10 Indoor Kid Approved Adventures During Winter Around Gatlinburg

Gatlinburg unwraps the great outdoors and gifts it to the active family. Nestled in the foothills of the Smoky Mountains, a trip to the Tennessee city and its environs puts families close to forest lands, waterfalls, wildlife sightings, and some of the most enjoyable outdoor attractions this side of the Mississippi. From the rides and amusements in Dollywood, voted 2025's best theme park, to an aerial adventure park filled with thrilling wildlife views, Gatlinburg is truly the destination for outdoor family fun. But when winter comes around, and the lows begin dipping below freezing, the city can feel too cold for kids to enjoy the many adventures outside.

On those days, Gatlinburg unveils enjoyable indoor adventures for every interest. Animal-loving kids have their pick of one of the U.S.'s best aquariums (via USA Today) or a temperature-controlled rainforest zoo. Science and history buffs will find a storied museum and educational attractions they'll want to explore. There's even a place where kids can snow tube in a warm indoor facility. Gatlinburg has been ranked one of the U.S.'s most fun and unique towns near a national park, so the choices for pleasure are endless. We've scoured through visitor reviews and found some of the best options.

The highly rated Ripley's Aquarium of the Smokies in Gatlinburg is a combination of interactivity and fun that kids of all ages enjoy when the weather gets cold outside. Younger kids will get wide-eyed at the tactile opportunities to truly immerse themselves in the world of their favorite marine animals. Older kids will appreciate the more educational exhibits.

The colorful fish and frogs in the Tropical Rainforest room are just the thing to grab the attention of the knee-high crowd. Splash With the Stingrays immerses kids older than six in a stingray habitat where the graceful creatures glide around them while they learn about the animals. And the Penguin Experience puts kids seven and older next to penguins. Older kids will enjoy the more educational exhibits. The Dragons' exhibit is the chance to learn about the real-life dragons that inspired the mythical ones found in their favorite TV shows. And the unusual creatures in Ocean Realm are equally enlightening.

Ripley's Aquarium is a year-round favorite for its fun camps and events. When the weather cools down, those events don't stop. There's a breakfast with penguins experience and a sleepover with sharks, where kids over five can sleep surrounded by sharks. "The aquarium, with all it's interactivity (touch tanks, sea tube, tunnels to crawl into the penguin exhibit) is built for parents to explore with their 5-year-old ... I've been to several major aquariums, including Baltimore, Chicago, Atlanta and Cleveland ... and Gatlinburg's is definitely one of the best," raved one parent on Reddit. With its reputation as one of the Smoky Mountains' best attractions, it's easy to see why visitors in our research recommended it so highly.

Visitors in our research praised the Titanic Museum in nearby Pigeon Forge for the respectful way it showcases the emotional story of one of the world's most historic passenger ships. They also appreciated how immersive the whole indoor experience is. As visitors approach, it's easy to imagine they've time-traveled back to April 1912 and are about to board the actual ship. The Titanic Museum is built to exactly resemble the Titanic, with some of the inside rooms assembled to look like full-size replicas of the ship's more eventful areas. Over 400 replicas from the ship add authenticity.

Upon entry, each visitor is given a boarding pass of a passenger or crew member who really rode on the ship. From there, the journey can lead to exhibits showcasing the stories of the passengers, the staff who made it all possible, or the environment around the ship. Kids of all ages will enjoy shoveling coal in the boiler room like the Titanic's workers did in 1912, or sitting in a lifeboat while learning about the passengers who tried to escape the sinking ship. There are also opportunities to touch ice-cold water at the same temperature as it was when the ship sank and learn how an SOS message is properly sent.

The most emotional part of a visit is the end, when each visitor can find out the fate of the passenger who held the boarding pass they were given at entry. This visitor on Google highlighted how immersive the museum is: "I visited the Titanic Museum in Pigeon Forge and it was such a beautiful, emotional, and well-put-together experience. From the moment you walk in, the atmosphere feels respectful and immersive. I loved that you're given a boarding pass of a real passenger."

Most kids would agree that snow tubing is fun. Those who hate the cold would also agree that it can be a pain when the fun activity can only be done outside during frigid winter weather. Visitors looking to enjoy indoor snow tubing can forget the slopes at Gatlinburg's Ober Mountain ski area and drive a few minutes to Pigeon Forge Snow in Pigeon Forge.

Controlled at a comfortable 60 to 70 degrees Fahrenheit, the facility always feels comfortable. Inside the warmth, fun-loving kids will find plenty of tubing lanes, a snow play area, and a snack shop on the second floor. Since there is snow on the lanes, kids will have to wear snow boots and warm, waterproof clothing in the event their bodies come into contact with the snow. To enjoy tubing, children also need to be at least 3 years old, a minimum of 38 inches tall, and meet weight requirements. Younger kids who don't meet tubing requirements, or older kids who don't want to tube, can head to the snow play area.

The snow play area is also temperature-controlled, with plenty of snow to manipulate. While the snow is perfect for snow angels and snowballs, imaginative kids can bring their own creativity to the area. All that is required are gloves and imagination. Parental supervision is required for kids under 12, but older kids can play alone or with the new friends they're bound to meet. On the second floor, the adults in the family can grab drinks and a meal from the snack shop. "Pigeon Forge Snow is great (they have a snow pile for younger kids)! My kids love it," describes a visitor on Reddit.

Your family will not find an attraction like Gatlinburg's Salt and Pepper Museum anywhere else in the world. The unique museum exhibits more than 20,000 pairs of salt and pepper shakers of all makes and designs in its quirky indoor space. Princess-loving kids will love the Southern Belles collection of shakers. Animal lovers will find the chicken, bee, and numerous other animal-shaped shakers funny. The adults in the family will enjoy the unusual museum as much for its eclectic collections as for its one-of-a-kind subject matter.

In our research, visitors who recommended the museum consistently used words like quirky and rare. "The salt and pepper museum has been left off your list. Don't miss this rare attraction," one visitor says on Reddit. Those who dug deeper discovered a heartwarming story of one woman's fascination with salt and pepper shakers and how they depict the changes in human societies over the centuries. It's a story that inspired the renowned Smithsonian to feature the small museum in one of its publications. In a nutshell, the museum began with Andrea Ludden and her family's personal collection of salt and pepper shakers that outgrew their home and is now over 20,000 pairs strong.

Today, kids can admire shakers in kid-friendly shapes. Coca-Cola shakers, Mickey Mouse shakers, monster shakers, too many animal-shaped ones to mention, and princess versions are just a few of the more kid-friendly collections. Among the more unusual shakers are the ones to commemorate U.S. presidents, the conical German shakers, and a Mona Lisa set. Kids under 12 are free, but adults pay an admission fee of $3 that goes toward a purchase at the gift shop.

If your kids love magic and fantasy, take them to MagiQuest in Pigeon Forge, just 15 minutes from Gatlinburg, for an adventure of epic proportions. MagiQuest, once independently owned, proved so popular when it was introduced to Great Wolf Lodge's resorts in 2004 that the resort purchased the company. Pigeon Forge's MagiQuest is a kingdom realm facility that takes up the whole second floor of its building.

At the center of the adventure is a magic wand that can be purchased at the facility if visitors don't already have their own from previous play at a Great Wolf Lodge resort or another realm. Armed with the wand, kids complete quests to advance to the final battle, where they're awarded the title of Magi. Quests include defeating dragons, goblins, and collecting magical elements. MagiQuest is so popular that it has fandom pages and subreddits around the web. Kids who already love the game or enjoy fantasy and magic won't find a better attraction for indoor fun during a winter trip to Gatlinburg. Incidentally, Great Wolf Lodge Resorts, the new owners of the MagiQuest franchise, rank among the best indoor U.S. waterparks to escape chilly winter days.

If your kids thrive on trying to figure out mazes, this indoor challenge will keep them entertained. That said, Amazing Mirror Maze and Circus Golf is more than a maze. Kids will find a riot of peppy music and psychedelic lighting to party to while they go about solving the maze. A glow-in-the-dark mini golf course cements the entertaining attraction as one of the most memorable indoor attractions in Gatlinburg.

After dancing and figuring out the tricky mirror maze, kids can hop over to the mini golf course — all in the same building downtown. Just a minute away, the movie-loving family can continue the day at Hollywood Car Museum, where the main attraction is an amazing collection of cars from Hollywood blockbusters. The Batmobile from "Batman," the sports cars from the "Fast & Furious" franchise, and the cars from "Transformers" are a tiny sample of the museum's collection. For animal lovers, Ripley's Aquarium of the Smokies is also nearby.

Amazing Mirror Maze and Circus Golf kept popping up in our research. Here is what one parent had to say while recommending it on Reddit: "There's an awesome glass/mirror house. It is right next to a glow-in-the-dark mini golf place. Both are fun, and would be appropriate for a 5 year old."

This adventure plunges the older kids and adults in the family into the middle of not one, but six different mysteries that they need to solve before they can escape. With an allowance of 1 to 6 hours per room, the exhilarating adventure is a great way to spend time enjoying an indoor challenge when it's cold outside. Reviewers overwhelmingly loved the Curse of the Kraken Eye and Haunting of Hyde House rooms. Once completed, many of them went on to try one of the other escape rooms or vowed to return.

"Every family vacation for the past 4 years, we have gone to an escape room. We have been to at least a dozen different facilities in Tennessee. Gatlinburg Escape Room Games is the absolute best experience we have EVER had ... We went to Haunting of Hyde Manor day 1. And we loved it so much we came back the next day for the Boogeyman. We are planning another trip to Gatlinburg just to do more escape rooms here." This review on Google echoed what others had to say.

The popular room, "Haunting of Hyde House," puts visitors who fancy themselves detectives on a journey to help reunite a tormented ghost with her doll and thus free her from haunting the house. And the equally popular "Curse of the Kraken Eye" room asks visitors to follow puzzles to find the Kraken Eye object that may free a town from a storm. These two rooms were the most frequently mentioned in our research, but families who love to solve puzzles while running against the clock will find other entertaining mysteries to solve. The escape room is part of Gatlin's Fun Center, where mini golf and other attractions await.

The upside-down building that WonderWorks, in nearby Pigeon Forge, calls home is just the place for families looking to squeeze educational opportunities into an amusement park setting. Inside, the young are immediately delighted by a ropes course where everything glows in the dark, an exhilarating 4-D motion film theater, and an art gallery filled with illusions.

Along with all this fun comes lots of chances to battle "winter slide" over the break. Kids will never know they're expanding their minds as they become a human lightning rod inside the Extreme Weather Zone, where the most frightening weather events on the planet are explored. The real gyroscope in the Space Discovery Zone will have them dizzy from all the spinning and the recreated space-like atmosphere, but they'll also be learning about space and its effect on the human body. And the Light and Sound Zone combines dancing with learning about sound.

Bumper cars, laser tag, and mini golf all in one warm indoor space? If that sounds like too much fun rolled into one, we suggest staying away from Gatlin's Fun Center. The attraction offers a trifecta of indoor fun that both locals and visiting families flock to when the kids need to expend energy during winter.

Upon arrival, it may look like all the mini golf courses are outside. But don't be deceived. While the facility has two of its mini golf courses outdoors, the most unusual one is inside, making the attraction perfect for cold winter days. The indoor course is the trendy blacklight-type that has become popular in recent years. The indoor course glows in the dark, with marine animals and a sunken pirate ship added to create an underwater feel. After mini golf, kids who still have energy can hop over to a 3,000-square-foot indoor laser tag arena, where mazes and flashing lights add excitement to the game. According to the website, the laser tag challenge is appropriate for kids older than 5 and taller than 44 inches.

After all that fun, an indoor bumper car course is the opportunity to rest tired feet while still having fun. The electricity-powered cars can be steered, but kids who have spent all their energy at other fun activities can just sit while the car spins them around. Check Gatlin Fun Center's website for height and weight restrictions. For even more fun, Gatlin's Escape Games can also be found in the center.

The Rainforest Adventures Discovery Zoo is a superb setup with a wide variety of rainforest animals from around the world, making it a beloved destination. Add in the educational experiences, and the zoo is a no-brainer for those willing to travel 20 minutes into Sevierville, where it's located. Sevierville itself is a charming riverside city with amazing attractions that warrant spending a day exploring after leaving the zoo. Families who go only to the zoo won't be disappointed.

Here's what a visitor had to say about the zoo on Reddit: "We love Rainforest Zoo... It's mostly indoor but they have some neat animals. It's smaller than a regular zoo but still takes an hour or two to go through and if you hit it at the right time, they put on a show with some of the animals that's fun to watch!" Upon arrival at Rainforest Adventures Discovery Zoo, kids of all ages are in for a surprise. Rainforest Adventures isn't a normal zoo. Instead, on entering, visitors find themselves in an area best described as a wild safari.

This "safari" area has various species of rainforest animals roaming freely, which younger kids and teens will find fascinating. After the safari area, the zoo takes on a traditional zoo appearance with exhibits that include rare and exotic animals other zoos don't typically have. There's also a petting area where goats and llamas wait patiently for snacks (available at the zoo). And, an experience where kids get to spend one-on-one time with a sloth, and learn about sloth behavior while feeding the slow creature. There is also an area with temperate birds that is quite popular for its rainbow-colored macaws, parrots, and other rainforest natives.

We searched Reddit to find the top recommendations for kid-friendly indoor attractions in Gatlinburg or within a 20-minute drive of the city. Once we had the top recommendations, we scoured the attractions' websites and read reviews on Tripadvisor and Google to narrow our list down. The final edition contained a diverse set of attractions that would appeal to families with all kinds of interests.