In addition, ranger-led programs are conducted seasonally that can add to your appreciation of the mountains. There are great dioramas featuring stuffed animals, birds, reptiles from the area and the environments in which they are found. This year we also noticed a NEW type of donation box in the lobby. There were about 25 people waiting in line while we were there. This year's theme will be "Find Your Park." The visitor center features knowledgable rangers, maps, restrooms, animal exhibits, informative museum, and a free movie. They gave us some great ideas for our visit. Howard Johnson by Wyndham Downtown Gatlinburg. Every purchase you make puts money in an artist's pocket. Disclosure: As an Amazon Associate and a partner of other affiliate programs including Booking.com, CJ and Tripster, we may earn commissions from qualifying purchases via links found in this article. Gift Shop With Books. If you have kids I'd recommend the Jr Ranger books (buy the book for $2.50 in the shop) to fill out and get the wooden Jr Ranger Badge. Staff were restricting occupancy to 50 people due to COVID, but we didn't have to wait very long. Perhaps a nearby place where we can see animals, waterfalls etc. In addition to the interior exhibits, there are three great hikes all located at Sugarlands Visitor Center. Great Smoky Mountains National Park is the most visited national park in America, receiving some 9 million guests each year. Spotted near Meigs Falls. Park Rangers are approachable and some of the nicest people you will ever meet. Better yet, this center rests in a historic part of the Smokies that's filled . 92% of travelers recommend this experience. Oct. 8:00 am - 6:00 pmNovember 8:00 am - 5:00 pmDecember 8:00 am - 4:30 pmLocation 1420 Little River RoadGatlinburg TN 37738Inside the park, 2 miles south of Gatlinburg on US-441Special Programs Ranger-led programs conducted seasonally. Visit the Clingmans Dome Visitor Center from April through November (2022). General Stores. Best 5 Things to Order, Is Mountain Monsters Real? For your convenience, weve also provided some information about nearby RV parks and resorts. Typical Visitors Center, but see the Presentation anyway!! Do the Sugarlands Valley Nature Trail and Fighting Creek Trail both start at the visitor center? Great place to start your exploration of the park. We hiked from the Gatlinburg Trail to get here only to find out that there is a line to get in. There are a few parking spaces by the trailhead. Do you need to book in advance to visit Sugarlands Visitors Center? Vending machines are available at the visitor center. Shop online or visit a bookstore at the following park locations: Sugarlands Visitor Center Oconaluftee Visitor Center Cades Cove Visitor Center Clingmans Dome Visitor Information Station Join Us Today! #1 THING TO DO IN GATLINBURG! Despite the cold winters in this area, its Emilys favorite season! Ways to Experience Sugarlands Visitors Center. The hike features a gentle climb that follows Fighting Creek and features two historic properties the Noah McCarter cabin and the John Ownby cabin. It's located 2mi from Gatlinburg. You can pick up tons of helpful information about the area, speak to rangers, and watch videos about the significance of the Grand Canyon. Got right into the museum/store without a wait. In fact, Newfound Gap Road runs essentially from the Sugarlands Visitor Center to the Oconaluftee Visitor Center near Cherokee, North Carolina. - May 9:00 am - 5:00 pmJune Oct. 9:00 am - 6:00 pmNov.- Dec. 9:00 am - 5:00 pmLocation7906 E. Lamar Alexander Pkwy (U.S. 321)Townsend TN 37882Available FacilitiesGreat Smoky Mountains Association bookstore and shop. Both provide demonstrations of corn meal milling. Just a heads up..Don't get to close to the Elk! This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Begin your exploration of the park at a visitor center. Excellent staff, friendly and very helpful. It is an easy trail to hike and takes less than an hour. We would have younger kids with us and have 3-4 hours to spend there. 2023 - SmokyMountains.com. They have a large parking lot. Good place to stop before heading on to Laurel Falls and Cades Cove. Outside the center, visitors can enjoy the Oconaluftee Mountain Farm Museum, an open-air museum with a collection of some of the oldest log structures original to the park. Here you can talk to the park rangers, pick up a map, sign up for the junior ranger program, use the restrooms on-site, pick up a water from the vending machines, watch a short FREE park video OR do one of the hiking trails out back. Sugarlands Visitor Center T-shirts, stickers, wall art, home decor, and more designed and sold by independent artists. They know all about the native plant and animal life, so dont hesitate to ask them about it! The gristmill is a fully operating mill and is open daily 9:00 to 5:00, March 6 to October 31, 2022; and open Friday to Sunday in November. Great Smoky Mountains National Park - Things to Do, things to do in Great Smoky Mountains National Park. This center was no different, although there were great park rangers available to help you decide where best to hike or drive, and the maps were reasonably priced, as was the gift shop, where we did spend $50 or so.There is a nice hike right outside the visitor's center--you can walk down to a sweet little falls, and many families were playing in the creek, stacking rocks and having fun. While we do our best to bring you the most up-to-date information, TheSmokies.com LLC makes no warranties regarding the accuracy or completeness of any content contained within. The center is staffed with helpful Park . Peruse the park bookstore and shop. , NOW, as a sort of family tradition, we bring our own kids! This is a great outing for families with younger children. RELATED: Fighting Creek Nature Trail is very popular with visitors to Sugarlands Visitor Center. RELATED: Cades Cove is the most popular destination in the park. This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. With thousands of visitors every year, they sought to build an exceptional gift shop to suit the high demand for Sugarlands Distilling Co. merchandise. The center is open year-round, with the exception of Christmas. Sugarlands Visitor Center Gatlinburg, TN. This visitor's center is a must-see for anyone visiting the park. It is open every day of the year, except Christmas Day. To get to Elkmont Historic District, take US-411 from Gatlinburg to Sugarlands Visitor Center, where you'll turn onto Fighting Creek Gap Road. Short and easy to hike. Read Also: Picnic areas in the Smoky Mountains: The 4 best-kept secret spots. TN Sugarlands Visitor Center, located less than 3 miles south of Gatlinburg on U.S. Route 441, is open daily (except Christmas Day). The National Park Service maintains four official visitor centers inside Great Smoky Mountains National Park. You can touch a real moon rock, speak to astronauts, and get up close and personal with a rocket. Just up Newfound Gap Road/hwy 441 S is the Sugarland Valley Nature Trail. Amazed how many people were there. Tripadvisor gives a Travelers Choice award to accommodations, attractions and restaurants that consistently earn great reviews from travelers and are ranked within the top 10% of properties on Tripadvisor. We had a great conversation about the Synchronous Fireflies event in Elkmont, the park, how he became a ranger, and Tennessee and Alabama football. Book your tickets online for Clingmans Dome, Great Smoky Mountains National Park: See 3,088 reviews, articles, and 3,412 photos of Clingmans Dome, ranked No.12 on Tripadvisor among 104 attractions in Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Four visitor centers are located within the national park at Sugarlands, Oconaluftee, Cades Cove, and Clingmans Dome. For all of your camping and trip planning needs, look no further than RV LIFE Campgrounds and RV LIFE Trip Wizard. The Oconaluftee Visitor Center is open year round (2022), except Christmas Day. LeConte, improvements to Alum Cave Trail, annual updates to the Sugarlands Recognition Wall, and restoration of the Elkmont Theater. The museum and movie theater has since been temporarily closed. Carlsbad Caverns National Park Visitor Center, 2. Is the Gatlinburg Trail fairly easy? It can easily be accessed at the end of River Road in Gatlinburg. Sugarlands is one of the top-rated visitor centers in the area and in the whole country! Sugarlands Visitors Center: Sugarlands Visitor Center - See 1,061 traveler reviews, 396 candid photos, and great deals for Great Smoky Mountains National Park, TN, at Tripadvisor. We are not endorsed by, authorized by, or affiliated with any mentioned attractions. Did you visit the Sugarlands Visitor Center on a recent National Park visit? Click "Show M. Look for national-park-themed clothing items as well as souvenir mugs and ornaments and games and activities designed for kids. I got three booklets/maps for $1.00 each. Fully refundable Reserve now, pay when you stay. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews. The wooded area of the trail ends at the Park maintenance facility. This easy hike is perfect for families with young children. Reviews help other RVers like yourself, and they help the campground. This area is wild and free, so its important to practice wildlife safety protocols. City of Gatlinburg information. Information about specific programs is available at each visitor center. This number is based on the percentage of all Tripadvisor reviews for this product that have a bubble rating of 4 or higher. A big parking lot and grassy area to picnic on before or after you begin your step back in time on the loop drive. This trip to the Smokies we caught a presentation from one of the park rangers out front of the visitor center. There were a few other areas in the visitor center, including a small museum, that we didn't explore, but it looked well-curated. Some of them educate, others entertain, and others showcase interesting features of the area. The Becky Cable house, a barn, and other structures may be toured also. Located about 15 minutes from the Visitor Center is the Chimney Picnic Area. Enjoy ranger-led programs conducted seasonally. Bikes are also allowed on this popular trail. - April 8:30 am - 4:30 pmMay 8:30 am - 5:00 pmJune Aug. 8:00 am - 6:00 pmSept.- Oct. 8:30 am - 6:00 pmNov. People have been living and working in the mountains for generations, and the history is all on display here. I thought this was genius; a little way of saying that you were here. To get to the Sugarlands Visitor Center, proceed through downtown Gatlinburg on the main Parkway. The next time you visit our Gatlinburg zipline attraction, we recommend that you also work in a trip to the national park and be sure to make Sugarlands Visitor Center a part of your outdoor experience. What attractions are near Sugarlands Visitors Center? Brian Searl May 29, 2013. The kids thought it was neat to feel the fur from a bear, otter, fox, skunk, raccoon, etc. The visitor center features knowledgable rangers, maps, restrooms, animal exhibits, informative museum, and a free movie. Clingmans Dome Visitor Center | Photo: Billy Hathorn. And the trailhead for the formidable Chimney Tops Trail is nearby. See 63 traveller reviews, 42 photos, and cheap rates for Travelodge by Wyndham Pigeon Forge Dollywood Lane, ranked #69 of 99 hotels in Pigeon Forge and rated 3.5 of 5 at Tripadvisor. Upvote 6 Downvote. While many of those people enter from the North Carolina side of the park, as well as through other entrances on the Tennessee side, most access the park through the Gatlinburg entrance, which is only a couple of miles from Sugarlands Visitor Center - a great starting point for any adventure one might plan within GSMNP boundaries. Sugarlands Visitor Center A free 20-minute film about Great Smoky Mountains National Park is offered at Sugarlands Visitor Center. Get there before 4 pm if you want to see the movie and/or museum! Feb. 8:00 am - 4:30 pmMarch 8:00 am - 5:00 pmApril - May 8:00 am - 6:00 pmJune Aug. 8:00 am - 7:00 pmSept. And there are restrooms. What restaurants are near Sugarlands Visitors Center? You can reach the Sugarlands Visitor Center by calling 865-436-1291. 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