Dollywood (Dolly Parton theme park)

Dollywood sits on 160 acres in the foothills of the Great Smoky Mountains in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee. The park began life in 1961 as Rebel Railroad, a small tourist attraction built around a steam train. It changed hands and names several times before Dolly Parton became a co-owner in 1986. She shaped the place around the Appalachian culture she grew up in, the music she loved, and the community she came from.

Dollywood is the most visited ticketed attraction in Tennessee, drawing over three million visitors a year. Live music runs through everything — bluegrass, gospel, and country acts perform daily across multiple stages. The park craftspeople demonstrate traditional Appalachian skills: blacksmithing, glassblowing, woodcarving, and candle making. The Southern Gospel Museum and Hall of Fame is housed inside the park.

A replica of the two-room cabin where Parton grew up in Locust Ridge is on the park grounds. The Chasing Rainbows Museum houses her personal memorabilia — stage costumes, awards, handwritten lyrics, and the coat of many colours her mother sewed from rags. Parton remains hands-on with the park. Dollywood is the largest employer in Sevier County.

The park is at 2700 Dollywood Parks Boulevard in Pigeon Forge, about 35 miles southeast of Knoxville. It operates seasonally from mid-March through early January. The steam train — the original 1961 attraction — still runs.