Looking for a great adventure? Check out this family itinerary for 5 Days in The Great Smoky Mountains in Tennessee!
We just returned from yet another EPIC vacation. We visited the Great Smoky Mountain area, including plenty of fun in Sevierville, Pigeon Forge and Gatlinburg.
Are these places touristy? YES. Are they beautiful? YES. Is there a ton for families? YES.
I highly recommend this destination for families looking for some fantastic outdoor adventures!
Honestly, we barely scratched the surface during our visit. There is just SO much to do. But the things we did do were ALL fantastic. Seriously, I spent hours pouring over information on where would be the best spots to spend our vacation fund.
We did a lot, but also chose to have a lot of downtime so we could relax a bit and enjoy the amazing house we rented with three of our neighbor families.
I’m sharing our itinerary because I know vacations can feel overwhelming to plan, and organizing vacations is a passion of mine. Enjoy!
5 Days in The Great Smoky Mountains
DAY 1: Travel day
The drive to our cabin from Michigan was 8 hours on the dot. I feel this is a super easy road trip with kids, and there’s plenty to do along the way. Our favorite stop was in Caryville, TN to see a giant fiberglass dragon.
When we arrived at our destination, we shopped for food for the week and just enjoyed the views. We stayed in a large 5-bedroom house, which was affordable when split 4 ways. So much more fun than a hotel! {This link shows the house we stayed in.}
DAY 2: Gatlinburg
We kicked off our day at a newer, popular destination: Anakeesta. This was the most expensive excursion of our vacation, though I was able to grab a 2-for-1 deal on SweetDeals.com. We rode a chairlift to the top of the mountain {ummm, slightly scary – won’t lie!}, and enjoyed an amazing garden, playground, treetop canopy bridges, lunch, ice cream and more. The views were fantastic! I highly recommend a visit, but arrive BEFORE it opens or else you will be waiting in line for quite some time.
From there, we headed inside the National Park nearby where we took a 0.8 mile hike to Cataract Falls. We started our visit at the Sugarlands Visitor Center, where we learned about native animals and a bit about the park. The trail behind it was so perfect for little legs! We saw a snake on our walk, and enjoyed checking out the unique plants we’d never seen before. The hike ended at Cataract Falls. Of course my kids had to get as close as possible…
DAY 3: Pigeon Forge
This was a rainy day, so we decided to stick to some indoor places. Our family started the day at the Titanic Museum. If you have a passion for history, this is a MUST. Photos are not allowed inside, so you’ll have to visit to see what’s there. We learned a lot. My 4-year-old loved listening to the audio tour which had a special code just for kids {and kids 4 and under are free}.
After our tour, we stopped for lunch at Frizzle Chicken, which was recommended by many families with little ones. Animatronic chickens sang and danced as we ate, and kids created an egg with a unique spinner and markers. It was definitely memorable, and the food was pretty good too!
After Frizzle, we visited the Three Bears General Store, which was recommended to me many times. It was HUGE and had tons of gift-y things. There is an area where you can watch/feed bears on the upper level too!
We also checked out the arcade next door, called Rockin’ Raceway, and all three of my kids said it was one of their favorite parts. Definitely nice to sprinkle in some kid-pleasers, even though it was FAR from what I like to do 😉
DAY 4: Caves, Falls, and Lumberjacks
This day was probably my favorite. We started the day at Tuckaleechee Caverns, and got there right when they opened up. I HIGHLY recommend doing it that way to get the best experience. It was getting busy as we left. Our tour guide was fantastic and the kids really enjoyed the experience. There are some slippery/steep walking areas, so I wouldn’t recommend this for those unable to walk well.
On our way back to the cabin to rest, we stopped at Friendly Falls, which was suggested by my friend Korie. It was this obscure hippie place that totally spoke to my whimsical-loving self. We bought a giant bucket for gem mining and let the kids go to town with it. They say this was another one of their favorite parts of our trip! It was worth it because they got some amazing gems to add to their rock collections. The views of the falls were spectacular, too.
{We had plans to visit Cade’s Cove after, but unfortunately it was rainy and foggy, so the views wouldn’t have been what we were hoping for. Highly recommend it if you visit!}
During the evening, we checked out the newest show in town — Paula Deen’s Lumberjack Feud. This was such a fun show, and really appealed to ALL ages, including the adults. All of the lumberjacks were true athletes, and it was really fun to watch them compete. We brought in our own food which really helped to save!
DAY 5: Falls, Moon Pie & Fishing For Dinner
We had plans to visit Parrot Mountain, which we heard great things about, but the national park was calling again, so our group decided to try the hike to Laurel Falls with our collective 11 kids in tow. This was such a fantastic 2.6 mile hike! Disclaimer: It’s super steep, so we felt like we needed to be ON watching the kids the entire time. Still, it was absolutely worth it for the views! {Note: Don’t bring a stroller on this hike!}
After enjoying a picnic lunch at a park, we did a little more tourist shopping, this time visiting the Moon Pie General Store. We LOVED this place. Of course they sell Tennessee favorites — Moon Pie and RC Cola, but also homemade items, books, souvenirs, and more. It was a great little shop!
For dinner, we checked out English Mountain Trout Farm, which was a backwoods country, mom & pop kind of place. We fished in their trout pond for our dinner, and they prepared the fish for us to eat. The kids got a kick out of the fishing, and even tried eating it {though my middle baby insisted on a cheeseburger}. It was such a fun experience!
So there you have it…5 Days in The Great Smoky Mountains in Tennessee!
Overall, it ended up being one heck of a family vacation. We missed tons, but there’s no doubt we will be back with how easy the drive is and the amount of amazing rentals in the area.
See more of our vacation on my Instagram! For more travel adventures, go here.
Have you been to the Smoky Mountain area? Where are your favorite spots?
phdstatement says
Hello! Are you looking for the best!?
Jannette Soto says
Planning on doing a similar trip this summer with 8yo and 5 yo. Any suggestions on where to stay? Thanks!