Adventure awaits in this small Appalachian town filled with local traditions. For starter's, it's the home of Dollywood.
Whether families are looking for extreme attractions featuring zorbing down a 1,000-foot hill, flying in a simulated wind-tunnel or spinning through the air on a thrilling roller-coaster, Pigeon Forge has all the stops.
If you're in the mood for a more laid-back experience, enjoy one of the local festivals offered throughout the year.
Adventure is hungry work. Be sure to visit one of the classic Southern cuisine restaurants or watch a dinner show.
Jun 25, 2012 - The grist mill is among the "old-time" attractions at the Dollywood theme park in Pigeon Forge, Tenn. More Info
DINING IN THE SMOKIESThe Old Mill, a 175-year-old grist mill, offers two styles of restaurants. Families can have their pick from Southern style fritters and country-fried steak, or opt for grilled salmon and fresh local trout, for example.The Pottery House Cafe and Grille offers beautiful views along with quality lunches and dinners featuring open-face roast beef sandwiches, savory steaks and local fish.Next door, The Old Mill Restaurant, a local classic, offers breakfast, lunch and dinner featuring savory fresh-baked biscuits and delicious pies.* Both restaurants are located off 175 Old Mill Ave. and their full menus are available at old-mill.com.Tourist tip! Also visit the Old Forge Distillery, which opened in 2014 to make whiskey and moonshine based on an 1830 recipe from the freshly ground grain of The Old Mill located next door.Source: Pigeon Forge Department of Tourism; The Old Mill
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*LOCAL TRADITIONS*Pigeon Forge festivals offer dancing in the summer, and illuminate the night sky in the winter.Wilderness Wildlife Week: This May festival features eight days of free activities that connect Pigeon Forge to nature in the foothills of the Great Smoky Mountains. The longtime tradition includes guided walks, hikes and daily music presentations of old-time mountain ballads and bluegrass.Patriot Festival: Pigeon Forge’s annual Fourth of July event features free admission, free parking and free shuttle service at Patriot Park on Independence Day. Performers take the stage starting at 1:30 p.m. Free activities continue throughout the afternoon and evening, and a headline performer takes the stage just before a free fireworks show around sunset concludes the festival.Winterfest: More than 5 million lights illuminate the streets of the city during its annual winter display November-February. The official kickoff for the festival is Nov. 10 at Patriot Park at 5 p.m. with live music and entertainment as the lights and displays are lit up for the first time this season.*Source: Pigeon Forge Department of Tourism; Pigeon Forge Chamber of Commerce; mypigeonforge.com
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*NOT FOR THE FAINT OF HEART*Visit Pigeon Forge’s most extreme attractions.The Outdoor Gravity Park takes you slipping and sliding inside an 11-foot bouncy ball down a 1,000-foot hill. This New Zealand attraction is perfect for the summer as you roll down the hill along with 10 gallons of water inside.Flyaway Indoor Skydiving offers the chance to practice freefalling in a 21-foot-tall vertical wind tunnel with 120 mph winds blasting inside the simulator.At WonderWorks, inside a three-story building literally turned upside down, families will interact inside an anti-gravity chamber, a hurricane hole and experience the sensation of the 1989 San Francisco earthquake.*For details on ticket pricing and hours for any of these attractions — and more — visit mypigeonforge.com.*Source: Pigeon Forge Department of Tourism
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THE COVECades Cove boasts of having the most visitors who come to the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, and visitors to Pigeon Forge are just 31 miles from the 6,800-acre valley which features historic log cabins, forests with trails leading to a waterfall and creek.Caves Code Loop Road is an 11-mile, one-way paved road that is open from sunrise to sunset all year with some exceptions for special events. Every Saturday in December, cyclists and hikers can enjoy the path, which is closed to cars until noon.Explore the trails to find Abrams Falls, a 20-foot waterfall that leads to a pool and stream.Along the trails you can enjoy beautiful views of the mountain and the wildlife, including, white-tailed deer, black bears, groundhogs and turkeys.Year-round camping at tent and RV sites are available.Source: Pigeon Forge Department of Tourism; The National Park Service
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COUNTRY STAR’S ATTRACTIONSDolly Parton’s attractions continue to expand.Some of Pigeon Forge’s most popular attractions include the classic Dollywood amusement park along with its water theme park and its latest hotel resort.Dollywood theme park, which features the Wild Eagle, Thunderhead and Brainstormer attractions, is open nine months of the year with extended hours and firework shows from June 11 to Aug. 8.Visit Dollywood Splash Country between May 14 and Sept. 5 for 35 water attractions, such as the watercoaster RiverRush and the park’s fastest slide, the Fire Tower Falls.Dollywood’s latest attraction is the DreamMore resort, a hotel resort located minutes away from the theme and water parks. The hotel itself features a lazy stream and indoor heated pool, as well as a Southern-style spa.The resort also includes a sit-down family-style restaurant with patio seating and a buffet-style grab-and-go diner as well as complimentary theme park and water park shuttle services.Resort guests are also offered perks to visit the Dollywood parks such as early Saturday entry, timesaver line passes, exclusive entry and complimentary package delivery.Source: Dollywood.com
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*AT A GLANCE*Pigeon Forge is a giant among national tourist destinations.Population: 6,004Biggest employers: Dollywood; retail; tourism and hospitality industryLandmarks or geographic features: The Little Pigeon River is located along the town, as well as the foothills of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.Date founded: Settled in the early 1800s, the city was incorporated in 1960.History: The area now known as Pigeon Forge was once a Cherokee hunting ground and used by European settlers as a passage west into the frontier. It was settled by pioneers in the late 18th century and gets its name from an iron forge built on the Little Pigeon River by Isaac Love in 1817, combined with its once-dominant community of passenger pigeons.Unique traditions: Visitors can ride the Pigeon Forge Fun Time Trolley, the city’s mass transit system, designed to help provide a means to see the town’s many attractions. About 10 million visitors come to Pigeon Forge each year, more than 1,000 times its residential population. To accommodate the 2 million annual visitors who stay overnight, the area boasts thousands of spots to lodge.Fun fact: Pigeon Forge takes its name partly from a breed of extinct North American birds called the passenger pigeon, which dwelt in large numbers along the Little Pigeon River.*Source: census.gov; Pigeon Forge Department of Tourism; cityofpigeonforge.com