Pigeon Forge / Gatlinburg

[Mr Evilwrench]

Been there enough times to know the back ways and where to park. I don't know about being there with the leafers; mostly we went at spring break. I can punch you in the face any time you like, just let me know. Don't even need a reason

 

[KDUBCR250]

Same here My family and I just got back sunday night after staying a week. I NEVER WANT TO GO BACK !

 

[Mike H]

The Smokies are great in early March. Not quite to yourself...but close.
Heck G'berg and P'forge are ok then.

 

[Dirty Steve]

Have a lot of family in Tennessee and have spent a lot of time down there hiking. We NEVER go to the park except in the winter or early spring. It's way to crowded. There are many places in Tennessee to hike and enjoy that receive little to no pressure from the masses (Big South Fork Wilderness area, Frozen Head State Park, Obed River Area, etc...) and are as scenic or more so. Leave the park for the masses in the fall and go really enjoy it when everyone else isn't thinking about it. Gatlinburg is just not for me in any way shape or form. I can't stand crowds and I can't stand commercialization.

I have an aunt who is in her 70's that hikes well over 500 miles a year in the park doing trail maintenance, clean up, marking trails, etc...it's like a full time job because it is WAY over used.

Dirty Steve

 

[hoosierdoc]

Don't drive through main drag. Hit it from county roads north-west. We found a great cabin on VRBO for a great pricce.

Leaves are pretty and many want to see.

 

[Indy_Guy_77]

We didn't want to do the "cabin" thing...

That'd have been more of the same work that we do at home...cooking/cleaning/etc.

The hotel we where we stayed, the Clarion Inn in Pigeon Forge, was FANTASTIC. Rather new (two years) and they really do deserve their #1 Hotel rating from TripAdvisor. For the Harley guys, this hotel is adjacent to the P.F. H-D store.

The restaurants we patronized were OK. We talked to a few different people each time we wanted to pick a place to eat. Bennet's BBQ one night, Calhoun's another night. About what you'd get in a restaurant here in Indy, in my estimation.

I agree with DirtySteve, though. There are plenty of other places to visit!

We've been to Cumberland, KY before...loads of places to hike around there. Should've gone back!

-J-

 

[SirRealism]

I went in early Oct last year. I remember seeing quite a few boarded up pancake houses. It seems like they had enough of those places left to feed the entire state, as it was.

I went to one of the nicer ones still open (right downtown) to see if they were worth the hype. Nope. $20 down the drain.

 

[Mad Macs]

I think most of the restaurants down there are just garbage. We ended up cooking out stuff in the cabin as we have 3 kids and it's just too expensive to eat out all the time. We packed sandwiches in a cooler along with drinks for lunches and threw it all in the van.