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Tennessee events › Itineraries › Smoky Mountains Long Weekend
Smoky Mountains Long Weekend: a 3-day plan with 4 stops, 0 of them state parks and 4 attractions, each with admission, dog rules and hours or notes copied from the official page. 1 lists free entry. Each stop has a planning estimate for time on site and the road time to the next stop; drive times from four cities are in the table when the stop is in our file.
- Days3plan, then adjust
- Stops4each with a source
- State Parks0official park pages
- Free Entry1as the page states
Trip Kit
Plan It With Your People
Pick a start date, then send the plan to your group chat, put every day in your calendar, or open each day as a route in Google Maps.
Someone sent you this trip. It is set to the dates they picked.
Two Gatlinburg stops with admission and dog rules from each operator's own page.
Day at a glance: about 5 h at the stops plus 12 min on the road between them, 5 h 12 min in all. Leave at 9:00 a.m. and you finish around 2:12 p.m., before meals and the drive to and from where you sleep.
Ripley's Aquarium of The Smokies
Gatlinburg, Sevier County · Attraction
A walk-through aquarium in Gatlinburg, part of the Ripley's attractions family.
- Plan about
- 2 h 30 min (our estimate)
- Arrive about
- 9:00 a.m. (our estimate)
- Priority
- Essential (our pick)
- Admission
- Not confirmed on the page we read
- Hours
- Page showed today's (2026-10-30) hours as 9:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m.; no weekly schedule shown
- Dogs
- Not confirmed on the page we read
Checked October 30, 2026. Official page
Ober Gatlinburg Ski Area & Adventure Park
Gatlinburg, Sevier County · Attraction
A four-season mountaintop ski area and adventure park above downtown Gatlinburg, reached by the Aerial Tram. The site calls it Tennessee's only ski area in winter.
- Plan about
- 2 h 30 min (our estimate)
- Arrive about
- 11:42 a.m.
- Priority
- Optional (our pick)
- Admission
- Fun Pass (adult/child): $39 advance (at least a day before), $49 same-day online, $54 on-site; Adventure Pass (adult/child): $59 advance, $69 same-day online, $74 on-site; page says no longer available after November 15
- Hours
- Aerial Tram: Fri Oct 30 9:40 AM – 7:00 PM; Sat Oct 31 9:40 AM – 7:00 PM; Sun Nov 1 – Tue Nov 3 9:40 AM – 5:00 PM (Eastern; calendar read 2026-10-30); Last entry 30 minutes before closing time
- Dogs
- Not confirmed on the page we read
Checked October 30, 2026. Official page
About 12 min by road (4 mi) from Ripley's Aquarium of the Smokies
One Pigeon Forge attraction, a short drive from Gatlinburg; Dollywood has no page here because its details are not confirmed; check with Dollywood.
Day at a glance: about 2 h at the stop. Leave at 9:00 a.m. and you finish around 11:00 a.m., before meals and the drive to and from where you sleep.
Titanic Museum Attraction (Pigeon Forge)
Pigeon Forge, Sevier County · Attraction
A Titanic museum with real artifacts, interactive exhibits and full-scale recreations such as the Grand Staircase.
- Plan about
- 2 h (our estimate)
- Arrive about
- 9:00 a.m. (our estimate)
- Priority
- Essential (our pick)
- Admission
- Not confirmed on the page we read
- Hours
- Open daily, but hours are seasonal and capacity is limited; the page sends visitors to its hours/booking pages
- Dogs
- Not confirmed on the page we read
Checked October 30, 2026. Official page
An 11-mile one-way loop in Great Smoky Mountains National Park; allow most of the day. Read the vehicle-free Wednesday rule first.
Day at a glance: about 4 h at the stop. Leave at 9:00 a.m. and you finish around 1:00 p.m., before meals and the drive to and from where you sleep.
Cades Cove
Townsend, Blount County · AttractionFree Entry
An 11-mile one-way loop road through a Smokies valley with the park's widest variety of historic buildings.
- Plan about
- 4 h (our estimate)
- Arrive about
- 9:00 a.m. (our estimate)
- Priority
- Essential (our pick)
- Admission
- No park entrance fee.; Parking tag required for any vehicle parked in the park more than 15 minutes: $5 daily, $15 weekly, $40 annual.
- Hours
- Loop road open sunrise to sunset each day.; Loop road closed to motor vehicles every Wednesday, May 6 through September 30, 2026 (open to walkers and cyclists; Class 1 and 2 e-bikes only).
- Dogs
- Park pets page: leashed pets (6 ft max) welcome in campgrounds, picnic areas and along roads; only the Gatlinburg Trail and Oconaluftee River Trail allow pets; never in the backcountry; never left in a vehicle.
Checked October 30, 2026. Official page
More Stops If You Have Time
The Lost Sea Adventure
Sweetwater, Monroe County · Attraction
A guided tour of Craighead Caverns ending in a boat ride on what the attraction calls America's largest underground lake.
- Plan about
- 1 h 30 min (our estimate)
- Priority
- Optional (our pick)
- Admission
- Adult $29.95; Senior $28.95; military adult $28.95
- Hours
- Open every day except Thanksgiving and Christmas Day; specific hours not listed on page read
- Dogs
- Not confirmed on the page we read
Checked October 30, 2026. Official page
Museum of Appalachia
Clinton, Anderson County · Attraction
A non-profit living museum of Southern Appalachian life, founded by John Rice Irwin in 1969 and a Smithsonian Affiliate. It recreates an Appalachian community with log buildings and farm animals.
- Plan about
- 2 h (our estimate)
- Priority
- Optional (our pick)
- Admission
- Adult (18-64): $20.00; Senior (65+): $18.00
- Hours
- January & February: 10:00 AM to 4:00 PM; March – May: 9:00 AM to 5:00 PM (Mon-Fri), 9:00 AM to 6:00 PM (Sat & Sun); Easter Sunday 11:00 AM to 6:00 PM
- Dogs
- Not confirmed on the page we read
Checked October 30, 2026. Official page
Drive Times From Four Cities
| Stop | Nashville | Memphis | Knoxville | Chattanooga |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ripley's Aquarium of the Smokies | 256 min | 486 min | 59 min | 184 min |
| Ober Gatlinburg Ski Area & Adventure Park | 255 min | 485 min | 58 min | 183 min |
| Titanic Museum Attraction (Pigeon Forge) | 241 min | 471 min | 45 min | 169 min |
| Cades Cove | 259 min | 490 min | 81 min | 181 min |
| The Lost Sea Adventure | 224 min | 455 min | 77 min | 93 min |
| Museum of Appalachia | 217 min | 448 min | 35 min | 157 min |
OpenStreetMap road routing, no live traffic, read October 19, 2026. Stops without a row are not in our drive-times file. Full table: drive times to Tennessee attractions.
Map of Smoky Mountains Long Weekend
More Smokies Plans
Frequently Asked Questions
How many days do I need?
This plan is built for 3 days. Stops are listed in a workable order, not a promise that every one fits in your time.
How were the times worked out?
Road times between stops come from OpenStreetMap road routing with no live traffic. Time on site and the Essential or Optional label are our planning estimates, so treat the day totals as a starting point and read each operator’s hours.
Are the prices and hours current?
Each stop was read on its own official page on the date shown under it. Prices and hours change by season; use the official page link before you go.
Where are the events?
Dated events change every week, so they are not on this page. Pick your dates in the trip kit above, then open the event finder for what is on.
What We Could Not Confirm
- Ripley's Aquarium of the SmokiesAdmission, dogs not confirmed on the page we read; check the official page before you go.
- Ober Gatlinburg Ski Area & Adventure ParkDogs not confirmed on the page we read; check the official page before you go.
- Titanic Museum Attraction (Pigeon Forge)Admission, dogs not confirmed on the page we read; check the official page before you go.
- The Lost Sea AdventureDogs not confirmed on the page we read; check the official page before you go.
- Museum of AppalachiaDogs not confirmed on the page we read; check the official page before you go.
- Road times between stops come from OpenStreetMap road routing (OSRM), read October 30, 2026, with no live traffic, closures, ferry waits or seasonal road status; real trips can take longer, and the trip kit’s route buttons open current Google Maps directions.
- Time at each stop, the Essential or Optional label and every arrival time are our own planning estimates, not figures from the operators. Arrival times assume a 9:00 a.m. start and no meal stops. We did not check each arrival against that stop’s opening hours, so confirm hours on the official page.
- Map pins are the park’s own printed coordinates, or for an attraction a Census geocode of its street address or an OpenStreetMap point (see its place page). They are not verified entrances or parking areas; confirm the entrance on the official page before you drive.
Sources
- Ripley's Aquarium of the Smokies (operator page)
- Ober Gatlinburg Ski Area & Adventure Park (operator page)
- Titanic Museum Attraction (Pigeon Forge) (operator page)
- Cades Cove (operator page)
- The Lost Sea Adventure (operator page)
- Museum of Appalachia (operator page)
- OSRM routing on OpenStreetMap data
- OpenStreetMap place points
Read on October 30, 2026. Road times are computed from park GPS and OpenStreetMap points without traffic. How we check: editorial standards; spot a mistake? Tell us.
Cite this page: It's Tennessee, “Smoky Mountains Long Weekend”, itstennessee.com/itineraries/smoky-mountains-long-weekend/ (updated ). By the It's Tennessee editorial team. Free to quote with attribution and a link to this page; data and tables are licensed CC BY 4.0.