186 Best Sights in Tennessee, USA

This tribute to country music's finest is a full city block long, filled with plaques and exhibits highlighting performers from the old-time favorites to the latest generation of stars, a two-story wall with gold and platinum country records, a theater, and Elvis Presley's \"solid-gold\" 1960 Cadillac limo referred to as such because it has 24-karat gold-plated trim, 40 coats of a \"diamond dust pearl\" paint, and a gold-plated TV. Tours of the Historic RCA Studio B recording studio are also run by the museum. Their extensive collection of memorabilia and rotating exhibits make this an essential stop for any music fan or history buff.

Yes, this is a space designed with kids in mind, but there are also several elements that adults can enjoy, such as virtual reality stations, planetarium and laser shows, and the Max Flight: Full Motion simulator. Popular Way Late Play Dates are after-hours events exclusively for adults 21 and older. The Adventure Science Center sits on a bluff with good views of Downtown.

One of the best and most popular hikes in the national park, the fairly short 2.3-mile one-way hike to Alum Cave Bluffs contains some of the most interesting geological formations in the Smokies. Arch Rock, a natural arch created by millions of years of freezing and thawing, and Alum Bluffs, a large overhanging rock ledge, are the highlights. This very well-known trail does not offer much solitude, especially on weekends. From the bluffs you can continue on another 2.8 miles to reach Mt. LeConte, passing awe-inspiring mountain vistas. Alum Cave Bluffs is the shortest of five trail routes to LeConte Lodge, but it is also the steepest, with an elevation gain of more than 2,700 feet. Moderate.

Of the three attractions that whisk visitors to the top of nearby mountains from downtown (Ober Mountain and SkyLift Park are the others), Anakeesta is the flashiest and most polished. Choose between an enclosed gondola and a chairlift for the 600-foot elevation gain, arriving at a ridgetop village featuring 16 hanging bridges, two mountain coasters, dueling zip lines, and an observation tower at the summit. There are elaborate rope-bridge-and-tree-house play areas for kids, a pleasant garden, and three restaurants, including Smokehouse, on an outside porch with million-dollar views of the mountains, and Cliff Top, which serves entrées like a rib-eye steak and soy-ginger trout.  A 2023 addition, Astra Lumina, is a stunningly beautiful nighttime walk through a synchronized light show and soundscape.

The Appalachian Trail's 72 miles through the Great Smokies are among its most scenic. The trail follows ridges, offering vistas throughout the traverse. Park in the Newfound Gap Overlook parking lot and cross the road to the trail. From Newfound Gap to Indian Gap, the trail travels 1.7 miles through spruce and fir forests, and in late spring and summer there are quite a few wildflowers. The total round-trip distance is 3.4 miles. Easy. Walking in the other direction (north on the AT), it's 4.4 miles (each way) to Charlie's Bunion, with scenic views most of the way.

A 6,800-acre valley surrounded by high mountains, Cades Cove has more historic buildings than any other area in the park. It's also stunningly beautiful, punctuated by verdant meadows and dirt paths, all surrounded by a ring of peaks. The Park Service keeps hayfields and pastures cleared, so you can see how the valley may have looked in the 19th century. There's a campground and multiple options for day hikes to peaks and along quiet rivers. The Cherokee name for this valley is Tsiyahi, "place of otters," but today you're more likely to see bears, deer, coyotes, and wild turkeys. For hundreds of years the Cherokee people hunted in Cades Cove, but there is no evidence of major settlements. Under the terms of the Calhoun Treaty of 1819, the Cherokee lost their rights to Cades Cove, and the first white settlers came in the early 1820s. By the middle of the 19th century, well over 100 settler families were growing corn, wheat, oats, and vegetables. For a while, when government-licensed distilleries were allowed in Tennessee, corn whiskey was the major product of the valley. After the establishment of the park in the 1930s, many of the nearly 200 buildings were torn down to allow the land to revert to its natural state. More recently, the remaining farmsteads and other structures have been restored to depict life in Cades Cove as it was from around 1825 to the 1940s. Cades Cove's beauty is also its curse. To experience it in the best possible setting, without traffic, rent bicycles at the Cades Cove Campground Store and ride the loop road on a car-free Wednesday or at sunrise or sunset.

Pant, wheeze, and gasp. This is a fairly short yet steep trail that will take a lot out of you, but it gives back a lot, too. The payoff for the difficult climb is one of the best views in the Smokies. In places the trail has loose rock (hiking poles are recommended), and the elevation gain is 1,350 feet. Some sections have steep stairs. A new observation deck was built roughly ¼ mile from the summit, with views of Mt. LeConte and the pinnacles. The total distance round-trip is 3.6 miles. Difficult.

Chimneys, just off Newfound Gap Road and a little more than 6 miles from the Sugarlands Visitor Center, may be the most loved picnic area in the park. Along both sides of a well-shaded loop road through the area are 68 picnic tables with grills. Some are wheelchair accessible. The prime spots along the wadeable stream that runs through the site fill up first. Huge boulders in the stream make for a striking view from your table. Potable water and flush toilets are available, but there is no group pavilion.

More than three million visitors a year walk through the gates of Dollywood, Tennessee's most popular attraction. The 150-acre theme park includes roller coasters, thrill rides, a steam locomotive, and live concerts at the Back Porch Theater. A $37-million expansion, Wildwood Grove, includes two new coasters: Dragonflier, a suspended family coaster, and Big Bear Mountain, which debuted in 2023 as the park's longest coaster. There are also craft displays, lots of mountain music, and a replica of Dolly's "Tennessee Mountain Home."

Wheelchairs and electric convenience vehicles are available to rent—reserve online 48 hours in advance.

What began as a logging town in the early years of the 20th century evolved into a summer colony for wealthy families from Knoxville. Many prominent east Tennessee families built vacation homes here or visited the Wonderland Hotel via train service from Knoxville to Elkmont. After the national park was established, parts of the community were placed on the National Registry of Historic Places. Today, Elkmont is primarily a campground, and most of the 74 cottages have been removed. The last families lost their leases to their cabins in the 1990s. You can see the ruins of the biggest homes along Millionaires Row, where stone chimneys stand like ghostly sentinels in the wood. In recent years, the Park Service has restored several homes along Jakes Creek that are now open to the public. The Appalachian Clubhouse, built for a hunting and fishing club, is restored to its 1930s appearance, complete with rocking chairs on the porch. There's a short loop nature trail here, or you can take an easy flat walk along the Little River Trail.

One of Nashville's best destinations for fine art is the campus of Fisk University, just north of Downtown. Visit the Carl Van Vechten Gallery to see works by Picasso, Cézanne, Renoir, and more. Elsewhere on campus, check out murals by Harlem Renaissance artist Aaron Douglas. For summer visitors, be mindful of limited hours.

Nashville has a unique and active arts community, and the city's main art museum reflects that. Instead of focusing on a beefy permanent collection like Atlanta's High Museum, The Frist, which opened in 2001, aims to expose the city's inhabitants and visitors to as many different and disparate artists, mediums, and movements as possible, with multiple rotating exhibitions from the masters of antiquity to modernists. Depending on when you're in town, you can catch anything from an extensive focus on a single artist to an exploration of Impressionism. Visitors can dine in The Frist's alfresco café after perusing thought-provoking exhibitions in the 1930s art deco building that once served as a post office. The historic building is a work of art in and of itself, so build in some time to linger or drop by on a Saturday for an architecture tour. 

Graceland, the estate once owned by Elvis Presley, is 12 miles south of Downtown. A guided tour of the mansion, which Elvis bought in 1957 at age 22, as well as the adjoining automobile museum reveals the spoils of stardom. Graceland might be the only colonial suburban home on record to have a jungle room, a pink Cadillac, and close to 700,000 guests annually. Elvis is buried outside the mansion, and tours conclude with many fans leaving tokens at his gravesite. Reservations are recommended, especially in August during "Elvis Week."

Opened in December 2013 to rave reviews from local enthusiasts, this facility is 28,000 square feet of wall-to-wall climbing excitement: lead, top-rope, and auto-belay walls, as well as a 15-meter speed-climbing wall, plus beginner areas, boulder pits, and adjustable walls. But if none of those terms means anything to you, High Point has professional climbers who are eager to share their passion and teach you their skills. Nonclimbers are welcome to cross-train in a variety of specialty areas: yoga, weight, and aerobic rooms are each outfitted with equipment to maximize your investment of time and effort. Just be aware: owners Lisa Rands and Wills Young might make you climb over a rock to leave the building.

Music lovers will revel in the behind-the-scenes peek into Music Row’s storied past at Historic RCA Studio B. Known as Nashville’s “Home of 1,000 Hits,” visitors are permitted into the studio space where hits like Dolly Parton’s “I Will Always Love You,” Roy Orbison’s “Only the Lonely,” and many more were recorded; guides provide history, commentary, and priceless stories about the likes of Elvis Presley, who recorded more than 240 songs at the studio. Tours depart daily from the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum and are only available as an add-on to museum admission.

Chattanooga is draped in a rich tapestry of arts and culture, perhaps most visible at this museum, housed in an architectural triptych comprising a 1905 Classical Revival mansion, a low-slung 1970s building, and a 2005 contemporary structure of steel and glass. From here, you can walk over a stunning lighted glass bridge to explore Bluff View Arts District, named for the 80-foot-high cliffs that plunge into the Tennessee River below. The area is popular for its collection of upscale galleries, boutiques, and creative restaurants with casual courtyards that are tucked among historic homes with luxurious landscaping. There's also the award-winning River Gallery Sculpture Garden, noted by the Smithsonian in its Archive of American Gardens.

Part of the Urban Wilderness that includes the adjacent Forks of the River Wildlife Management Area, this 315-acre woodland is home to former marble quarries. Mead's Quarry Lake is where River Sports Outfitters rents paddleboards, kayaks, and canoes to explore the clear blue water. More than 12 miles of trails connect to adjacent public lands, allowing for extended hiking and mountain biking circuits, and Ijams Crag is popular with rock climbers. Navitat is also based here, offering six different aerial high-ropes challenge courses through the treetops.

Different eras of Knoxville's history are celebrated at this walled fort of rough-hewn log cabins on the perimeter of downtown, where the city's first home was built in 1786. Their survival over the centuries is remarkable, and exhibits inside include pioneer artifacts, authentic furnishings, and information about James White's role in the American Revolution.

The Nashville Farmers' Market is the crown jewel of the Germantown area, bringing the community and surrounding neighborhood together with food, produce, and special events. Visit on a weekday to take advantage of the market's extensive restaurant offerings, which span myriad international cuisines. Come on the weekend for goods from local farmers and artisans.

South of Downtown, the motel in which Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated in 1968 has been transformed into the National Civil Rights Museum, an outstanding facility that documents the civil rights movement through exhibits and clever audiovisual displays.

Showcasing the contributions of Black musicians to just about every genre of American music from the Civil War era to today, this important museum dedicates more than 50,000 square feet of exhibit space to showcasing the evolution of African American music and performers. Galleries display instruments and performance costumes from the world of spirituals, blues, jazz, gospel, R&B, and hip-hop.

In a little more than 14 miles, Newfound Gap Road (U.S. 441) climbs more than 3,500 feet, from Gatlinburg to the gap through the crest of the Smokies at 5,046 feet. It takes you through Southern cove hardwood, pine oak, and Northern hardwood forests to the spruce fir forest at Newfound Gap. This is the primary route through the park. There are mile markers starting at the park entrance near Gatlinburg. The Sugarlands Visitor Center is at mile marker 1.7. At Newfound Gap (mile marker 14.7), you can straddle the Tennessee–North Carolina state line and also hike some of the Appalachian Trail.

Tucked into a residential section of The Nations, Pennington Distilling Co. is known for its small-batch spirits—award-winning Tennessee whiskey, vodka, crafted cocktails, and boozy coffee—and the friendly experts who guide the distillery tours and tastings with care. Run by Nashville natives Jeff and Jenny Pennington, the distillery also offers immersive experiences like blend-your-own-bottle activities and craft cocktail classes. The hour-long tour does include a tasting, though tastings are offered separately.

This massive rock formation, estimated to be 200 million years old, includes special points of interest like a 100-foot waterfall; a 1,000-ton balanced rock; a suspended bridge (great for pictures); an old-school fantasy creation—Fairyland Caverns, lighted with black lights—that still wows the kids; and the legendary summit, 1,700 feet above sea level, named Lover's Leap, from which you can see seven states. Your self-guided trail tour will wind through 14 acres of rock formation and gardens with more than 400 species of native plants, trees, and shrubs, many of which are tagged, to the delight of gardeners. There's a Starbucks on-site—an indication of the site's popularity. Special events scheduled throughout the year include a brilliant display of holiday lights, beginning in late November.

More than 80 years ago, Leo Lambert and a small crew spent 17 hours inside this cavern before discovering what is now the world's tallest and deepest underground waterfall (145 feet) open to the public. Guided tours begin every few minutes. After your visit underground, head up the 70-foot-high Lookout Mountain tower for a spectacular panorama of the Tennessee River Valley, either with your own peepers or by using one of the coin-operated telescopes. Younger children can romp on the Fun Forest Playground or pan for gems. For an adult adrenaline rush, the ZIPstream experience is a suspended obstacle course, culminating in 700 feet of round-trip zip-lining with fabulous views of Chattanooga.

The temperature inside the cave is 60°F, so bring a light sweater or jacket.

A country music shrine, the Ryman Auditorium and Museum was home to the Grand Ole Opry from 1943 to 1974 and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The auditorium seats 2,000 for live performances of classical, jazz, pop, gospel, and, of course, country. Self-guided tours include photo ops on the legendary stage and a stroll through the museum, with its photographs and memorabilia of past Ryman Auditorium performances. Visitors can also take a backstage tour of the dressing rooms and even record their own version of a legendary song at the in-house recording studio.

A much-loved 20-acre site at one end of the 12South neighborhood, Sevier Park is the site of festivals and a weekly farmers' market on Tuesdays from May through late October. The park opened in 1948 and features trails, a creek, two playgrounds, a shelter, picnic tables, and a historic mansion (currently undergoing renovation). The updated community center was opened in 2014 and offers $3 drop-in fitness classes, including yoga. There are also tennis and basketball courts, as well as bike rentals. It's open from 6 am until dark.

Chattanooga's renaissance started on the riverfront and is still anchored by the Tennessee Aquarium, voted top attraction in the city by locals and one of the best aquariums in the country by tourists. You'll want to budget several hours to absorb the thrills of 10,000 animals, including toothy sharks, playful penguins, and graceful butterflies, a six-story IMAX 3-D movie theater, and a riverboat cruise on the River Gorge Explorer. Want to get up close and personal with the animals? Upgrade your ticket with a VIP backstage pass to touch and feed the animals, just like a real zookeeper. Younger children who want to get friendly with a groundhog or one of the largest owls in the world will enjoy Ranger Rick's Backyard Safari—short sessions held outside, up to eight times a day, depending on the weather.

Some hotels offer discount tickets to the Aquarium as part of special lodging packages.

Serious Jack White fans won't want to miss his lauded label's Nashville outpost. Drop by to record your own two-minute song on a 1945 Voice-o-Graph machine, pop into the photo booth, dig through the stacks, or grab some exclusive merch. Check their social media and special events pages if you're looking to catch a live performance in the now-legendary Blue Room. Tours of the full operation are available on Fridays at 2 and 3 pm, but book online to snag a spot.

This 11-mile loop through Cades Cove is the most popular route in the park and arguably the most scenic part of the Smoky Mountains. The one-way, one-lane paved road starts 7.3 miles from the national park's Townsend entrance. The drive begins with views over wide pastures to the mountains at the crest of the Smokies. Few other places in the Appalachians offer such vistas across wide valleys with hayfields and wildflower meadows framed by split-rail fences and surrounded by tall mountains. Along the way, you'll pass three 19th-century churches and many restored houses and barns that are open for exploration. A highlight is the Cable Mill area, with a visitor center, working water-powered gristmill, and a restored farmstead. The Cades Cove Loop Road is also an excellent place to see wildlife, including black bears, white-tailed deer, and wild turkeys.

Whenever you visit, even in winter, you can expect traffic delays, as passing points on the one-way road are few and far between. Allow at least two to three hours to drive the loop—longer if you want to stop and explore the historic buildings. If you get frustrated with delays, there are two points where you can cut across the loop on improved gravel roads, exiting sooner. A campground and picnic area are open year-round. The road is closed from sunset to sunrise.