Great visitor center! Super cool three dimensional 'map' that shows the whole park and topological features. Also the trails are on this map, so you can figure out how much uphill will be required. Friendly knowledgeable Park rangers. Always get good advice from the rangers. Lots of parking. Restrooms. Small museum. Big Field out back. Lucky enough to see herd of elk (pictured). Easy flat River trail starts here and about 3 miles out and back if you do the whole thing. Trail crosses under blue ridge parkway. Pics of the trail, people bridge, information sign, herd of elk enclosed. Here is a great afternoon! Start with lunch at wise guyz pizza (see separate review). After lunch cross the river on the people bridge. Turn right and short distance starts the River trail. Walk to the visitor center, chat with the rangers, check out the museum. Then walk back to wise guyz and your parked car. Good lunch and decent hike, doesn't get much better than that. Enjoy! read more

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Visited on a Sunday afternoon so it was pretty busy. Parking lot was pretty full but we only had to circle once to find a spot. Restrooms are located right off the parking lot. The Rangers inside the visitor center are very helpful. They also have quite a few passport stamps available inside at the ranger desk. There's a small museum inside. There's also a nice outdoor patio with chairs you can sit in to take in the view. While we were there a small herd of elk passed through, and it was fun to watch from afar. The Farmhouse Museum located behind the visitor center was really fun to walk through. There are many chickens walking around the area, as well as a hog pen. There's also a trail beyond the hog pen that allows you to walk down by the creek. This was a fun stop! Would highly recommend! read more

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My family and I love coming to the Oconaluftee Visitor Center every time we visit the Smoky Mountains. This is one of those places you will want to stop every time you visit the park if you have young children as you first come in after driving through the beautiful Cherokee Nation. We were just here recently and it was great as we saw a lot of the Elk roaming around as this is their mating season. They have a really cool Farmhouse Museum that has several old buildings that show the visitors how it was like living on a farm back in the 1800s. They do have a few live animals on the farm (pigs and chickens). Overall, a nice place to visit. If you are an adult and have been here a few times not much changes here. [Review #604] (30th Review of 2019) read more

Enjoyed our stop at the Oconaluftee Visitor Center in the Smoky Mountains in just passed the Tennessee border in Cherokee NC. The start of the south end of the Appalachian Trail going north. Formerly a site of a Cherokee village and Appalachian community. Lots of great information in the visitor center. read more

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Elk! This visitor canter gets five stars, for the wildlife. When I visited there were tons if Elk. Nice walking trails, beautiful scenery. Bathrooms and gift shop. Just a heads up....Don't get to close to the Elk! A park ranger will roll up fast to let you know to back up for your protection and the animals. Enjoy! Watch for the Elk crossing the road. read more

We have been here many times, enjoying the exhibits as well as the gift store inside the center. The surrounding area is beautiful to look at or if you want to stretch your legs and walk around a bit. If you are passing through the mountains, to or from Cherokee, this is a great place to stop to use the restroom facilities or choose something to buy from the vending machines. You can also get cellular service before entering the mountains, where you get no cell service. If you are lucky, you'll also see elk grazing on the grounds. We saw them coming AND going! read more

Very beautiful area, the visitors center had a lot of great local history and culture and they also had a very nice gift shop too with many great books on the area along with lots more. Be sure to take your time to check out the historical farm and watch out for elk. read more

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What a historic treat! It was a delight to take a walk through the old homestead built here in the 1800s (if I'm not mistaken). We, my children and I, started along the clear, sprightly waters of the nearby river and wandered alongside of it to the beginning of an "other world" experience. The copen cabin allowed us to peer into the home and lifestyle of those who lived before us. We saw the old meat house where they stored and smoked meats for preservation. There were several chickens running about, which added so much to our experience. Oh and an adorable piggie! The best thing of all, however, we're the great elk who were roaming the fields right nearby. Their calls were so uniquely beautiful. The boys and I made sure to keep our distance, but absolutely enjoyed every minute observing them as they grazed! Truly a historic gem of a place! Definitely stop in if you have the chance. read more

I think Oconaluftee is by far the best entrance point to the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. For one thing, the new and expanded visitor center has lots of dispslays and information, helpful rangers and volunteers, and a fine bookshop and store run by the Great Smoky Mountains Association. The Mountain Farm Museum at the Oconaluftee Visitor Center is in my opinion the best creation of a 19th/early 20th century mountain homestead in the entire region. I say "recreation" because, although all the buildings are authentic and original, most were moved to this site from other parts of the Smokies. The cabins, the barns and other outbuildings, the gardens, beegums and corncribs are, in their somewhat primitive condition, are beautiful in their own way. The settling, in fertile bottom land adjoining the Oconaluftee River, would have been a prime site for European settlers, as it doubtless was for the Cherokee. My Scotch-Irish (Ulster) forebears were among the early settlers of this area, arriving here in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. They lived in homesteads somewhat similar to this, as subsistence farmers. I know them in my heart. read more

I spent the 2017 Eclipse here -- the rangers were amazing hosts, unfailingly helpful in the midst of a cheerful, friendly swarm of people who were excited but ignorant - so they educated, coached, directed traffic, and made for a lovely experience. read more

Oconaluftee Visitor Center - Eclipse coming (colander pinhole camera) - Visitor Centers Near Me - Gatlinburg, North Carolina

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Great Visitors Center. Perfect introduction to the Park. There are several parts to this location: The field, the historic site and the actual center. The field: before you even get to the visitors center there is an open field where the elk were congregating on the day we visited. The staff told us that they are often in the field and that you will see them throughout the park. There is plenty of parking and there are restrooms. The historical buildings are between the field and the visitor's center. The visitor's center has a large (~4' x 8') map of the park, wallmap with various parts of the park, gift center and an information center with staff that will help you plan your trip. It was clean, the staff was exceptionally helpful and the displays were very well designed and presented. I highly recommend this as a first stop for anyone entering the park for a visit. read more

Oconaluftee Visitor Center - Elk and Visitor's Center - Visitor Centers Near Me - Gatlinburg, North Carolina

This is where you go in the Smokies to see the elk!! It is free. Recommend you go and do this if you are in pigeon forge or gatlinburg. Drive is amazing. read more

Oconaluftee Visitor Center - Elk in field - Visitor Centers Near Me - Gatlinburg, North Carolina

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This place was really nice. We did the river hike, which was lovely! We then visited the center and the rangers were so friendly and went above and beyond to answer my questions regarding where the houses came from on the property. It was also well maintained and they had little placards throughout the river walk that explained more about the property. Highly recommend. read more

Easy to find off Road 441, this visitor center is located right at the Southern entry to Smoky Mountain National Park. If you are coming from the Blue Ridge parkway, just take a right at the end of the road. Rangers were friendly and less busy than Sugarlands Visitor Center. My daughter was thrilled that the center was open during Covid so she could get her national park collective stamps. The center has detached bathrooms, plenty of free parking, and a little store and ranger information desk. Due to Covid, the exhibits are closed (which is sad, and I don't understand why since they limit the number of people in the center anyway). The museum located behind the center is pretty interesting. You can see how a mountain farm operated more than a 100 years ago. To our great disappointment when we visited, there wasn't an elk in sight. Bad timing on our part. We visited in the afternoon on a weekend. Maybe morning or dusk would have been better? read more

Beautiful visitors center. Bathrooms were clean. The back observation deck was nice. We did the river trail hike, it was easy and nice. It does not follow closely to the river the entire hike, but it's nice. It is a down and back trail not a loop. The village is beautiful. The weather was hot and our family was tired from previous hiking otherwise we would have spent more time here. It was too hot and early in the day to see elk but the field is in plain view from the back deck. The Ranger and all the staff was friendly. All the maps and guides were $1.50 or more. read more

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Early morning is the best time to see elk. In the field as they graze, and move to their day location across the visitor center and the road. The rest rooms are 24/7 Be sure to visit the early farm house, learning what life was in the past. read more

This visitor center is only about 5 years old. And you can tell. The buildings are polished and real sleek. Very new and very nice. You'll get great service at the counter and inside the shop. They're glad to tell you all about the surrounding sights, hikes, waterfalls, and more. You'll find the interior exhibit (free, of course) very engaging and actually worth a visit. Some adventurous folks would rather romp around outside to explore the natural world rather than spend any time in a museum. Well, to that I would say that you need to balance it out with actually *understanding* what you are exploring. Don't be squeamish! This museum is fun and interactive; buttons to push, drawers to pull out, and multimedia that are informative and engaging. But oh man...one of the best features of this visitor center is in fact the outdoors. They have a sweet deck with rocking chairs for you to enjoy the view. And the mountain farm exhibits on the trail are awesome!! I promise you'll actually feel what it was like to live on a homestead like this one. From here you'll be about 45 minutes from Gatlinburg or the Cherohala Skyway, give or take traffic. read more

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The visitor center itself is really nicely done. But the staff is incredibly rude! No hi, no good bye, answers so short I might have googled a well - oe none at all. No eye contact in the whole conversation, the gentleman on the far left counter made it even a point to starr somewhere else while he or I were speaking. You can't really put your finger on it, but it was incredibly disrespectful and rude. So far for the oh so friendly South being old fashion about manners and treating women with respect. Not at all!! And it seemed to be personal by 2 employees specifically as I have been treated differently than others. I am always a very respectful person towards others. I am not sure wether it was because I am a foreign tourist or because I don't look like the "nice girl from next door". But if they are unable to treat everyone the same they clearly should not be volunteering there. In the end it hurts the tourism in the park which is meant to educate in environmental protection and keep this place as beautiful as it is. read more