The girls-trip cut of Gatlinburg is tastings, browsing and one secret door. The Stave leads: Sugarlands' hidden speakeasy (new 2026), entered through a concealed entrance for a guided Roaming Man tasting that ends with filling, corking, labeling and wax-sealing your own bottle of the Infinity to take home.

Watch: first looks

3 videos · summaries from the actual guides

A Gatlinburg Experience Most Visitors Don't Know About | Sugarlands Distillery | Smoky Mountains

Melissa and Wes

Melissa and Wes go inside Sugarlands' hidden speakeasy, The Stave (new in 2026): the secret-door entrance, a guided Roaming Man whiskey tasting and history lesson, then filling, corking, labelling and wax-sealing their own bottle of the Infinity whiskey to take home.

Key takeaways
  • The Stave is Sugarlands' hidden speakeasy, new in 2026, entered through a secret door
  • The experience ends with filling, corking and wax-sealing your own bottle
  • The Infinity was the room's middle-of-the-road pour - and the favorite

Gatlinburg Wine Trail - Discover 5 Must-Visit Wineries & Cideries in Gatlinburg, TN 🍷🏞️

Gatlinburg Wine Trail

The Gatlinburg Wine Trail explains itself: a $10 pass worth $60, eight samples and a slushie sample at each stop, 40-plus wines, ciders and meads along the Strip - starting at Tennessee Cider Company and rolling through stops including Tennessee Homemade Wines and Old Mountain Wine Company.

Key takeaways
  • $10 pass, $60 value, eight samples plus a slushie sample per stop
  • 40-plus wines, ciders and meads across the Strip stops
  • Start anywhere; Tennessee Cider Company is the usual first stop

Ole Smoky Whiskey & Moonshine Taste Testing - Gatlinburg TN 4K

The Neverlanders Family Travel & Disney Tips

A family taste-testing session at Ole Smoky's Gatlinburg tasting bar in 2023: the cream shines get the verdicts - banana pudding and white chocolate strawberry 'phenomenal' cold, mountain java and butter pecan praised for coffee - plus salty watermelon, honey and the sour lineup.

Key takeaways
  • The cream shines (banana pudding, white chocolate strawberry) shine cold
  • Mountain java and butter pecan are the coffee drinkers' picks
  • Expect a family group to work through a lot of small pours - pace yourself

The wine and the shine

The Gatlinburg Wine Trail explains itself — a $10 pass worth $60, eight samples plus a slushie sample per stop, 40-plus wines, ciders and meads from Tennessee Cider Company through Tennessee Homemade Wines. Ole Smoky's cream shines get the group verdict treatment (banana pudding and white chocolate strawberry 'phenomenal' cold; pace yourselves — the pours add up).

The browsing days

The Village as a hidden gem — 27 shops, the founding families behind the Pancake Pantry too, Celtic Heritage's 25 years — and the Arts & Crafts loop attempted in full: every shop fittable into 30 minutes, the area's most under-visited draw by their argument.

Watch: more views

3 videos · summaries from the actual guides

The Village in Gatlinburg: You CAN'T MISS This Hidden Gem! (2025/2026 Shopping & Food Tour)

American Travel Fun

American Travel Fun's case for The Village as Gatlinburg's hidden gem: 27 unique shops in a European-style square built in 1965 by the Gerding and Dyke families (of Pancake Pantry and Ole Smoky Candy Kitchen fame) for $350,000 - and a stop at Celtic Heritage, run by Amy and Jeff for over 25 years.

Key takeaways
  • 27 shops that feel like a European village, steps off the Parkway
  • The founding families also created the Pancake Pantry and Ole Smoky Candy Kitchen
  • Celtic Heritage has run for over 25 years with goods from Ireland and Scotland

ARTS & CRAFTS LOOP TOUR Every Shop (We Think) In Around 30 Minutes, Gatlinburg Tennessee

Smoky Mountain Family

Smoky Mountain Family attempts the definitive loop tour - every shop they can fit into half an hour, starting at the 25-shop Smoky Mountain Arts & Crafts Village - arguing the community is the most under-visited draw in the area.

Key takeaways
  • The Arts & Crafts Village alone holds 25 shops
  • The loop is the area's most under-visited draw, they argue
  • Every-shop coverage in about 30 minutes

The ESSENTIAL GUIDE to ANAKEESTA - Gatlinburg

24 HOURS EXPLORING

The essential-guide cut: prices, the chairlift and Ridge Rambler ways up, the treetop skywalk, treehouse play, mountain coasters, the zipline, dining, and Astra Lumina - the immersive forest light show - after dark.

Key takeaways
  • Three ways up: chairlift, gondola or the Ridge Rambler truck
  • The Treetop Skywalk is among America's longest
  • Astra Lumina is the after-dark anchor

The mountaintops

Anakeesta's essential guide (three ways up, Astra Lumina after dark) and SkyPark's 2025 tour (glass panels 500 feet over town, the new Clayton's Landing, the Smash menu read) are the group's two summits.

Sources: the 7 videos on this page, filmed in Gatlinburg.

Watch: the full set

1 videos · summaries from the actual guides

Gatlinburg SkyPark 2025 Tour | NEW Restaurant, Viewing Area & Hiking Trails!

Adventure Is Out There

The complete 2025 tour: tickets and discounts, the chairlift ride, the SkyBridge's glass panels 500 feet over town, Tulip Tower, the Sky Trail and hiking trails, the new Clayton's Landing viewing area, and a full menu read at the Smoky Mountain Smash restaurant.

Key takeaways
  • Glass panels in the bridge deck, 500 feet over town
  • New Clayton's Landing viewing area (2025)
  • Smoky Mountain Smash is the summit restaurant

More Gatlinburg essentials

Start from the Gatlinburg hub for the full directory, or keep exploring:

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