Larry Gude
Strung Out
Did it the day after Nixon resigned, surprised I remember??
Upper or lower?!!!
Rafting in Gatlinburg
- Thread starter RareBreed
- Start date
Upper or lower?!!!
Otter
Nothing to see here
The whole thing, it was before they subdivided
2 days, 8 hrs each day on different parts..no idea if it was upper, lower or tweeners.
Larry Gude
Strung Out
The whole thing, it was before they subdivided
Holy hell! What a trip!
Cowgirl
Well-Known Member
Oh, RareBreed, you have GOT to go to Cades Cove if you're in Pigeon Forge. It is AWESOME and gorgeous. Make sure you have a full tank of gas before you get there though, that way you don't have to leave before seeing all the sights. Not that I'd know about that or anything. 
RareBreed
Throwing the deuces
Oh, RareBreed, you have GOT to go to Cades Cove if you're in Pigeon Forge. It is AWESOME and gorgeous. Make sure you have a full tank of gas before you get there though, that way you don't have to leave before seeing all the sights. Not that I'd know about that or anything.
Sounds like a cool place. I wonder if we'll be able to fit it into our schedule. How long is the auto tour? If it's a few hours or so, we might be able to do it. I will talk it over with hubby. He's been looking for something free we can do like hiking/outdoorsy type stuff.
Cowgirl
Well-Known Member
Well, once you get into the cove it's an 11 mile driving tour. THey have stops along the way to go see old cabins and stuff. There is some walking involved, but you can drive the whole thing if you want. It's free, and even the drive to the cove is worth it alone.
We even saw a couple black bears! LOTS of wildlife!
RareBreed
Throwing the deuces
Well, once you get into the cove it's an 11 mile driving tour. THey have stops along the way to go see old cabins and stuff. There is some walking involved, but you can drive the whole thing if you want. It's free, and even the drive to the cove is worth it alone.
We saw a dead black bear along the road as we were driving back from NY (we were in PA at the time) over the week-end.
Must be Pigeon River
With a 5 year old the Lower Pigeon River is your only option for whitewater rafting. It is a lot of fun and there are rapids but they are spaced out and mild. The Lower Pigeon is the trip you need for the 5 year old. If some in the group ae over 7 years old and want more rapids, part of the group can go on the Lower while older ones go on the Upper. The Upper has much more whitewater but is still great for first timers. You start and finish the 2 trip options at the same place around the same time so even though you are apart on the river, you can go over together. Wildwater Rafting even does a trip where you go rafting and on an Off Road Hummer adventure. It is very cool and the 5 year old can go on that as well. Wildwater is the only company that offers that trip. Someone already included the link to wildwaterrafting.com previously. Have a great trip!!
With a 5 year old the Lower Pigeon River is your only option for whitewater rafting. It is a lot of fun and there are rapids but they are spaced out and mild. The Lower Pigeon is the trip you need for the 5 year old. If some in the group ae over 7 years old and want more rapids, part of the group can go on the Lower while older ones go on the Upper. The Upper has much more whitewater but is still great for first timers. You start and finish the 2 trip options at the same place around the same time so even though you are apart on the river, you can go over together. Wildwater Rafting even does a trip where you go rafting and on an Off Road Hummer adventure. It is very cool and the 5 year old can go on that as well. Wildwater is the only company that offers that trip. Someone already included the link to wildwaterrafting.com previously. Have a great trip!!
Train & rafting
When you go over to ride the train you will see Wildwater over there too. Wildwater does rafting on the Nantahala, Pigeon, Ocoee, Chattooga & Cheoah. We do a Raft & Rail trip that goes up the mountain on the train and then back down the Nantahala. The age minimum is 7 though. On July 10th they are opening a new zipline canopy trip near the top of the train ride called Nantahala Gorge Canopy Tours. You can check it out at nantahalgorgecanopytours.com. Good luck!!
When you go over to ride the train you will see Wildwater over there too. Wildwater does rafting on the Nantahala, Pigeon, Ocoee, Chattooga & Cheoah. We do a Raft & Rail trip that goes up the mountain on the train and then back down the Nantahala. The age minimum is 7 though. On July 10th they are opening a new zipline canopy trip near the top of the train ride called Nantahala Gorge Canopy Tours. You can check it out at nantahalgorgecanopytours.com. Good luck!!
Done_Wrong
Member
Ims planning a trip to Nashville and Pigeon Forge TN and I really appreciate all the info given to add some fun to the trip. Does anyone have any recommendations for horseback riding along the way? I would also be interested in a few nights at a dude ranch type vacation. TIA
Cowgirl
Well-Known Member
We went riding at a place right on the Parkway. I can't remember the name of it. There's several places down there. They're the typical rent-a-horse place, but they have some nice views on the trails. There's also a place called Lil Ponderosa that offers horse and atv rides. They're more tucked back out of the way. We were going to go there, but they had funky hours that day.
huntr1
.
We spent Friday and Saturday night in gatlinburg this weekend. Left the hotel Sunday morning at 9:45. We were at the far end of town, off Ski Mtn. Rd. Took the bypass around town on the way home. Free sailing till we hit the Little Pigeon River at the entrance to Pigeon Forge. From there to the highway took us a bit over an hour. My advise is to leave EARLY on Sunday (part of the backup was caused by cops stopping traffic for the chruch crowds to get in/out of chruch). Next time, I plan to leave the hotel by 7:00.
Fantasy minigolf in Pigeon Forge was lame. Even to the kids.
Gas is cheaper at the Petro @ exit 36 by about $0.10 than at exit 407 ($2.36 vs. $2.49), and it was running roughly $2.54 in town. Most common cost from Dahlgren to Huntsville, Al was $2.39.
2 sections of I81 were under construction. Mile Marker 43 I believe was the first. Get off and take Rt. 11 till you get up to about the 30 MM. Took us an extra hour to get thru the 2 backups.
Hit the 206 (?) / 301 junction at 9:00 (WaWa & Burger King across from McDonalds in Dahlgren). It was 9:35 when we go to the start of the bridge.
Fantasy minigolf in Pigeon Forge was lame. Even to the kids.
Gas is cheaper at the Petro @ exit 36 by about $0.10 than at exit 407 ($2.36 vs. $2.49), and it was running roughly $2.54 in town. Most common cost from Dahlgren to Huntsville, Al was $2.39.
2 sections of I81 were under construction. Mile Marker 43 I believe was the first. Get off and take Rt. 11 till you get up to about the 30 MM. Took us an extra hour to get thru the 2 backups.
Hit the 206 (?) / 301 junction at 9:00 (WaWa & Burger King across from McDonalds in Dahlgren). It was 9:35 when we go to the start of the bridge.
RareBreed
Throwing the deuces
Oh, RareBreed, you have GOT to go to Cades Cove if you're in Pigeon Forge. It is AWESOME and gorgeous. Make sure you have a full tank of gas before you get there though, that way you don't have to leave before seeing all the sights. Not that I'd know about that or anything.
Hubby said no to this. Said we're already too busy to add to our trip.Thanks for the heads-up on the construction. Not sure of our route (hubby handles that part) but I'll let him know. We are planning on leaving MD around 6am Saturday so we'll get there by 4pm. We need to pick up the house keys from the rental place. Probably head back home around the same time on the following Saturday.
Cowgirl
Well-Known Member
That sucks! I think it was my favorite parts of the trip. It's funny...we asked the locals what to do down there, they ALL said Cades Cove. Oh, and you should stop by Lid'l Dolly's and see the freaky dresses for little girls.
RareBreed
Throwing the deuces
That sucks! I think it was my favorite parts of the trip. It's funny...we asked the locals what to do down there, they ALL said Cades Cove. Oh, and you should stop by Lid'l Dolly's and see the freaky dresses for little girls.
My husband and two sons would really think I was
if I wanted to look at dresses for little girls. I'm sure it won't be the last time we'll be in TN so we'll put it on the "to do" list for our next trip.
huntr1
.
Hey! :footstomp: Not ALL the Lil' Dolly's dresses areThat sucks! I think it was my favorite parts of the trip. It's funny...we asked the locals what to do down there, they ALL said Cades Cove. Oh, and you should stop by Lid'l Dolly's and see the freaky dresses for little girls.
. We bought 2 of the non- ones this time. Gonna order a Christmas dress for the baby once they come out.
Cowgirl
Well-Known Member
Hey! :footstomp: Not ALL the Lil' Dolly's dresses are
Are they like these?
I wanted to go look at quilts, but hubby was afraid to go in because the dresses freaked him out. 
Homer J
Power Chord
We decided to go with "Rafting in the Smokies". We're doing the Lower Pigeon Forge River. I spent all day setting up reservations and buying tickets for everything we're planning on doing that week.
Finally got our schedule set.
Sun: Ripley's Aquarium and NASCAR go-karts
Mon: Dollywood
Tues: Great Smoky Mountain Railroad train ride
Wed: Water rafting trip
Thurs: Knoxville Zoo
Fri: Helicopter ride and muscle car museum
Whew! I'm tired already and we haven't even gone!!
The train ride is really cool and it is a beautiful drive to get there.
Ripley's Aquarium is incredible.
You should try and go to the Dixie Stampede one night too. Good food and a great show.
I would also recommend Wonder Works Interactive Museum. The kids will love it.
RareBreed
Throwing the deuces
We did the train ride in 2003 and yes, it's cool. Train rides are mandatory on all our vacations. We "tried" to do the aquarium but we went when our then 2 yr old should have been taking a nap and he wasn't in the mood for us to continue much further past the front door.