The years have provided The Insider with a lot of tips & tricks that make Pigeon Forge much more enjoyable, which will be made available here to showcase the best places to stay, eat, and see while you’re visiting Pigeon Forge. Whether you’re looking for log cabin rentals, chalets, restaurants, entertainment, etc Inside Pigeon Forge will provide you with every bit of information you need to enjoy your vacation. The Insider even knows many ways to avoid the traffic jams in Pigeon Forge…you don’t want to miss that!

So stay tuned to Inside Pigeon Forge as reviews and tips will constantly be posted to ensure that your vacation in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee is the best that it can possibly be!

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Welcome to Inside Pigeon Forge

For those of you that still love to plan and know what to expect, we have the average daily temperatures below as well as links to find the forecast and current weather conditions in Pigeon Forge, TN. On the bottom-right of every page on this site you will see the Pigeon Forge weather conditions along with the forecast and more info!

Average temperatures in Pigeon Forge, TN

Insider tip:
Get weather and road condition information in Pigeon Forge and Gatlinburg, TN by calling:
Using your cell phone in TN: 511
Nationally: 1-877-244-0065
Locally in Pigeon Forge: (865)436-1200

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Pigeon Forge Weather

If you are in any branch of the active military, a veteran, or a first-responder (firefighter, law enforcement, or emergency medical services) then August is a great month to visit Pigeon Forge, TN. Over 70 businesses in Pigeon Forge will be offering special deals throughout the entire month of August in honor of the annual event Celebrate Freedom! This community-wide salute is our way of showing appreciation to those that have fought to keep us free & safe.

A couple of the best deals are free admission to the Smith Family Theater and Memories Theatre. Those theaters also provide discounts to some family and friends as well.

In order to take advantage of these offers, you must stop by the Pigeon Forge Welcome Center at traffic light #0 at the beginning of town (on the north end in front of The Miracle Theater ). When you present proof of duty, you will receive a Celebrate Freedom! VIP card. Simply present the VIP card at any of the 70+ businesses below in Pigeon Forge to receive the special offers.

Here is the complete list of businesses in Pigeon Forge offering discounts and special deals during the entire month of August: click here for a printable brochure.
(For more information call 865-453-8574)

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Veteran & Active Duty Discounts in Pigeon Forge

Now that you’ve done your part, it’s time for the judges to do ours. We’ll be narrowing down the best tips over the next few days and then we’ll pick one lucky person to award this amazing Pigeon Forge Getaway package of show tickets worth over $600!

Stay tuned for the announcement…it may just be you!!!

For those of you that missed out on this contest, join our newsletter (using the subscription box to the right…underneath the sponsored links).

We’ll be announcing another contest very soon!!! In the meantime, hop in the forum to read all of the amazing tips for visiting Pigeon Forge, TN that were provided during this contest: http://www.insidepigeonforge.com/forums/showthread.php?t=4

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Pigeon Forge Getaway Contest Has Ended

• When we plan a Pigeon Forge vacation, we like to include all our family and friends. We rent the largest mountain cabin and everyone splits the cost; we usually spend $15 per night…that’s a great deal!
  Kelly Logan

• We always go to Dollywood first thing. We have season passes, but if you don’t, the best bet is to go after 3:00pm. The next day is free! You can spend the first evening looking around, maybe take in a show or two, and plan your next day’s attack. It’s a great deal.
  BradMac

• We like to visit the welcome center on the North end of town for all sorts of info. and they are super friendly and helpful. From there we choose where we will eat and if we will visit any shows.
  angelfire

• The best way in from I 40E is to exit at Lenoir City and follow the signs. We use 321. Then we turn left onto what will become Wears Valley Road. The traffic is not a problem and the scenery is wonderful.
  Claudette

• We come in from I75 S Get off on the Old Broadway exit. This is also 441 S. You will come into the north end of Pigeon Forge. Miss alot of traffic even on Friday.
  sissy

• Dont get talked into the timeshares, hours away from your time there on vacation they say only 45 mins- but more like 3-4 hours!!!
  dandk1172

• There are so many different (hiking) trails, with various difficulty levels. I recommend you go by the park Visitors Center and pick up a book that tells about all the trails so you can pick out the best one for you.
  lisa.hbgs

• We drive up 441 from Georgia so we come across the mountain and over the years, I have learned to call the Park Service before hand to make sure the road is open. I also make sure to check the weather. Our weather is generally similiar, but the forethought to check the web prevents any surprises.
  LaVenia

As someone who grew up in Pigeon Forge, it’s amazing to see all of the things that people out-of-town know about this area! There are so many great ideas and tips contributed so far and I can’t wait to see what else other people come up with! Jump in the forums if you haven’t already to browse through the posts…then contribute a tip of your own to be entered into the contest!

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Great Tips for Visiting Pigeon Forge TN

• Private Clubs
• Bars that only allow 21 and over at all times
• Accomodations (there will still be smoking rooms that you can stay in)
• Tobacco stores
• Businesses with less than 3 employees

Another exception is possibly any open-aired patios at restaurants. If you’re a smoker and plan on visiting Pigeon Forge, Gatlinburg, or any other city in Tennessee then you may want to find restaurants with outdoor seating. If it’s winter time…well, I guess you have to figure out how bad you need a puff!

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Smoking Ban in Pigeon Forge TN

Drop into the Inside Pigeon Forge Forums right away to get in front of everyone else. The locals will provide feedback in the order that the posts come in…or whichever is friendlier! See you there!

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Pigeon Forge Forums Now Open

If any of you have been to Pigeon Forge, Gatlinburg, or Sevierville in the past…oh…decade….you’ve probably noticed the mammoth amounts of traffic when you come in and when you go out. It’s just insane at times. Having lived here since the town was two lanes with only two motels, I can offer some extremely easy ways to avoid major traffic jams.

1. Do NOT come into town between 3:00pm and 7:00pm Friday. Everyone else on the east coast is arriving at this time. If possible, come earlier rather than later.
2. Do NOT leave town between 10:00am and 1:00pm on Sunday. Take your time and sit down for lunch. The restaurants that are on the southbound side of the road (going toward Gatlinburg from Pigeon Forge) will be less busy. The traffic clears up around 1:00pm
3. Check the Pigeon Forge calendar of events for car shows…you do not want to be in Pigeon Forge during a car show…unless of course you want to sit in a lawn chair and look at cars all weekend…cause you’re not going to go anywhere in that traffic. This town is gridlocked during the Spring Rod Run, Shades of the Past, and the Fall Rod Run…just forget planning vacation on those weekends.
4. Ride the trolley or walk. Save gas or get some exercise
5. Plan activities that are close together. There are places that have shopping, entertainment, and restaurants within walking distance. Plan such activities accordingly to keep from having to get on the Parkway.

Those are just a few tips. I would tell you the treasured “backroads” but then it would be even harder for us locals to get around town! ;) There was actually a local business that sold backroad maps…but it was burnt to the ground…true story. I’m not ready to be slaughtered by locals for giving away our secrets…..yet. Subscribe to the free newsletter to the right and I might just slip you some secret, insider info! Samples: Alternate route to Dollywood and Shortcut to the Park From Pigeon Forge.

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Tips for Avoiding Traffic in Pigeon Forge

Considering the history of Pigeon Forge, it’s highly appropriate that one of the first businesses in this East Tennessee town was a furnace and iron forge. Appropriate because of the burning desire of hardworking visionaries who forged a town from what once was wilderness. When the pieces of the Pigeon Forge history puzzle are put together, the picture is one of a highly successful business community that that city patriots could never have imagined.

The land that is now Pigeon Forge and the surrouding area once was used as hunting grounds by the Cherokee and other eastern tribes of American Indians. A treaty signed in the late 1700s opened the fertile valley for settlement.

In 1820, Isaac Love established a furnace and iron forge, the community’s first business. The name Pigeon Forge is a combination of the iron works and the Little Pigeon River that flows through the town.

In the 1700s and early 1800s the river’s banks were lined with beech trees. Beechnuts were a mainstay in the diet of Passenger Pigeons, which made the river a natural stopping point for huge flocks of the now-extinct species.

As late as 1907, population records show Pigeon Forge with a mere 154 residents. However, the lure of the Smoky Mountains proved to be a siren’s song.

By the 1930s, visitors began to trickle into town, even though the only places one could stay as guests were private homes. The iron forge was still in operation and farming was the area’s primary business.

In 1946, a landmark sale of the first parcel of property smaller than a farm was negotiated. It was during that time that the main road through town, which ran along the river, became the hub of the community, complete with two general stores and two churches.

As growing pains set in, the town voted for incorporation in 1961. In the early 1980s, with a firmly established city government and a new Department of Tourism, Pigeon Forge began to make its voice heard in an expanding tourism market.

New business, primarily related to tourism, was recruited to the area. Newly created jobs brought an increase in the permanent population. As of June 1997, the most recent census indicated 3,975 permanent residents within the city limits.

A little more than a quarter of a century ago, Pigeon Forge was a small, peaceful community where cornfields were interrupted only by the occasional business venture and two traffic lights along Highway 441. That once two-lane, black-topped highway is now six lanes wide and known as the Parkway.

A major turning point in the city’s quest for a flourishing tourism industry occurred in 1986 when Dolly Parton applied her name, energy and talents to Dollywood, a theme park on the sits of the former Silver Dollar City. The facility was an immediate hit with visitors and continues to expand annually with an eye to entertainment for all ages.

Accommodations have undergone a startling change. From a rather primitive row of stone cabins along the riverbanks in the early 1930s, the hotel and motel rooms numbered nearly 7,750 in mid-1999. There are more than 600 cottages, condos, cabins and villas. Fourteen campgrounds are equipped with features such as laundry rooms, swimming pools and arcades.

Fast food to family style to upscale dining are included in the mix of restaurants in Pigeon Forge. Locally owned and operated restaurants, regional chains and themed restaurants make up the choices available to hungry travelers.

Entertainment is a mushrooming industry. A dozen theaters offer a variety of performances, all delivering family-style entertainment.

Complementing the entertainment of the theaters are more than 50 family attractions, more than 200 stores in the city’s six outlet malls and more than 140 craft, gift and specialty shops.

Just as Pigeon Forge today stands proudly on its legendary history, it also looks forward to the unfolding of its future as a lively, constantly growing tourism mecca for as long as the Smokies entice visitors to the natural beauty found in their peaks and valleys.

I’m proud to have been a part of the success and growth of this town and look forward to seeing how this town evolves. Many of the traffic problems are currently being resolved, which should make it a lot easier to get to Sevierville, Gatlinburg, Pigeon Forge and other surrounding cities. There are numerous additions lined up for Pigeon Forge that should make this town more entertaining than ever…so stay tuned!

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History of Pigeon Forge Tennessee

• Piggin’ Forge
• Piggin’ Forg
• Pig eon Forge
• Pig Eon Forgay

I kid you not…people often do not understand that Pigeon is like the bird and Forge sounds like what you did with your parents’ signature when you got a bad grade-card from school!

People not only pronounce it funny, they often spell it weird as well. Here are some popular misspellings.

• Pidgeon Forge
• Pidgeon Forg
• Pidgin Forge
• Pidgin Forg
• Pigin Forge
• Pigin Forg
• Pidgen Forge
• Pidgen Forg

There are probably many others, but I see it spelled incorrectly a lot! It’s also funny to be talking on the phone with a telemarketer and hear them try to pronounce it or spell it!

So where did this odd name for a city come from? The city’s website states:

In 1820, Isaac Love established a furnace and iron forge, the community’s first business. The name Pigeon Forge is a combination of the iron works and the Little Pigeon River that flows through the town.

In the 1700s and early 1800s the river’s banks were lined with beech trees. Beechnuts were a mainstay in the diet of Passenger Pigeons, which made the river a natural stopping point for huge flocks of the now-extinct species.

So to make a long story short, the Little Pigeon River was named after the pigeons (or maybe just one little pigeon?) that flocked to its banks. The town was established around the river and an iron forge became the trademark of the area…hence the name “Pigeon Forge”.

But wait! There’s more! The city of Pigeon Forge is located in Sevier County. Far too many people mispronounce Sevier and Sevierville (the city beside Pigeon Forge) as well! I often hear people call it “Seever” when it actually sounds like “Severe”. It is named after John Sevier who was the first governor of Tennessee and happened to be from this area.

So there you have it. You now know how to pronounce Pigeon Forge, Sevier County, and Sevierville! You even know where these names came from now! So if you get laughed at by the locals for anything you pronounce, at least it won’t be because of any of those words. ;)

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History of Pigeon Forge