Blog for Zipline Attraction in the Smoky Mountains
Located in Pigeon Forge, TN and near Gatlinburg and Sevierville.
5 Fun Places To Keep Your Cool This Summer
By Ross Bodhi Ogle
Posted on July 27, 2021
Our Smoky Mountain summer started off surprisingly mild, but then the inevitable happened. It turned hot-and humid. Lately, we've been in a pattern of steamy days and high heat indices that have made just about every outdoor activity a challenge.
But when you're on vacation, you can't let a little (or a lot of) heat get in the way of having a great time with your family and friends. That's why this week, we have some refreshing suggestions for places you can visit in the Smokies that will let you experience the fun you seek but without succumbing to heat stroke in the process.
A walk in the park
Water parks offer the most bang for the buck when it comes to cooling off, and Smoky Mountain visitors actually have two options. The first one you'll probably pass when heading into the area (especially if you're traveling in on Interstate 40) is Soaky Mountain Water Park, located just off Tenn. Hwy. 66 in Sevierville. This massive 50-acre park is now in its second year, with attractions that include Avalaunch, a first-of-its-kind watercoaster with four flying saucer features, as well as two- to five-person raft rides, a tubing tower with five flumes, two high-intensity body slides and a four-lane, head-first mat-racing challenge. Also look for attractions like Soaky Surge, a 35,000-square-foot wave pool capable of generating waves six feet high; Black Bear Rapids, an adventure river encompassing 24,000 square feet; and The Hive, a bee-themed play feature with numerous hands-on activities for kids.
If Soaky Mountain doesn't meet your needs, you might consider Dollywood Splash Country, which has been a summertime destination for some 20 years now. Splash Country has a similar array of water slides and other wet-and-fun attractions. Highlights include traditional slides like the Mountain Scream and Mountain Twist as well as raft rides like RiverRush, Raging River Rapids and Big Bear Plunge. Thrill seekers might want to try Fire Tower Falls-twin slides with nearly vertical 70-foot drops on 280-foot tracks. There are also multiple kids' play areas as well as a wave pool and the refreshing Bear Mountain Fire Tower, where a thousand-gallon bucket of water gets dumped on guests at regular intervals.
Both water parks have guest services like food vendors, locker rentals, retail vendors and private cabanas that can be rented for an additional fee.
Speaking of Dollywood…
The original Pigeon Forge theme park, which is adjacent to Splash Country, has ways to keep cool as well. A couple of the rides involve water to a large degree, and on any given day, there's a good chance you can exit those rides absolutely drenched. These include Daredevil Falls-which features a 60-foot drop at 50 miles per hour-and Smoky Mountain River Rampage, a traditional raging river ride that invariably will get someone soaked at one point or another.
Winter in the middle of summer?
You don't have to get wet to stay cool. In fact, you can get a little taste of winter on the hottest of summer days by visiting Pigeon Forge Snow, America's first indoor snow park. No matter what the weather may be like outside, this attraction uses real snow as the base for its multilane, downhill, inner-tube racecourse. The good news is that you don't have to freeze either. They keep the temperature somewhere between 60 and 70 degrees year 'round. In addition to the snow-tubing hills they have a large snow play area where you can build snowmen, make snow forts and more-even in the middle of summer. No reservations are needed. Just show up and play!
Head underground
Another place you'll find the temperatures to be nice and cool is Forbidden Caverns, a natural underground cavern formation located several miles outside Sevierville. This attraction's entertaining and educational tour features sparkling formations, towering natural chimneys, numerous grottos and a crystal-clear stream. Special lighting effects and trained tour guides help make it an enjoyable experience. Most tours last just under an hour, and the temperature in the caverns is a steady 58 degrees all year long.
And a bonus suggestion…
You'll cool off with a stiff breeze in your face when you visit our Smoky Mountains zip line. That's because each of our seven ziplines will send you hurtling through the treetops on rides as long as 800 feet. Even on the hottest days, the feeling of flying through the air with the wind in your face is a welcome and refreshing break from the heat.
