No matter where a summer, winter, fall, or spring vacation takes you, there’s always that part of you looking for a great deal, or even better yet, FREE things to do while you’re out of town. For a place like Sevierville, there’s no lack of FREE attractions to take in once you hit town.
1. Great Smoky Mountains National Park – The most visited national park in the country and the only one that is FREE to enter. Named an International Biosphere Reserve, the park has more than 10,000 discovered species, including 100 species of native trees (more than any other North American national park), 400 flowering plants, more than 4,000 non-flowering plants, more than 200 species of birds, 66 types of mammals, 50 native fish species, 39 varieties of reptiles, and 43 species of amphibians. The entrance is located approximately 12 miles from Sevierville and the park covers approximately 800 square miles in Tennessee and North Carolina. It’s not uncommon for the park to see 10 million visitors come through its gates annually.
2. Dolly Parton Statue – Sevier County’s own, and its favorite daughter. Take a picture at Dolly’s bronze statue at courthouse square in downtown Sevierville. Parton said at one point that the presentation of her statue (in 1987) was her proudest moment. Parton’s Books From Birth has provided FREE books to young children in Tennessee and across the country over the years and the Dollywood Theme Park bears her name in nearby Pigeon Forge.
3. National Knife Museum at Smoky Mountain Knifeworks – Before buying that perfect knife, tour the National Knife Museum and find out the history of the knife from as far back as 6,000 BC to today. See more than 12,000 knives displayed in chronological order. The National Knife Museum at Smoky Mountain Knifeworks is open seven days a week.
4. Sevier County Heritage Museum – Explore Sevier County’s past from Eastern Woodland Indians to the first white settlers and beyond.
5. Smoky Mountain Winterfest – Millions of twinkling lights dot the Great Smoky Mountains area. Free food, local entertainment, kids’ games and fireworks kick off Winterfest in November. The evening concludes with the “flipping of the switch” to activate the Winterfest lights. Pick up a free pair of Winterfest in 3D Glasses at the Sevierville Visitor Center on Hwy 66 while supplies last. These glasses help you see Winterfest in a whole new light as every point of light shifts into a snowflake. Winterfest take places from the beginning of November through February 28, 2013.