains. You can pack a picnic lunch and there are picnicking places real close to settle in for a nice break. In downtown Gatlinburg, there is a trolley system, whereby, you can take various trolleys (pink line, brown line, etc.) to different parts of the area. We did two. One that went into Gatlinburg's art district (off the beaten path there is a neat art community where the artists live and sell their goods) and the other line we did drove around Gatlinburg and went into the foothills of the mountains for some photo ops and viewings. We did not do the Aquarium since it seemed too commercialized and expensive to us. Plus, we live outside Chicago and we have the Shedd Aquarium, which is darn nice, so we took a pass on that.

There are tons of both.

Most of the rafting is going to be a little bit of a drive if you stay in Gatlinburg or Pigeon Forge area. But not a big deal--maybe an hour drive out. Totally worth it, though. We love white water. Google white water rafting in Gatlingburg/Pigeon Forge TN and you will find lots of outfitters with information about age requirements.

Most of them have coupons in the flyers in all the display racks in shopping areas/restaurant lobbies. There are also ziplines in the area.

Plenty of free hiking, too. Check in at a ranger station/visitor center for maps to show you which ones suit you. They will list the time/distance, difficulty, whether it is paved or not (some of the shorter ones are), and if there is a visible waterfall feature.

The Cades Cove area is very popular. Also, if you like amusement parks, Dollywood is really a nice one. It isn't all out in the blazing sun (designed with lots of shade) and there are water attractions and a water park. If you go after 4 pm (?), you get free admission the next day as well. But you have to pay to park both times. :(

What part of the Smokies are you planning on spending most of your time? A week could easily be spent in the Gatlinburg/Pigeon Forge area alone. The Wonderworks attraction is loads of fun for the kids, too. (but be prepared, it is loud inside).
---ETA: The farm mentioned by another poster IS really neat. Even has an outdoor "freezer" with explanations of how it worked. :)

In the Gatlinburg area - I second the suggestions for the Ripley's Aquarium (best aquarium I've ever been to) and OberGatlinburg with the alpine slide.

We didn't go to the go-cart tracks in Pigeon Forge because my kids were too young, but they look very fun.

Maybe it's just me, but I wasn't impressed with Dollywood.

Probably ridiculous even to say, but....

ALPINE SLIDE!!! (Ober Gatlinburg... I can't even tell you if anything else is there.... Jackson (WY) and Gatlinburg, all I care about is those slides, hahaha!!! Probably kinda pricey for what you get--I realize such things now that *I'm* the grown-up, hmph--but definitely fun...)

Love love love the Smokies! Sorry I don't have more to offer--I have always just kinda drifted around the area, gone hiking and camping. But you'll surely have a great time, no matter what you do! Beautiful area!

oh, you make me nostalgic for a magical camping trip we took with our little boys, so many years ago. it rained a LOT so i'm sure it's romanticized in my memory, but i thought the smokies were enchanting.
the only thing we did other than hiking was to visit a recreated civil war-era farm, which i think was right over the border in NC. we enjoyed it.
but mostly we just wandered around the mountains, with packed lunches and a backpack for the toddler when he got tired. it seemed that around every corner was a waterfall, and rainbows.
sorry i don't have any practical suggestions, but i'm betting you don't have to over-plan a trip there. have a wonderful time!
:) khairete
S.

We are leaving on Sunday to the Smokies. We have a cabin just outside of Pigeon Forge. We will spend a lot of time at Cades Cove. Camping there for 2 nights. They have Horse Back riding and tubing there. There is a 2.5 mile hike to an amazing water fall. Worth the hike! My kids are 3,5 and 8 so we won't be going white water rafting. Tubing is better for the younger kids. My hubby and I have rafted in the area before and it was great! Depending on where you're staying just google White water rafting "where ever you're staying" Really just google "things to do it Gatlinburg" or where ever you'll be close to and you'll find a ton of stuff. Keep an eye out for flyers and brochures when you go in to places. They will give you more ideas of things to do and most of them have coupons in them. Have a fun trip!

There is a place called Cades Cove- lots of wild life. You can drive it (that is what we did) since there are animals. Some people bike it, I am not brave enough for that..

See and feed the live bears- well it was there when I was. This was 7 years ago. It is in Pigeon Forge on the main drag.

The Mill- Awesome restaurant, food was outstanding and reasonable priced.

Cooters- Yep, we are fans of dukes of hazzard :)

Hill billy Golf- Just plan fun.

Laurel Falls- Great hike. it was paved, mostly so easy to hike to and worth the hike. No equipment needed. Other than having a bell on you to help avoid any animals. but that trail is usually pretty busy.

We did not do the Horseback riding or the rafting :(

If it rains, there was a cave that you could tour on the other side of pigeon forge- and on the way a petting zoo that is very unique. We enjoyed our trip to the caves.

Have fun.

are you camping? http://smokybearcampground.com/
This place is awesome.

If you are going to be in the Pigeon Forge/ Gattlinburg area, check out the Ripley's Aquarim... It's pretty pricy, but well worth it! Don't bother with their wax museum if you consider it... The sculptures suck, and we couldn't even recognize half of them for who they were supposed to be. :/

If you want to ride, There are two places I know of that offer trail rides. (I can't remember their names, as we decided to go on a zip line tour instead...)

There are several go cart tracks in Pigeon Forge. We went to the NASCAR Speedway one and had a blast, but the others looked like they had more alternative rides to choose from...

Make sure you read up on bear safety before you go! We saw no less than 4 different black bears when we were there... Three of them visited our cabin every night. It was great. Lol.