Extreme Outdoor Adventures

It’s officially the season of hot apple cider, warm blankets, and pumpkin patches. It’s also the season for fall festivals, and the Smoky Mountain area is full of them!

Here are three festivals you can enjoy while on your Smoky Mountain vacation.

1. Dollywood Harvest Festival

If you love Dollywood and the fall season then you won’t want to miss this event! From early September to late October this annual celebration marks the best weather and some beautiful fall foliage in the Smokies. Stay late into the evening to see beautifully carved pumpkins, lit up and on display. During the day you’ll enjoy fall themed food, and colorful leaves all throughout the park.

2. Gatlinburg Craftsmen’s Fair

In early to mid October the Gatlinburg Craftsmen’s Fair heads into full swing. Artisans from across the country gather to peddle their wares while musicians serenade the crowds. You’ll see everything from woodworking and pottery to handcrafted jewelry and leatherworkings. If you have an appreciation for handmade goods then this event is for you.

3. Wears Valley Fall Festival

The Wears Valley Fall Festival takes place in mid October and is a favorite event for locals. Come experience the hundreds of vendors, melodic live music, and incredible Southern cuisine. If you’re interested in a true rustic, Appalachian festival with plenty to do and see for the whole family, then this one is for you.

No matter the festival you choose you’ll need a place to stay. Choose from one of our many options at Bear Camp Cabin Rentals today!

The history of the Smoky Mountains has seen rivers of adrenaline flow through that rival the Little Pigeon in the many eras that humans have found value to settle here. For thousands of years, if you wanted an extreme outdoor adventure, you scarcely had to venture too far to find it. Foraging in the wilderness to find food and shelter, fighting bears and boars and giant birds in a then-advanced game of cat and mouse, venturing across the mountains to the nearest town by foot and without light, fishing in the dead of winter without a fishing rod and plenty of feuds and battles that would outline, for better or worse, some of the various ways you could get a thrill and flex that manly muscle (whether you were a man or not!) in the Smokies.

Thankfully, we don't have to make those things an obligatory experience for those who come visit our region anymore. Now you can get that heart pumping and the fight-or-flight neurons upstairs firing in much safer, less destructive activities and, in this article, we're happy to introduce you to just some of the ways you can do that!

Foxfire Mountain

The first recommendation we wanted to list is our personal favorite of ours and it's a place where you and the family can get a LOT of outdoor fun in all at one spot. The name is Foxfire Mountain and they are located south of Jones Cove Road in Sevierville on a huge 150-acre park that gives you ziplines, off-road ATV rides, hiking trails with bridges where necessary, a huge rock-climbing wall named "The Gorilla", a rope jungle and more onsite amenities that help complete Foxfire as a definite one-stop full-day adventure for families. See more on them Click Here

Nantahala Outdoor Center in Gatlinburg

This unique outdoor center is also a very worthy stop for having the distinction of being a large, awesome hiking and outdoor store while also offering everything you need for any of those experiences plus a swinging rope bridge, a bear cave, a giant fireplace, whitewater rafting adventures, a 25 foot climbing wall... sometimes some of the outdoor adventures we have here are indoors, but whether you're wanting to get that thrill under a roof or not, make sure the NOC in Gatlinburg (near stoplight #10) is part of your adventure to-do list! See more Click Here

Dolly's Splash Country

The parks representing Miss Dolly Parton need no introduction, and while both are definitely outdoors fun you can enjoy with the entire family for the entire duration of the day (or more), Splash Country edges out for the "extreme" outdoor label with their immaculate collection of huge slides, rides, waves, sprays and structures that even look like they were pulled out of a Dr. Seuss book. You have to see this park to believe it. See more Click Here.

Outdoor Gravity Park

Oh man, you've probably never experienced anything like what the Outdoor Gravity Park has to offer but always wanted to! Your childhood dream of getting inside a giant sphere and rolling like a crazy person down a huge hill comes true in Pigeon Forge and the park offers different ways of doing so - dry rolling, wet rolling, a "speed demon" track, a zig-zag track and much more. This is, evidently, the only type of attraction like this in the U.S., which is quite a boast, but most definitely the Smokies and the state of Tennessee have nothing else like this anywhere. If you want a truly unique extreme outdoor experience, come check out Outdoor Gravity Park. See more Click Here.

And now that we've given you some ideas for an extreme outdoor adventure, let us provide you with some ideas for an extreme INDOOR adventure with our luxury cabins for rent in Pigeon Forge, Gatlinburg, Sevierville and more! All of our cabins are in reasonable proximity to these attractions and you can find the one that works best for you at SEE MORE CLICK HERE .