The Great Smoky Mountains are calling you—and you’re not alone. With the annual visitor count hovering between 13 to 14 million, the Smokies are the most visited national park in the United States. Within the park’s 520,000 acres of land, you’ll find black bears nuzzling the forest floor for wild blueberries, red-chinned salamanders riding the currents of the crisscrossed creeks alongside schools of trout, and—during the summer—the natural fairy lights of 19 species of fireflies that call the park home. There are plenty of outdoorsy adventures waiting for you, but if your boots were made for more than just scenic walking, Gatlinburg is the Great Smoky Mountains gateway that’s also home to tons of other activities.
In the same itinerary, you can feel the burn of Hunch Punch Lightnin’ moonshine at Ole Smoky Distillery, keep up with the kids on treetop rope bridges and dueling ziplines at Anakeetsa Adventure Park, and take a 10-minute drive over to Pigeon Forge for dinner, where you can work up an appetite watching lumberjacks swing their axes at the Lumberjack Feud. Gatlinburg is the rip-roaring, life-of-the-party gateway to the Smokies, the kind of place where newlyweds ride off into the sunset on growling ATVs. And the fun doesn’t have to stop when you head indoors. Below, we’ve gathered the best Gatlinburg hotels, Airbnbs, and cabins that are as varied in flavor as the mountain town itself. Read on for cozy log cabins, Dolly Parton-approved resorts, and cottagecore farm stays galore.
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