Rainy day in the Smoky Mountains? 25 things to do

The park gets about 55 inches of rain a year, which is part of what keeps the place green. A rainy day isn't a wasted day, and the indoor pool was built for them.

At the cabin

1. Indoor pool — heated year-round, 18'x11.5'
2. Hot tub in the rain — better than you'd think
3. Board games by the fireplace — there's a stack of them in the cabinet
4. Cook something ambitious — full kitchen, deck grill if it lets up
5. Movie marathon — Smart TV, all the major streaming apps

Indoor in Gatlinburg

6. Ripley's Aquarium — shark tunnel and penguin exhibit
7. Arts & Crafts Community — 100+ indoor shops and galleries
8. Ole Smoky Moonshine Distillery — free tastings
9. Sugarlands Distilling — cocktails at the bar
10. Hollywood Star Cars Museum — Batmobile, General Lee, Ecto-1
11. Ripley's Believe It or Not! — multi-floor oddities

Indoor in Pigeon Forge

12. Titanic Museum — 400+ artifacts, interactive exhibits
13. WonderWorks — 100+ science exhibits, ropes course, laser tag
14. The Island — covered shopping plus the Great Smoky Mountain Wheel
15. Alcatraz East Crime Museum — better than it sounds

Shopping

16. Tanger Outlets (Sevierville) — 100+ outlet stores
17. The Village Shops (Gatlinburg) — covered walkways
18. Old Mill Square (Pigeon Forge) — handmade goods and pottery

Food and drink

19. Winery hopping — Mountain Valley, Gatlinburg Wine Cellar, Apple Barn
20. Pancake house tour — pick three, rank them
21. Cooking class — Southern and Appalachian focus

Other

22. Drive the scenic roads — fog and rain make the best Smokies photos
23. Sugarlands Visitor Center — exhibits on mountain ecology
24. Spa day — area resorts take outside bookings
25. Read on the covered deck — coffee, a book, rain off the roof

Why the rain isn't a problem

Waterfalls run higher, the trails empty out, and the ridgelines fill with fog that makes everything look like a watercolor. Some of the better trips are the wet ones.

Pick your dates on the booking page.