(0)From the Ripley’s attractions and dinner shows, to the Gatlinburg Space Needle, the Parkway is flanked by tons of awesome attractions, shopping, and dining, so, it’s no wonder getting around can feel a little hectic. Skip the traffic and the headache of finding parking at each of your stops and hop on the Gatlinburg Trolley, catch an Uber, or just walk from one of our convenient Gatlinburg cabins near downtown!
The Gatlinburg Trolley
Rolling down the streets of this beautiful historic mountain town, the Gatlinburg Trolley has been helping visitors get around the area for over 35 years! Since 1980, with 6 trolleys and just a few limited routes, the Gatlinburg Trolley has grown to 20 trolleys and stretched out beyond the city limits to service close to 50 miles of the Smoky Mountain area! Easy to use and extremely affordable, visitors don’t need to feel intimidated or overwhelmed getting around Gatlinburg, even during the peak seasons. The Gatlinburg Trolley is handicap accessible with plainly visible Street Trolley stop signs, and route signs are posted on the trolleys, providing every visitor with the information they need to simply hop on the Gatlinburg Trolley and get to their next adventure!
Fares
Pick up your all-day, unlimited fare pass for $2 at the City Welcome Centers, City Hall, or Mass Transit Center to enjoy quick and easy boarding while spending the day in Gatlinburg. The $2 Pass includes all routes except Tan and Pink, which travel outside the city to the Sugarlands Welcome Center at the entrance of the park and Dollywood. These 2 routes travel 8+ miles roundtrip, so they have their own $2 roundtrip fares, but they save you gas and time!
One-Time Fares by Route
Red: $.50
Green: $.50
Blue: $.50
Purple: $.50
Pink: $1.00 Each Way
Tan: $2.00 Roundtrip
Routes
7 routes, color-coded, and a handy geo tracker for each trolley makes the Gatlinburg Trolley incredibly easy to navigate through the area like a pro. Each route overlaps and extends to particular attractions, making it possible to travel practically anywhere on the Parkway and surrounding area you could want to go! Check out this awesome map or visit the online Gatlinburg Trolley Locator to begin exploring Gatlinburg and the Smoky Mountains. Handy Tip: ALL routes go from Ripley’s Aquarium of the Smokies, so, if you are torn on where to start, just find the big glass architecture of the aquarium and start from there!
Park & Ride
If you are staying in one of Cabins for YOU’s more secluded cabins in the mountains, there is still an easy way you can avoid traffic when bringing your personal or rental vehicle into Gatlinburg. The city has 2 Welcome Centers with parking lots where you can leave your vehicle and purchase your $2 all-day pass or purchase your one-time ride with exact fare.
Seasonal Routes
The Red, Pink, Blue, and Purple trolley routes are available to visitors all year, while the Tan Green, and Yellow routes service the area during peak seasons to relieve the Parkway, River Road, and Great Smoky Arts and Crafts Community of the heavier vehicular traffic.
Tan Route
June-October
This is the route to take from Gatlinburg to get to some of the best hiking trailheads within the Great Smoky Mountains National Park! With stops at the Sugarlands Visitor Center, the Elkmont Campground, and Laurel Falls Trailhead, pack your backpack and explore the beauty of the Smokies on these short but scenic trails that follow streams, are heavily wooded, and lead to waterfalls.
Yellow Route
April-December*
No Yellow Route Trolley on Sundays during November and December
For the best souvenir shopping around, you will want to board the Yellow Trolley to the Great Smoky Arts and Crafts Community! As the nation’s oldest and largest group of artisans, this 3-mile loop is filled with handmade leather goods, rocking chairs, jewelry, paintings, quilts, and so much more. Even better, the artisans are present in their shops to talk to visitors about their passion and their processes, making the entire souvenir experience so much more meaningful.
Green Route
May-October
Green is most specifically an added route to ease the pains of heavy traffic as it has stops all along the Parkway like Fannie Farkle’s, Ole Smoky Moonshine Distillery, Gatlinburg Convention Center, and Ober Gatlinburg Aerial Tramway. It also overlaps many Red Route stops, so if you are pressed for time, check out your options between these two routes and take the first color route trolley that arrives!
Free Parkway Summer Trolley
Enjoy the breeze and the ride this summer in an open-air Gatlinburg Trolley! From June 15-August 10 Gatlinburg visitors are treated to a FREE open-air trolley that has 40 stops along the Parkway. They are super easy to spot: they have the words “Free Parkway Trolley” printed on the side of the shuttle.
Gatlinburg Winter Magic Trolley Ride of Lights
When the magical holiday celebration, Winterfest, kicks-off in November, the city of Gatlinburg seemingly transforms into an amazing wonderland of Christmas cheer and lights. After the latest $1.6 million revamp of the display, Gatlinburg is now draped in one-of-a-kind custom light displays of stunning luminescent forests, Smoky Mountain animals, holiday staples, and dreamy evergreens made of LED bulbs. You will definitely want to buy your tickets ahead of time for this truly other-worldly city of lights tour starting nightly at 6:30, 7:30, and 8:30 from late November through January.
Gatlinburg-Pigeon Forge-Sevierville Transit
It is totally possible for you to never use your personal vehicle once you’ve made it to your cabin! If you hop on the Pink Route Gatlinburg Trolley and exit at the Dollywood Info Center stop, you can walk a couple blocks to Patriot Park where the hub for Pigeon Forge’s Fun Time Trolley resides. They also have a $2 all-day unlimited pass and a North Parkway Trolley that takes visitors all the way to Sevierville, Tennessee, a less-publicized, beautiful Smoky Mountain city!
Gatlinburg Cabins Near Downtown
Perfect for attending Gatlinburg events, wedding party weekends, and fun-filled family vacations, booking a Cabins for YOU lodge near downtown Gatlinburg is your cheapest and easiest way to get around the city without a car. Walk to and from the nearest Street Trolley Stop with exact fare to get to places like the Gatlinburg Convention Center during the Gatlinburg Craftsmen’s Fair, the Sugarlands Welcome Center during the Spring Wildflower Pilgrimage, and the centrally-located Aquarium of the Smokies.
A number of these Gatlinburg cabins close to downtown are nestled right on the banks of the Little Pigeon River! Sit back and relax to the sounds of the stream while enjoying a cold beer, watch the kids splash and play in the shallow waters, or do a little fishing (the streams stay stocked with trout!) in between trips into Gatlinburg. Check out these gorgeous Gatlinburg chalets:
Uber & Lyft
Let someone else do the driving to and from your cabin! Uber and Lyft both operate in the area, perfect for those days of touring the Rocky Top Wine Trail during a couples’ retreat or a night out on the town during a bachelorette weekend in the Smokies.
So now that you don’t have to fear peak season traffic or how to budget your gas money, it’s time to plan your dream Smoky Mountain getaway in a Cabins for YOU lodge nestled among the evergreens in the clouds, hidden away in the seclusion of the lush forests, or resting on the banks of a peaceful stream near the beautiful city of Gatlinburg!