The Tennessee location has lots to offer those who want to spend the season outside
By Corinne Minard
When you take a trip, you do more than enjoy the destination—you also enjoy the season. Gatlinburg, with its proximity to Great Smoky Mountains National Park, is a particularly great place to visit during the summer. Here’s four ways to enjoy the season while you visit this Tennessee city.
Play Putt-Putt Golf
Gatlinburg has several unique courses for families that love to hit the green. Hillbilly Golf is one of Gatlinburg’s oldest attractions and requires players to ride an incline rail up a mountain to reach the course. Ripley’s Davy Crockett’s Mini Golf tells the story of Davy Crockett in two themed courses for a total of 36 holes while Ripley’s Old MacDonald’s Farm Mini Golf has 54 holes of “down on the farm” fun. And Gatlin’s Mini Golf has players learn about Gatlinburg’s history through 45 holes and two courses.
Ride a Horse Through the Mountains
While there are many ways to explore the Great Smoky Mountains, few are as memorable riding a horse through the mountains. While Smoky Mountain Riding Stables is closed this year for repairs, Sugarlands Riding Stables is still doing tours through the Smokies. Riders can expect to see beautiful woods, mountain streams and even some wildlife from the back of a horse.
Visit an Adventure Park
Those looking for some thrills can find plenty to do in Gatlinburg. The Gatlinburg Mountain Coaster has riders coast down the mountain at speeds of more than 30mph. Anakeesta is a family-friendly park with a variety of attractions, including a Chondola ride, mountaintop observation tower, TreeVenture Challenge Course, Treetop Skywalk, dueling ziplines and a mountain coaster. Gatlin’s Rugged Ropes Adventure Course is a three-story ropes course that takes participants through 38 challenges and obstacles. Rowdy Bear Mountain Adventure Park is home to the world’s first mountain glider as well as a mountain coaster. And Ober Gatlinburg Ski Area & Amusement Park remains open during the summer, allowing visitors to enjoy summer tubing, indoor ice skating and bumper cars, a mountain coaster, rock wall and more.
Take A Trip in the Sky
Gatlinburg is also a great place to just take in the view, particularly from above. The Aerial Tramway at Ober Gatlinburg Ski Area & Amusement Park take visitors up 1,500 feet in two 120-passenger cars, providing riders with views of downtown Gatlinburg and the mountains. Gatlinburg Skylift Park is home to the recording-setting SkyBridge, a 680-foot-long bridge across a valley, and the Gatlinburg Skylift, a chairlift that takes visitors to the top of Crockett Mountain. Gatlinburg’s Space Needle, on the other hand, let’s visitors take an elevator up 400 feet for a 360-degree view of the region.
