Car Rental Coupons Gatlinburg

Gatlinburg Attractions and Things to See

Gatlinburg doesn't need much introduction, since it is the mountain resort city in Tennessee that has become a very popular vacation resort, sitting on the border of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park on US highway 441 that links the city with Cherokee, North Carolina via the park. The city and region have a long history with the Cherokees, and other Native Americans that predated them, using a footpath that would become known as the Indian Gap Trail that would give them access to the bountiful game and other animals in the forests and coves of the Great Smokies, and connecting the Great Indian Warpath with the Rutherford Indian Trace that followed the west fork of the Little Pigeon River from Sevierville through Pigeon Forge, Gatlinburg and the Sugarlands. It is a wonderful and interesting history that will envelop you and surprise you as you travel the road of history, learning more about the magnificent Cherokee and their trials and tribulations with the white man. It would be included in the Civil War, and then at the turn of the century, when the band saw and logging railroad would open a lumber industry that would harvest much of the trees that were located there. The logging would become so extensive in the early 1900s, that conservationists called for federal action, which led to the Weeks Act and create a beautiful national park that all generations of Americans can enjoy for a long time.
Today, it is naturally, a significant tourist destination, and perhaps one of the most important in the state, with many man-made attractions , but the Great Smoky national park far outshines anything that man could or would construct or create in this city. Ober Gatlinburg is the only ski resort and amusement park in the state, with eight ski trails and three chair lifts, although accessible via the roads and gondola from the city's strip. There is even a Gatlinburg Trolley that takes visitors from one end of the city to the other, stopping at many of the local attractions and making it easier to travel, once there, with Ripley's Aquarium of the Smokies that showcases special exhibits like the Titanic, planet Mars and pirates. Dollywood and Dollywood's Splash Country are amusement parks in nearby Pigeon Forge, named after Dolly Parton, with a number of music and family-oriented theaters located there, that includes the famous Sweet Fanny Adams theater, that hosts musical comedy.
The city has locally created candy that includes excellent fudge and taffy, and in the Christmas season, the entire part of downtown is lit up like a Christmas tree and decorated with lights, with a free shuttle bus that runs every half hour. The city's restaurants include the usual fast food joints to the finest dining west of the Smokies, that is sure to satisfy every palate and budget. You can enjoy excellent steaks, delicious seafood, outstanding BBQ, southern fried chicken and more that is available for breakfast, lunch, snacks and dinner. There are quite a few places to eat, with many unique restaurants that are sure to please your palates and make dining a great experience well worth looking and waiting for. Other venues include Cuban, Italian, Oriental, and always, old fashioned good home cooking.
There are outdoor galleries, outdoor fitters, with some of the best whitewater rafting in the region located there, mountain wood carvers, handmade table cloths and home made candy stores. And there is always plenty of places to shop for local, regional and national articles for sale.