Renting a cabin is the way to go. I can't think of the name of it, but there was a place just north of downtown Gatlinburg that was pretty nice.

Nice area, though a little too touristy and commercialized for me. There is tons to do there and lots of restaurants even if some are closed for winter. I prefer the other side of the mountains in North Carolina. I'd recommend Hot Springs (spring fed hot tub!) or Maggie Valley.

A cabin with an indoor pool? I doubt it. Hot tub on the deck.

Cabin for sure. There are hundreds of them in between PF and Gatlinburg.

We went there 2 or 3 times a year when the kids were young. We eventually bought a place in Blue Ridge Georgia, which is a lot closer and less touristy.

We would hike in the national park for a couple hours every morning. Go back to the cabin for lunch and naps. Then go to PF for evening activities and maybe dinner.

It is great for kids as there are a ton of different tourist trap things to do like go carts, put put, etc. Ripley’s , aquarium in GB.

The restaurants all stink. There is nothing good, just degrees of suckiness. We brought/bought food and cooked a lot. Cabin needs an arcade machine pool table and hot tub. Don’t worry about a pool they are always gross.

If you want to save a couple of hours driving pm me with your dates. We rent our house and it has a pinball machine. .

GL.

A cabin or look up Black Fox Lodge

That is a hot spot for the covid-19! They have new cases everyday and the trend is shooting up fast. Just keep an eye on what's happening and have a safe (and fun) time if you go.

Just got back from my daughters dance Nationals in Pigeon Forge. We rented a cabin a mile from convention center. It had an arcade, pool table and hot tub. Was killer! We had 3 families there cause they're not cheap, but SO much better than a hotel. We never even ordered food. The crowds there are just dumb af, no masks, no distancing. Avoid the tourist bullshit and enjoy the family time dude, I sure did.

If you like a good pancake breakfast... The Log Cabin located in both Gatlinburg and Pigeon Forge has a great one.. I’m not sure I’d want to risk that with the virus around as seating is inside and pretty close quarters, but you could get carry out and go find a secluded place in the park to eat it.

You are in luck. Auction game sales does their auctions at the water park. You can get a room there send the kids and wife to the water park and spend some time at the auction talking with fellow arcaders and pinheads, maybe even buy a game.

Wait, what?
Not sure I wanna drive 6 hours one way for an auction but I might!
Which water park?

We liked courtyard Marriot in pigeon forge. Be sure to eat at the local goat and Slice at the space needle.

Old Mill is amazing for food. We’ve stayed in the mountains of Gatlinburg a lot but traffic can be difficult. Prefer to stay pigeon forge area close to Dolly World.

One thing I hate is the cabin websites. They won’t give you an address so you kinda never know where it’s actually located. I’d like to find an every year spot but we keep getting disappointed by location, broken hot tub, non working internet, unclean places.

Interested in suggestions as well

Rent a chalet / cabin.

https://www.wildernessatthesmokies.com/
https://auctiongamesales.com/
Not sure how it is with covid. Its about 11 hours from my house. I have not gone in a couple years but used to go 3 or 4 times a year when the auction was north of knoxville. Once the covid settles I plan on going down.

I was just backpacking the Smokies this weekend. Lots of awesome day hikes in the Smoky Mountains if interested. Let me know if you would like reco’s. I will say the parking areas are very very crowded by noon. Gatlinburg was madness on Saturday (yesterday).

Our cabin was clean, hot tub as well. But get back to me in a couple weeks and we'll know for sure. Just don't lowball my wife on everything when you don't hear back.

I DID NOT wanna go. Stupid decision to be having a dance competition right now...I know we should NOT have went. But we were all safe as could be and it was a GREAT time, so, atleast I'll leave on a high note Costanza style.

hmm....i was just thinking of the smokeys as well. Ive always wanted to learn fly fishing. Anyone have any experience with the guides that u can hire for the day in the smokies. Do they really teach u or do u just pay someone to fish along side u.

You gotta be drivin right by me.
That's me with my thumb out.

My son guides in the Rockies in the summer and fly fishing really isn’t easy to pick up in a day.. I’d recommend some practicing before you arrive. They will help you learn, but most are there to put you on fish with the right bait. I’d certainly ask around for a guide good with novices.

I was down in that area a couple years back while taking my daughter back to florida. We stopped at a real estate company just north of Gatlinburg. It was located at a big golf course with a small lake in front. Stopped in and inquired about renting a property. Ended up getting a beautiful 500k house in the hills above the golf course for about 225 a day with only about a 10 minute ride to town. It was so nice we really didn't wanna leave. Go cart tracks around town are awesome, and for some reason everywhere we went sold air soft machine guns. We left with an arsenal. Dollywood and the smoky mtns provide plenty of entertainment. Small town near by called Cherokee was pretty cool, and you could get in some white water rafting/kayaking although a bit of a drive to a place called nantahalla outdoor center.
Ps. We were gonna reserve a cabin before we left, but there were so many places to rent from and we didn't wanna end up locked into something we didn't like. With so many rental properties we decided to risk it. Worked out because we got to look, haggle and decide in person. We also arrived in a Monday so keep that in mind.

Just in time, I'll be going there in a couple weeks for vacation with the family.

Kind of what I figured. I've always wanted to learn, but have been to busy working to take the time. Regular fishing bores me to tears, but I think I could get into fly fishing. kind of like how I enjoy repairing pins more than playing. Where at in the Rockies? Flights are pretty cheap right now.

One of the fastest growing hot spots in th country. Rent a cabin and cook your own food. Do outdoors stuff. Bring masks

I happen to be in pigeon forge right now at an RV Park and it’s totally crap. We have been RVing around the country for weeks and this place is the worst of 10 campgrounds. Looked at several others and they have zero space at all for each Rv space. They back you up right next to other RVs so you have to keep windows blinded.

We ran into Gatlinburg and it was a damn zoo. Lines everywhere as business tries to comply, but 50% of max capacity is still heavily crowded.

There is zero adherence to social distancing. It’s 4th of July week and everything is wide open and staffing is limited, where it should be doubled to enforce SD. I would avoid this place like the plague until covid is done. Every other place we have been has been nicely spaced.

Hiawassee, GA is where I usually go when I want to getaway. It's probably not the best if you are bringing kids though. I look for a deck, view, grill, gas fireplace, and tv/internet on AirBNB. I can usually sort the rest out myself. Gatlinburg and Pidgeon Forge are tourist traps, but if you need to entertain the kids, I get why you would go there.

I'm heading to Hickory, NC in about a week. I found a fantastic deal on a cabin there. Hopefully, NC doesn't restrict me from entering the state. I miss Biscuitville.

If you are looking for a nice cabin for 2 cheaper than most hotels, this place was great. I have paid far more for less.

https://www.airbnb.com/rooms/19888971?source_impression_id=p3_1593567492_cbqJg3O2Su1q3%2F%2Fp&guests=1&adults=1

I was just there with the kids a few weeks ago. Renting a cabin/house is absolutely the way to go. We got a nice one with hot tub, porch, and plenty of space. It was away from town in the mountains, nice and quite. I thought it would be much less crowded with the virus and early summer but nope. Gatlingburg was miserable during the day. Trend seems to be to rent buzzy UTV's and such, blast terrible music, and just drive up and down the main street. Streets full of people you rather not spend your vacation time with and not much worth seeing. Parking limited and costs $. There are some great pinball places but my kids are not into that. The aquarium is nice but expensive. Highly recommend Parrot Mountain in Pigeon Forge if you like birds. The Smoky Mountain park is awesome of course and we spent most of our time doing hikes. Be careful though, we saw bears everywhere even at our cabin. For restaurants, we like the Smoky Mountain Brewery, Crockett's Breakfast camp, and Log Cabin Pancake House. Go early to breakfast places or else long waits. In Pigeon Forge, we really like Old Mill Pottery House Cafe. Try some of the distilleries if you are into that. Most give out free samples. Like others said, not much concern over the virus.

He’s a part time guide for a store out of Dillon Co. There are hundreds of guides out of Summit County as that is prime fly fishing territory. Actually, anywhere in the central Rockies is prime fly fishing territory. He spends his free time spin fishing for Lake Trout and fly fishing for Pike which can be sold back to Co. Parks and Wildlife at $20 a head because they are invasive. If you’d be interested in fishing out there he’d be good with beginners, and you’d have the option of lake fishing on his boat which would be a easier learning experience. He does however have good knowledge of the Blue River that feeds into the Silverthorne and Dillon areas if you would prefer to fish the river. It would be easier to learn fly fishing in Co. because there are less trees.

So in the interest of social distancing, we booked an houseboat trip on Kentucky lake. We’ve gone 3 times in WI on the Mississippi. We knew it was a trip we like, and the only contact we’d have was the initial boarding, the training cruise. And the disembarkment.
We were 1/2 hour towards our destination Monday morning, when the marina called to let us know our boat was broken, and they were offering to let us live on the boat at the marina. . Not what we signed up for.
We went back to our starting point to regroup. We have 1 week of vacation from work, we have 7 people, and entire weeks worth of food In coolers, and our week includes 4th of July weekend. We found a cabin in the WI dells, but the adult children would’ve been sleeping on couches, and they weren’t amused at that.
Amazingly. We found a perfect 5 bedroom cabin in Pigeon Forge, with availability through the 6th. We lost a night, but it gave us plenty of time to drive here.
The company we used is https://www.hearthsidecabinrentals.com. They were very pleasant. This place is clean, seems to be well maintained.
This one is bigger than you need, but it’s got the indoor pool! This area is packed with things to do, but these cabins are outfitted to be a destination unto themselves.

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The family and I stayed at riverstone. It was very nice and close to the main drag of pigeon forge. The pool and lazy river there were great for the kids.

As for pinball we hit up red rocket and had a great time. Plenty of stern premiums, jjp offerings including pirates and an Addams and TZ for wpc games. Overall the games were very well kept with only a few minor issues I could note.