The climb out was tough but well worth it! You go 200ft down so the same to get out. Beautiful and…read moreeducational.

This was my first time visiting a gold mine, and enjoyed it! The tour took us down into the mine…read moreand explained the tools and process of finding and extracting gold. It did involve a lot of walking and some steep, wet declines and stairs, so I would not recommend to anyone with mobility issues. Our tour guide was informative and entertaining! We ended the tour by panning for gold (included with the tour price, but panning for gems is an additional fee). You get to take home one gold flake which they put into a tube of water for you. Gift shop had a large variety of items. Highly recommend!

I never met a waterfall that I didn't like. We did a driving tour along Little River in Great Smoky…read moreMountains National Park to see if we could spot some wildlife. The Sinks is a lovely waterfall along the river. There is a small parking lot with about a dozen spaces where we found parking. An observation area is a short walk from parking. A sign describes the area and that the falls were manmade. During the late 1800's the river was used to transport logs/timber to the nearby town of Elkmont. After a storm, flood waters caused a jam in the river. Dynamite was used to restore water flow. The blast resulted in a twist in the river and creation of the waterfall. A set of stone steps leads up a hill, offering lovey views of the falls. There are dozens of waterfalls in the Park. Sinks is one of the few that is drivable, which is great for people that cannot hike. I picked up a Waterfalls map at the visitor center that I found interesting and informative. Parking passes are required to park in the lot. There are no amenities at the falls. Plan 15-30 minutes for a stop and photos.

We found a prime parking spot at The Sinks and looked at the area from above the bridge. People…read morewere cliff jumping from the cliffs using ropes, and just free jumping into the water below. Saw the waterfall, but we did not venture into the water. Very small parking lot, but worth a quick stop if you can find a spot to park the car.

Booked Lake Hartwell Boat tours for the Sunset Cruise on my Birthday weekend. It was easy to…read morecontact Captain Russell and his rates are very reasonable. His boat was spotless and looked brand new and he even brought us water to drink. His driving skills and lake knowledge where also top notch. Our kids loved hearing about the history of the lake and he took them to some great swimming spots. He goes the extra mile to take care of his guests. We had rented a cottage from the state park and he picked us up and dropped us off right at our dock. This was a great addition to a great weekend and thanks again Russell.

I would highly recommend Lake Hartwell Boat tours. Captain Russell is very knowledgeable of the…read morearea Lakes and their history. He took my two daughters and I to several great coves to swim. We had a wonderful time relaxing and touring the lake. Russell makes pick up and drop off simple. He will find the closest dock to your location. He is an exceptionally safe driver and his boat is well maintained. If you are looking for an amazing day on the lake, Lake Hartwell Boat tours is for you!

An Absolute Must-Do in Knoxville!…read more This incredible river cruise was so relaxing and a great way to spend our afternoon. The staff were so friendly and really made the atmosphere feel warm and welcoming. The boat and bathrooms were very clean and maintained. The music was nice and we enjoyed the fun facts about Knoxville from the captain as well. The bar drinks were reasonably priced and absolutely delicious! This was perfect for our date night, but would also be the perfect family excursion. We cannot wait to be back in Knoxville, we will definitely be doing this again! Huge thanks to the staff for a truly incredible experience!

Excellent service and a decent buffet lunch yet the cruise itself was disappointing. Sure, we saw…read moresome water views of the city and bridges, yet we only traveled from the docks near Volunteer Landing to Crescent Bend on the Tennessee River, a distance of approximately 3 miles. About 10 years ago we took the same boat ride and traveled farther down the River. Along the route, a man narrated our short journey pointing out buildings and markers along the way--however, with diners carrying on conversations, background music playing, dishes clanking and the engines roaring, it was difficult to hear even half of what he said. Again, the buffet lunch tasted fine, nothing outstanding, yet the chicken appeared to be seasoned with pepper and maybe a bit of salt. Perhaps a Chicken Piccata with slices of lemon in a creamy sauce or chicken-broth-seasoned sauce would have been more creative. The stewed cinnamon-sugar apples with pastry, served warm in the buffet might have been offered at the end of the food line as a dessert and in a separate dish. Instead, it appeared after the buttery biscuits and before the cold pasta salad with cucumbers and tomatoes and the hot carrots and corn. Overall, perhaps the paddle wheeler is an excellent experience for a first-time rider and a wonderful party venue for special events like weddings, birthdays and anniversaries. Having sailed twice before, this $45 per person ride (there were 4 of us) needed a more clearly-heard narration, a longer ride, and perhaps more creative food. Kudos to the servers, though! Attentive and friendly!

My husband is obsessed with trains, so when you vacation in Chattanooga- trains seem to be infused…read moreinto the vacation time! If the all day trip had been available- we would have done that too! The Hiawassee River loop was fantastic. You arrive in a field and park and wait for the train to arrive, seems kinda odd- but I'm guessing it saves the small town a lot of hassle. John went all in and got the dome car, upper deck seating- which means glass curved windows and glass dome ceiling. Panoramic views. We were car five- back of the bus. Our all in tickets also gave us snacks, snacks and more snacks- and soda, water, coffee and hot chocolate. We boarded and had about 30 minutes till departure and familiarized ourselves with the brochure, got some (you guessed it) snacks and found restrooms. Then the train horns sounded and we were OFF! I was excited to go through the small town of Reliance- where my sister's family has property and I vacationed with her years ago and white water kayaked on the Hiawassee River! We even passed the rafting outpost! We chugged along, the tracks following the river, saw a couple water falls cascading down rock faces, plenty of foliage (although the storm had downed most of the leaves) and just fantastic views. I took entirely too many photos. There was also the great opportunity to peek out the vestibule windows!!! AKA Selfie hanging out the window of a train kinda like a happy puppy! And- there were 2 next to each other- which provided an excellent photo op with John! Grinning like felons! The tour included plenty of local history and interesting railroad facts. Plus all the information on each of the 5 passenger cars. The loop has railroad trestle that we go under and then on and the same railroad track runs parallel to itself for about a 1/4 mile as it goes around the mountain and up. Once at the top, the engine unhooks and goes on a side track to rehook to train car #5 and just like, we were at the front of the train! While the engine is moving- our seats were flipped to face the correct direction. Very cool! Same scenery on the way back, naturally. We even were treated some good ole fashioned pickin~ bluegrass treat, a banjo playing conductor! I simply cannot recommend them enough!!! If you are planning a trip- please include them in your adventures!

It was a very humbling experience to be able to stand in a home with so much history…read more I don't want to go into too much detail describing the experience, because the things I saw were awe inspiring. Suffice it to say that some of the advances the Hardman's had in their home were unheard of for anyone in this time. Also, you can not imagine the emotional experience of standing on an original section of the Trail of Tears and hearing the stories of the people who were affected.

Hardman Farm was a nice walk from my hotel. There is a gift shop however, they do not allow pets…read moreand walking I had my dog with me. So that was disappointing that I couldn't go in and explore. we could walk around the grounds and explore the barns and areas of the farm. There are some fantastic views. The main house is gorgeous. The barns are cool. I liked seeing the dairy barn. The land is one of my dreams. The walk back to the hotel was just as nice under the shade of trees following the river.

You need to know something about me: I don't eff with bears. I stay away from them so they'll stay…read moreaway from me. This means I don't go camping (in general, but especially in bear country), I don't go on hikes where there are known bears, and I don't visit parks where a bear might stumble into my picnic and try to get my food. I don't visit the bear section of a zoo. I even moved to the place where I live partially because there are zero reported bears in the state. (Not really, but that was a bonus that I learned after I moved to Indiana.) So, of course I'd find myself in a situation where I was obligated to go on an open Jeep tour through Smoky Mountains National Park, a part of the country that is swarming with bears. And of course it would be in the spring, right when the bears are waking up from hibernation and at their hungriest. But Pink Jeep Tours was great. Apparently, there is a possibility of seeing a bear at some point, because they're just everywhere. My tour guide, who had been giving tours for many years, told me that he had seen several dozen bears last week on his tours. OK! I didn't like that we got out of the Jeep a few times to walk around a couple of scenic spots, because bears, but I never ended up seeing any, and I'm sure you, a normal person who doesn't have an irrational fear of bears, would appreciate getting out of the Jeep and wandering around. One of the stops was at the official Smoky Mountain National Park area, and we got a good 30 to 45 minutes to just explore. We also drove through Gatlinburg a bit, where we were told that the bears will just mosey down the streets sometimes. (Lord help us all.) The Jeep itself is very comfortable, and there are spots underneath the seats to put your bags or water bottles. At the end of the tour, we went off-roading, which was an extremely bumpy ride, but there are handles above the seats to hold onto. The tour was about two hours, which was a little long for me, but you really get to see the forest and other parts of this area of Tennessee. Plus, the tour guide was funny and informative, and he was available to take pictures of us, so we didn't have to do selfies.

I had such an amazing time. Our tour guide was THE best; he was entertaining and engaging. We…read morevisited some historic places, saw a bear and learned some Gatlinburg history. We even went off roading. Thank you for a great time.

Do NOT waste your time or money! I ordered a bag of their so called "Picker Gold Nugget Bag" and…read morewas immediately disappointed. I was charged $18 for "Priority Mail" shipping. I live 50 miles away and it took over a week to arrive! When it did, The box was crushed and the insides has started to spill out. When I finally got to panning this 'concentrate', I doubt I got more than $10 worth of gold from it. Next time I want to throw my money away I will just play the lottery.

I love gem grubbin. I LOVE it. If there's a grubbin spot, I will find it and visit for a big old…read morebucket of gems. As far as grubbin spots go, this one is pretty good. I got myself the $60 bucket of gems, which was the five gallon size. Some places will make the bucket with sand, so finding the pretties is super easy. Not here! They mix them with regular old rocks from the property, which can make finding some of the stones a challenge, especially those ugly old sapphires. The water is so cold, and on a cold day, I had frozen fingers, but I really didn't mind. I did find some lovely stones, a really great variety actually, and the gal sorted them for me on a mat. I got a blue tiger's eye, lots of quartz, garnets, sapphires, emeralds and so much more. While we were there, a group came to do gold panning, and did end up finding some flakes. You could tell which person LOVED it, he wanted to get another bucket and everybody was like, NO, BRAD. Clearly, this kind of attraction really appeals to some people, myself included.

We missed the 90 minute tour by about 5 minutes, so we did the 45 minute tour with Jay as our…read moreguide. Before the tour you watch a pre recorded video. It's actually worth watching as the employees are featured in the video and the dramatization of situations are pretty funny. I'm pretty sure I said "oh wow" about 40 times and "that's so cool" at least 20 times. If you have any interest/appreciation of nature, the formations in the cave will not disappoint. It will impress you with regard to size, and the huge chandelier and story behind it was very cool. We enjoyed our tour. It was just our little 3 person family so it was like having a private tour. We knew nothing about this cave when we arrived, but we left with a lot of interesting facts. If you're looking for an interesting place to spend an afternoon, I would highly recommend this place!

Great place to explore a local cave, learn about the history of the area, and get some light…read moreexercise. The staff is friendly and knowledgeable and will to help each other. Several tours are available depending on length of time and how in-depth you want to explore. We've taken two different cave tours and both met our expectations in terms of what was advertised. An added benefit was being able to escape the heat of the summer into the cool 58-degree interior of the cave!

11 mile, one way drive with jaw dropping scenery and some old homes and churches along the way. We…read moresaw some horses and deer, but unfortunately no bears. We arrived around 6am on a Saturday, and while there were other cars around, we had no problem finding parking and there were no traffic jams. We finished up around 9am. The visitor center and mill are located about halfway through the drive. It opens at 9am though, so if you get an early start like we did, it probably won't be open. Definitely get the map for $1.25 so you know what you're looking at. On Wednesdays, they close the loop to cars and it's only accessible to pedestrians and bikes.

The drive for us proved to be fruitful as we saw 5 bears on our first day in the national park. We…read moresaw 2 baby bear cubs in the trees, we walked on a trail and saw them. Subsequently, we drove towards the Cades Cove visitor center and saw 3 juvenile cubs crossing the road and eating grass next to the cars. Absolutely amazing. Only traffic we encountered was when everyone was stopping to see the 3 juvenile cubs by the side of the road. Other than that, we finished the loop quickly...maybe because we went late in the afternoon between 3-4pm. Lots of wild turkeys along the pastures too. Maybe saw 11-12 of them that afternoon on 6/6/2026. Also saw some deer hiding among the trees. Definitely go here to spot wildlife!!