Pulling thru Gatlinburg

[Hammerboy]

Hello everyone,

We are thinking of staying at Twin Creek Resort in Gatlinburg perhaps next summer. Coming from Knoxville direction and thru Pigeon Forge (Im assuming taking Veterans blvd. is the best way) and then to Twin Creek on Rd 321 on the east side of Gatlinburg. I here it can be a little tight but is there any issues pulling our 34' fifth thru the portion of Gatlinburg to get there?

Thanks in advance

Dan

[Hammerboy]

Thanks Ken56 and everyone else for the tips, really helped for planning our trip.

Dan

[jaycocamprs]

I would not try to tow into downtown Gatlinburg. We stayed up East Parkway from Twin Creek Park at Camping In the Smokies twice, came down from Newport both times. Traffic in the whole Pigeon Forge Gatlinburg area is bad, and even affects the trolleys.

[ken56]

Yes, fair assessment of the situation. Tour busses go thru G'burg all the time so pulling thru it you just take the space on the road that you need. You don't go all that fast anyway cuz its just too jammed up to. Foot hills is close to the south end of Pigeon Forge and the by pass and a good central location for everything. Both have trolley stops if you are inclined to take it instead of driving around town. Veterans parkway will get you by most of the traffic on the main drag too but not all. any advantage there is good. If for some unfortunate reason you may need RV service Ricky's RV service is on Veterans Parkway and has a mobile tech and does good work. Look on line for coupons for the area attractions and restaurants.

[Hammerboy]

ken56 wrote:
Hammerboy, the choices for RV parks are numerous here and if you are not heart set on staying at Twin Creek then foothills is a good choice. That's the whole issue, do you want to be close to the action and a trolley stop or would you prefer to be outside of town and have some peace and quiet and a not so urban setting.

The offerings a bit further out of G'burg on 321 are quite nice as RV parks go, the parks in Pigeon Forge are adequate too just not in a wooded setting and a little more in all the activity. It all depends on what you want for an experience. When time is a factor then being right close by everything can be a good thing. If you don't mind driving to the hustle and bustle then outside of town is a more relaxing. I am sure you know what you would like, its narrowing down all the choices is what becomes confusing. Again, any questions just post them here or feel free to PM me.

Yes, there are a lot of rv parks in the area and I'm sure I looked at them all at least twice lol. We'd like to have easier access to the Smokies as we spend more time there but yet close to craziness too. The cabin we rented a couple of summers ago was pretty close to Twin Creek and the Food city grocery store. I really liked that area and that's why Twin creek is my first choice. Foothills I think is a close second as its on the edge of Pigeon forge and a bypass away from the NP. I don't want to camp in the middle of of the action just the edge if that makes sense.

Based on my original question, the answer sounds like Twin Creek might be a little more challenging to get to with telephone poles, tight roads, and a difficult or impossible right turn into The Twin Creek Park off 321, or I take the long but easier way around to the I40/Newport exit. Foothills I'm guessing I could go thru Pigeon Forge via the Veteran pky fairly well. Both places are on the trolley stop as well. Does this sound like an accurate assessment for getting to either rv park?

[ken56]

Hammerboy, the choices for RV parks are numerous here and if you are not heart set on staying at Twin Creek then foothills is a good choice. That's the whole issue, do you want to be close to the action and a trolley stop or would you prefer to be outside of town and have some peace and quiet and a not so urban setting.

The offerings a bit further out of G'burg on 321 are quite nice as RV parks go, the parks in Pigeon Forge are adequate too just not in a wooded setting and a little more in all the activity. It all depends on what you want for an experience. When time is a factor then being right close by everything can be a good thing. If you don't mind driving to the hustle and bustle then outside of town is a more relaxing. I am sure you know what you would like, its narrowing down all the choices is what becomes confusing. Again, any questions just post them here or feel free to PM me.

[Hammerboy]

ken56 wrote:
Former Michigander here, moved to the area 3 yrs ago and haven't looked back. We love it here. If you have never visited the Pigeon Forge/Gatlinburg area before I highly recommend going to exit 435 and come in from the east. Like others have said there is a Wally world there to get what ever you need and the traffic will be sooooo much better. Depending on the time of summer you are coming here I have seen traffic backed up from the exit (407) on I-40 all the way to Pigeon forge and beyond, some 20+ miles and the possibility of it taking you 2 hours to go that distance, again depending on the day of the week too.

There is so much to see and do here and Dollywood is a great park to visit, with kids or not. Lots of dinner shows, Dixie Stampede is a great one, the Titanic Museum is worth while, the aquarium in G'burg is top notch and there are so many great restaurants you can choose from. Should you have any questions just ask, glad to help out.

This does seem like the way to go. We did rent a cabin here two summers ago around the Fourth of July and we loved it there also. At that time I was't really paying attention to the ability to pull a fifth wheel thru there.

The only other thought I had is to stay at Foothills rv park on the south end of Pigeon Forge. It looks like a great small park that is centrally located to either Galinburg or Pigeon Forge. I wouldn't have to travel all the way to exit 435 and I could take the veteran pkwy thru Pigeon Forge.

[rbtglove]

We use Twin Creeks RV parkand go through Pigeon Forge we don't have to pull thru Gatlinburg which is a pain since the Twin Creeks campground is before you get to town. Good location close to shopping, restaurants and on the trolley line to the shopping loop and town and the Park entrance. Pigeon Forge is a traffic jam but if you go a couple blocks and use the secondary route it helps a lot. the turn into Twin creeks is a little tight but it is a nice well run campground, a little expensive, you might even see a black bear.

[ken56]

Former Michigander here, moved to the area 3 yrs ago and haven't looked back. We love it here. If you have never visited the Pigeon Forge/Gatlinburg area before I highly recommend going to exit 435 and come in from the east. Like others have said there is a Wally world there to get what ever you need and the traffic will be sooooo much better. Depending on the time of summer you are coming here I have seen traffic backed up from the exit (407) on I-40 all the way to Pigeon forge and beyond, some 20+ miles and the possibility of it taking you 2 hours to go that distance, again depending on the day of the week too.

There is so much to see and do here and Dollywood is a great park to visit, with kids or not. Lots of dinner shows, Dixie Stampede is a great one, the Titanic Museum is worth while, the aquarium in G'burg is top notch and there are so many great restaurants you can choose from. Should you have any questions just ask, glad to help out.

[Likes_to_tow]

Try to avoid weekends starting on Friday evening through Sunday evening. Traffic is a problem all the time but especially on weekends. Veteran's Blvd is a real time saver, used very little!!

[brirene]

No matter which way you go, you should be fine, except for the traffic. These are tourist areas, with thousands of rv's big and small traveling these roads. They're navigable, guaranteed.

[kohldad]

As soon as you mentioned it was on 321, going around to catch 321 was my first thought. Time wise, it will probably be about the same, just more miles to avoid the traffic which could be horrendous.

If you get off at exit 435 on Hwy 32, there is a Super Walmart which is a good place to top off on food and fuel. The fuel/gas prices there are usually the cheapest in the area. Your other good choice for food and fuel will be the Food City near the campground.

While in the area, make sure you check out Hungary Bear BBQ and Applewood Farmhouse Resturaunt.

[Hammerboy]

RoyB wrote:
If you want to bypass the whole thing I would stay on I40 until I get to 321 at the Cosby exit off I40 just past Newport....


Roy Ken

I just google mapped it and this might be the way to go if go. If a right turn into the resort is difficult and I can bypass Sevierville, Pigeon Forge, and Gatlinburg this may be best. It only adds 34 miles and 21 minutes. Probably worth it.

Another poster mentioned telephone poles in Gatlinburg so I checked out Google street view and I see what he means

[RoyB]

If you want to bypass the whole thing I would stay on I40 until I get to 321 at the Cosby exit off I40 just past Newport....

We always come into the Gatlingburg from I81 from Virginia... This is the way we go to get to the camp ground on the 321 road .

If we are going to Townsend we either take the 66 exit off of I40 and go through Sevierville and use 441 Parkway just to the north edge of Pigeon Forge then hook up with 321 and get to Townsend through the Wears Valley there... If you don't want the couple of loop back roads then take the safest way using I75 and take the Lenior City exit and go through Maryville to get to Townsend... 441 out of Knoxville to Sevierville may be a good way too but I have never taken that road...

Some of those mtn loop backs can really slow you down haha...

You certainly do not want to go through Gatlingburg with a big trailer and its tourist walking every which way.. They even run across the small streets there in front of you sometimes...

Roy Ken

[bgum]

Camped there in 35 ft 5th wheel and 35 ft MH. when you enter Gatlinburg ride in the left lane. or even the center of the two lanes The road leans into the telephone poles and you could clip one otherwise. You also need to turn left to go to RV Park. Resort is not the correct name. It is clean and quiet but not a resort.