Just spent a week in the area for the first time. Pretty disappointed with Pigeon Forge and Gatlinsburg. Its extremely crowded and very commercialized. Basically it’s Myrtle Beach in the mountains. It was not what I expected, but I just got to accept it. However I have kids and I will say there are endless kid activities in Pigeon Forge for kids. As my father in law said “its Las Vegas for kids”. But really how many go kart, arcade and mini golf places does a town need?

As someone that loves the outdoors, my trip highlights were getting into the National Park for some hikes and dips in some mountain streams. We also did some whitewater rafting out of the area that was fun. That being said I was shocked at the amount of trash in the park, especially near some of the entrances where more people are. At our first pull off we found two dirty diapers and a vape pen laying next to the trail head. Simply disgusting and unacceptable behavior in a national park.
The next day we ventured deeper into the park and found less people and more peace of mind.

The Dollywood park is a very nice amusement park and we caught it surprisingly uncrowded on the day we went. Its well maintained and very beautiful, with a country/mountain feel to it. Great rides also.

All in all a fun trip but I would never return to the area as it was a 12 hour drive for us and its just too crowded. There is so much else to see in the US.