Where: Pigeon Forge and Nashville, Tennessee
When: year-round
If you like: music, history, nostalgia
Why you should go: In 1986 a forty-year-old Dolly Parton cut the ribbon to her very own theme park in the Smokies, not so far from where she was born, telling the thousands-strong crowd, “Today is the first day I really got to come home, because I have dreamed for many years of bringing something back so you folks will know that I’m as proud of you as you’ve always been of me.” In the four decades since, the 160-acre park, which celebrates Appalachian crafts and music in addition to gravity-defying thrills, has become one of Tennessee’s most popular attractions.
Meanwhile, the colorful legacy of the country music star (100 million records sold), actress, businesswoman, and philanthropist has only grown. On the heels of her eightieth birthday, her new Broadway show, Dolly: A True Original Musical, will arrive in New York this summer, telling the story of her rise to fame and featuring hits like “Jolene” and “I Will Always Love You” as well as new songs she penned for the show. And her latest love letter to Tennessee comes to downtown Nashville in June: the SongTeller Hotel. Designed with her customary flair, it’ll house two live music venues, Dolly’s Life of Many Colors Museum, and guitar-shaped pillows on the beds.
G&G tip: This year Dollywood will unveil NightFlight Expedition, a hybrid roller coaster and white water river raft ride and the largest single-attraction investment in park history. It takes riders on a five-and-a-half-minute journey inspired by the search for bioluminescence in Great Smoky Mountains National Park.
Lindsey Liles joined Garden & Gun in 2020 after completing a master’s in literature in Scotland and a Fulbright grant in Brazil. The Arkansas native is G&G’s digital reporter, covering all aspects of the South, and she especially enjoys putting her biology background to use by writing about wildlife and conservation. She lives on Johns Island, South Carolina.
