Great Smoky Mountains National Park

The Great Smoky Mountains is the most visited National Park in the US for over four decades. Entrance to the park is free, and the town of Gatlinburg, TN is full of stores, restaurants, and activities for the whole family.

Places to Stay While Visiting The Smokies

You should have no trouble finding a place to stay here. The area surrounding Gatlinburg is littered with hotels, cabins, Airbnbs and plenty of other options to spend your nights nestled in the wilderness.

We found a small cabin that easily fit the five of us that was about 15 minutes from downtown. The traffic was light at first, although it could get a little busy once in the heart of the city. here is the distance of local towns to the Gatlinburg Visitor’s Center:

• Gatlinburg, TN (4 miles away)
• Pigeon Forge, TN (10 miles away)

VISIT Great Smoky Mountains National Park:

Park Details

Great Smoky Mountains National Park was established in .

Address
Phone	865 436-1200
Hours	It is open 24 hours a day, 365 days a year
Entrance Fee	Free

When to Visit: Weather vs. Peak Visitation

We crunched 30 years of historical weather and/or park service data to find the best months to visit Great Smoky Mountains National Park. We looked for the optimal temperatures, the least amount of snow and rain, and stayed away from peak visitation months if we could help it. All this data then helped us paint a picture as to what the absolute best time to visit Great Smoky Mountains National Park is.

Our data shows the best months to visit Great Smoky Mountains National Park are April, May, June & September.

Temperature values in °F; Precipitation in Inches

	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
Park Visits	525,801	502,459	931,060	1,169,469	1,363,183	1,539,247	1,730,987	1,398,161	1,355,599	1,633,547	1,155,227	833,071
Precipitation	127	106	133	116	94	88	91	82	102	72	101	118
Avg Temp	43	45	52	60	67	73	76	75	71	62	53	45
Max Temp	58	60	66	73	77	81	82	82	79	73	66	60
Avg Temp	26	29	35	43	51	59	62	61	56	46	36	29
Min Temp	4	8	14	24	35	47	54	53	40	28	19	10

Great Smoky Mountains National Park Road Trips

Many family vacations consist of stringing one or more national parks together during a week-long trip. Creating these types of trips is our specialty! Here are the road trips we've created where Great Smoky Mountains National Park is visited.

Trip Name	Trip Miles	Trip Days
The Full Blue Ridge Parkway Road Trip	713	8
Mammoth Cave & Smoky Mountains	536	8
DC, Shenandoah, New River Gorge to Great Smoky Mountains	767	9

Other Nearby National Park Sites

From national monuments, to historic sites to seashores and more, here are the other parks closest to Great Smoky Mountains National Park.