13 Local-Approved Day Trips from Knoxville You Probably Haven’t Done Yet
Let’s be honest, Knoxville is great and all, but sometimes you just need to shake things up a bit. Whether you’re craving mountain air, quirky roadside stops, a dose of local history, or just a change of scenery that doesn’t require packing an overnight bag, East Tennessee has you covered.
From hidden gems to bucket-list favorites, these day trips from Knoxville are all doable in under two hours and handpicked by yours truly, a local who’s made it her mission to uncover the best ways to spend a day beyond the city limits.
Fantasy villages? Check. Theme parks? Obviously. Charming downtowns? You bet. Let’s hit the road.
Summary
🛎️ Where to stay in Knoxville: The Oliver Hotel ($209+ per night) — in the heart of downtown, steps from Market Square, and home to Knoxville’s only speakeasy!
🏹 Closest getaway (15 minutes): Ancient Lore Village (consider an overnight stay here)
🍺 Farthest day trip (2 hours): Asheville, North Carolina
Map of Day Trips to Take from Knoxville
Best Day Trips from Knoxville by Distance
1. Ancient Lore Village (15 minutes)
Located in Knoxville, in South Knoxville in particular, lies one of the most unique day trips, Ancient Lore Village.
This is a luxury boutique resort that’s fantasy themed and based on Bokee’s Trek, a story about magical creatures who are outcasts and come together to live in harmony.
While you absolutely can stay there, you can also just pay for day access to attend a themed meal or event, participate in the activities on site like axe throwing and archery, and tour the property, trails, and gardens.
If you need a quick day trip, or even a half-day trip, Ancient Lore Village is so much fun!
2. Sevierville (30 minutes)
Located 30 minutes to the southeast of Knoxville, you’ll find Sevierville. This city was once Dolly Parton’s home. It’s full of Southern charm with an adorable and historic downtown.
See Dolly Parton’s statue, which is part of the Tennessee Music Pathways trail that goes throughout the state. Enjoy coffee from the cutest Parisian coffee shop, Central Coffee & Crumb.
Plus, since Sevierville has become such a big tourist town because of its proximity to the Smokies, there are a ton of big name attractions that have popped up to keep everyone truly entertained.
Visit Xperia, a virtual aquarium experience, Soaky Mountain, a full blown water park, and NASCAR SpeedPark where you can drive around a fast track.
3. Norris Dam State Park (35 minutes)
In the complete opposite direction, 35 minutes north of Knoxville, is Norris Dam State Park.
At this free public state park, you can learn about the dam in the small visitor center and museum, have a picnic at the beautiful picnic area and tables, walk the trails like the Storybook Trail, and go fishing along the river that passes through the dam.
To make it a full day trip, grab lunch from Clinch River Brewing, a full service brewery with a lovely patio.
For more things to do in this area, check out Lenoir Museum, a free museum showcasing artifacts from East Tennessee and Appalachia region.
4. Clinton (35 minutes)
Also about 35 minutes north of Knoxville is Clinton. This small town packs a surprising punch when it comes to activities.
First, be sure to visit the free Green McAdoo Cultural Center, which tells the incredibly important story of the Clinton 12. These 12 African-American high school students were the first to integrate a public high school in the South!
The museum tells their story including what sentiments were like before integration, during their time in Clinton High School, and the aftermath. It’s intense, but so important to learn about!
Also in Clinton, you’ll find the Museum of Appalachia. This living museum is a great example of how old Appalachian mountain towns used to be. Admission is $20 with discounts for military, first responders, seniors, and children.
5. Pigeon Forge (40 minutes)
Back to the southeast of Knoxville, beyond Sevierville is Pigeon Forge. If you’re looking for tourist attractions galore, Pigeon Forge will deliver.
They have everything from the Jurassic Jungle Boat Ride to the Titanic Museum to the Hollywood Wax Museum to dinner shows like Hatfield and McCoy Dinner Feud to Dollywood, Dolly Parton’s full blown theme park!
It’s also home to some great restaurants that have been there for decades like The Old Mill Pottery House Café, which doubles as a pottery studio and shop.
6. Oak Ridge (40 minutes)
One of my favorite day trips from Knoxville is to Oak Ridge. This city was once “the secret city” aka one of three Manhattan Project sites in the US.
This is when the US was very secretly researching the atomic bomb during World War II. You’re probably familiar with the site in Los Alamos, heavily featured in the film Oppenheimer. But Oak Ridge was their sister site along with Hanford, Washington.
Now, you can visit the Manhattan Project National Historical Site in Oak Ridge to learn all about what was happening during that time and what living in the secret city was really like.
There’s a couple ways to do this depending on what time of year you take your day trip.
First, if it’s summer (around May through October/November), you can take the guided bus tour through the Manhattan Project National Historical Park sites including K-25 History Center, New Hope Visitor Center at Y-12, and Oak Ridge National Laboratory.
The bus tour leaves from the American Museum of Science and Energy, another great attraction to spend some time at (admission is included in the bus tour).
However, if you’re visiting in the off-season (winter and spring), you’ll have to visit the museum and Manhattan Project sites on your own in a self-guided kind of way.
I do recommend seeing the K-25 History Center, which costs $10. This museum breaks down how they used gaseous diffusion to enrich uranium and what life was like in the secret city.
You can also visit the New Hope Visitor Center at Y-12 on your own. They do need two forms of government issued ID, but otherwise it’s free to visit. See their policies here for details.
One thing that’s so interesting about Oak Ridge is that not only are there these very formal museums at Manhattan Project sites, but there are a ton of spots around the city that were used in some capacity by the secret cities.
For example, I was just driving around and passed tennis courts that had signs indicating they used to be where dances were held for secret city residents!
7. Gatlinburg (1 hour)
An hour south of Knoxville on the border of Great Smoky Mountains National Park is Gatlinburg. This mountain town is one of my favorites in Tennessee.
While it certainly caters toward tourists with goofy attractions and lots of souvenir shops, there’s an underrated side to the town that I just love.
Visit the Great Smoky Arts and Crafts Community, an 8-mile loop with over 50+ galleries, workshops, shops, and demonstrations by local artists.
There are a number of mountaintop attractions with stellar views of the Smokies.
My favorite is Anakeesta because the entertainment complex has so much to do, you can truly be entertained for hours. There’s restaurants, treetop walks, gardens, a ropes course, mountain coaster, and more!
Plus, they have Astra Lumina, a night time art installation where lights are projected on the trees for a celestial-inspired walk through the woods.
Don’t miss a moonshine tasting at one of the distilleries. I love Sugarlands because you can try 12 flavors for $5, one of the best values!
Related read >> The BEST Gatlinburg itinerary for 1 day
8. Lost Sea Adventure & Mayfield Dairy (1 hour)
If you travel an hour west from Knoxville, it might seem like you’re in the middle of nowhere and yes, that’s kind of true. But there are two fun attractions in and near Sweetwater.
First is the Lost Sea Adventure. While the name might make it seem goofy, it’s actually quite a fabulous attraction. It’s the largest underground lake in the US!
When you visit, you get to tour the cave that it’s in, called Craighead Caverns, seeing some unique formations including anthodites found only in a few select caves around the world.
Eventually, you’ll make it to the underground lake and get to take a boat ride. It’s big enough for multiple boats!
Just 15 minutes from Lost Sea Adventure is Mayfield Dairy Farms Visitor Center. Take a tour for $8 where you’ll go behind the scenes at the facility where milk, ice cream, and other dairy products are processed and packaged.
At the end of the tour, you get to try their ice cream! It’s included in the tour cost. Tours run at the top of each hour.
Just a note that the processing facility has some areas with a sour milk kind of smell. You mostly just walk through areas with that smell, rather than linger to listen to your tour guide speak, but just wanted to warn you if you’re sensitive to smell.
9. Brushy Mountain and Frozen Head State Park (1 hour 15 minutes)
Past Oak Ridge is another collection of attractions that’s worth a day trip.
Historic Brushy Mountain State Penitentiary was once a prison that held the most infamous prisoners like James Earl Ray, who pleaded guilty to Martin Luther King Jr.’s assassination and who famously escaped the prison for 54 hours.
It’s also one of the most haunted places in America because there were so many deaths here. For example in comparison to Alcatraz in San Francisco, which had 28 deaths in 29 years, Brushy Mountain had 10,000 estimated deaths in 113 years of operation.
You can take a tour led by a former inmate or correctional officer. Or even take an overnight paranormal tour or see a concert on their main field!
They also have a couple restaurants on site as well as a distillery, so you can make a whole day of it.
But, if you want more to do in this area, Frozen Head State Park is quite close. They have some beautiful trails and gorgeous spring flowers every year, which you can discover yourself or on a ranger-led Wildflower Walk.
10. Great Smoky Mountains (1 hour 15 minutes)
One of the most iconic and must-do day trips is from Knoxville to the Smoky Mountains.
This national park is the most visited in America and for good reason.
With beautiful mountain and waterfall trails, a stunning valley with ample wildlife viewing, and historic Appalachian structures like cabins and towns, you can easily spend a day…or 3 days in Great Smoky Mountains National Park.
My favorite things to do are Kuwohi Trail (formerly Clingman’s Dome) which is the highest point in the park with 360-degree mountain views, Laurel Falls Trail, an easy trail to a stunning waterfall (closed until 2026 for trail renovations though), and Cades Cove, a 3-hour drive around the aforementioned valley.
Be sure to fill up on gas and pack a lunch, because there are no facilities in the park aside from restrooms.
11. Johnson City (1.5 hours)
If you’re looking for a quiet mountain town with lots of activities for families or curious adult travelers (like me), Johnson City is for you!
Don’t miss Hands On! Discovery Center, the science museum and active fossil dig site. They have an award-winning Tesla coil that plays music!
Hike in Buffalo Mountain Park or go for a bike ride through Tweetsie Trail!
Enjoy a stroll through downtown where they have the cutest shops. The Generalist was my favorite!
For a bite, I loved Spring Street Sandwich Company downtown where they had the freshest ingredients! Perfect for a day outside exploring.
Related read >> What to do in Johnson City for a weekend (or a day)
12. Chattanooga (1 hour 45 minutes)
One of my all time favorite cities in Tennessee is Chattanooga, just an hour and 45 minutes from Knoxville.
Chattanooga is artsy, kinda hipster, outdoorsy, and has the most tight knit community.
If you’re only visiting for a day trip, you have to see the Chattanooga Choo Choo, the famous train station that’s now an entertainment complex and hotel complete with a brewery, escape room, comedy club, and gardens.
Try Clumpie’s Ice Cream, the local favorite, and a Chattanooga original invention: moon pies from the Moon Pie General Store.
One of my favorite things to do is the Classic Arcade Pinball Museum, which is both a museum and playable arcade!
Related read >> Inexpensive things to do in Chattanooga
13. Asheville (2 hours)
My final pick for a day trip from Knoxville is Asheville, North Carolina, another favorite underrated city in the South.
Known for its high concentration of breweries (there’s over 70!), Asheville has the most wonderful arts and foodie scenes.
Some of my favorite spots are Baked Pie Company, where you can try a flight of pies, Biscuit Head, where they have a jam bar to try lots of flavors with your biscuit, and Chai Pani, an Indian restaurant from the same owners as another of my favorite Indian street food spots in Atlanta’s Ponce City Market (Botiwalla).
One of the best things to do is a visit to the Biltmore Estate. It’s one of the largest homes in America and acts now as a museum, gardens, winery, and event venue.
On a tour, you’ll get to go inside to see the many lavish rooms including the bedrooms, library, 7-story dining room, billiards room, and even the gym and underground pool!
Be sure to visit the Conservatory within the gardens because they always have a neat exhibit overlay. When I went, they had model trains and buildings made entirely of natural materials!
Related read >> How to spend a weekend in Asheville
Planning a trip around East Tennessee? These posts will help:
My Travel Essentials
- Travel Insurance – Going on an international trip? Don’t forget travel and medical insurance with SafetyWing.
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- Get Your Guide – Check out Get Your Guide for a one-stop-shop for booking travel activities.
- Booking.com – This is my favorite hotel search aggregator, specifically for reading reviews. On Booking.com, the reviews can be searched for keywords like WiFi, breakfast, pool, amenities, etc.! So helpful!
- Anti-pickpocket bag – Worried about having your valuables swiped? PacSafe makes the best travel bags with zippers and straps that lock and with mesh steel enforced fabric.
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- Staycation Idea – Check out Resort Pass, which gives you day passes to resorts so you can use their pool, spa, and fitness center, a great staycation idea!
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