Property at a Glance: Wyndham Vacation Resorts Great Smokies Lodge

This resort sits fewer than 20 miles from Great Smoky Mountains National Park, but there’s plenty at the property to keep your family busy. When it’s warm, you can float along a lazy river and zip down slides at the outdoor water park. At the indoor water park, kids can splash around on a jungle gym and even ride waves on a surf machine.

• Two-bedroom suites have two bathrooms and 1,090 square feet of space—enough for eight guests.
• Home away from home: Enjoy conveniences including laundry and a full kitchen, plus a balcony and a whirlpool tub.
• Skip the dishes and grab a bite at the resort’s deli.
• Free WiFi for up to four devices makes it easy to check email and share vacation photos.

Pigeon Forge, Tennessee: Family-Friendly Attractions and Outdoor Activities in the Great Smoky Mountains

Though it’s secluded in the foothills of the Great Smoky Mountains, Pigeon Forge is home to some quirky destinations, including Dollywood, a Titanic museum that looks just like the famed ocean liner from the outside, and an interactive children’s museum housed in an upside-down three-story building.

In Pigeon Forge’s historical town center, a cluster of old-fashioned specialty shops and restaurants forms the Old Mill Square along the Little Pigeon River. Inside the mill, a pair of 4,600-pound granite stones has been grinding grain since the early 1800s. Another nearby attraction is Ripley’s Aquarium of the Smokies, located a few miles down the road in Gatlinburg. Here, exotic stingrays and four-eyed anableps swim with other sea creatures beneath a backlit waterfall. At the shark lagoon, you can stand inside an enclosed glass tunnel to get an up-close view of green eels, sand tiger sharks, and sea turtles.

But the top draw is, of course, Great Smoky Mountains National Park, located roughly 10 miles south of Pigeon Forge. You can hike along more than 800 miles of trails that lead past waterfalls and pioneer-era log cabins tucked deep within the densely forested mountains. Or take a bicycle ride on the 11-mile loop through Cades Cove, a broad valley known for its ample wildlife-viewing opportunities; deer, black bears, wild turkeys, and vacationing college mascots are all known to frequent the open meadows. One of the best places to catch a glowing sunset is Clingmans Dome, the park’s highest point of elevation at 6,600 feet.