Pigeon forge - thanksgiving week

Dollywood is only open Sun, Wed, Fri, Sat, & following Sun of Thanksgiving week. Starting Nov. 8th, the Smoky Mountain Christmas event starts. If I wanted to go to see the lights I'd go on Wednesday night. I've been to DW on major holiday weekend during the Christmas festival and the crowds are always above normal. You can expect crowded sidewalks and long lines for shows and rides on Fri, Sat, and Sun. As for the area, Wed will have more traffic as people move in and out of the area, Thur usually isn't bad in the morning and up to afternoon. As night falls, many nearby families will take a joy ride thru the area to see all of the Christmas decorations, same for Sat night.
Hope that helps.

We were in Pigeon Forge a few years ago for Thanksgiving and I swear I'll never do it again. Thanksgiving day was ok. The Friday after was the worst I've ever seen it. 441 through town was a parking lot. We turned around and went back to the CG and finally ventured out about 8pm that evening.

We have gone to PF for the past 6 years for Thanksgiving. We stay at Pine Mtn RV Park, which is at traffic light #6. We DO NOT get on the parkway unless we absolutely have to until after 7 pm.

Get a map so you can use the back roads to get around.

Thanksgiving is not as busy as the fall during the "leafing" season, but there are plenty of people and you can spend several hours sitting in traffic trying to get from one end to the other.

The lights are beautiful and there is a trolley that traverses through the area each evening just to see the lights. It fills up fast, so make reservations early if you want to do that.

You run into Black Friday traffic in/around the outlet malls and it is pretty awful. You CAN get around if you do a little bit of research and have a local map.

We are still trying to decide if we are going back this year....once you've seen it all, it gets kinda boring. We may head further south toward the Gulf.

In a word: Packed. Holidays in the Smokys usually are.

Avoid the parkway at all costs. Plan on staying at the campground Friday after thanksgiving to keep your sanity. The shoppers and traffic are pretty stout, but clear out by Sunday afternoon.

When we go to PF in October, like others have said, is that timing on the parkway is everything. I try to arrive at Pine Mountain mid day and when we leave a week later we will get up early and be on the road by 6:30 am. Very little traffic that early and a quick drive to I40.
Don