Sugarlands Visitor Center

Great little stop along the way in the Smoky Mountains. The small museum inside is fantastic, with displays and stuffed animals representing wildlife from the area. The staff was very friendly and helpful, and the bathrooms were clean. There’s plenty of parking, along with lots of green space for picnics or walking your pets. They also have a cool little gift shop with plenty of souvenirs to remember your visit. A perfect quick stop while exploring the park.

Was told to go here if we wanted to see the smoky mountains. They have different routes you can take. The best part is they have both walking and driving options for people to pick their perfect experience. We chose to drive thru as walking far distances is not ideal for our group. The people working at the visitor center were very helpful and informative about how to get from one place to another using the PAPER MAP. There is NO CELL SERVICE AT ALL. There is NO GPS AT ALL. but as long as you follow the road and the few but many signs posted you will be able to get from one place to another using the paper map if you know how to read a paper map. We spent about 6 hours here and only got to see one area we plan to go back the next time we are in Tennessee and spend more than one day just for the mountains because we did not anticipate it being so much to see and do other than looking and enjoying the nature and beauty of the land. We saw a few different animals as well even though most were still hibernating

The actual Visitors Center was wonderful- welcoming, informative. The park rangers present offering education was much appreciated. Centrally located, this visitor center is worth the stop. We were fortunate to see seven bears during our three day visit thru the trails! Thank you.

We tried for two days to visit this place last week and it was just so busy that it was difficult to find parking. If you just need to purchase a parking permit, there are parking kiosks located at both ends of the parking lot. We were able to park behind a few parked cars and quickly purchase a permit from one of the kiosks. I highly recommended purchasing online and printing them off if you're able to do so. We finally made it inside on our third attempt by arriving early( ~8:30am) and even then the parking lot was already filling up. The restrooms are located in another building but were open before the visitor center was. They weren't the cleanest but they're werent disgusting either. All of the visitor center staff were very helpful and polite. The lobby was spacious. The exhibit area contained some very cool displays and worth a visit. The gift area had a good variety of souvenirs, gifts, snacks, drinks, and clothing items. It can get a bit crowded but it was manageable. This is a nice stop if you can find parking.

The road was closed through the park. We didn’t have time to go to the North Carolina side. Also the loop is closed on Wednesdays through the summer for pedestrians and bicyclists to access the full 11 miles safely. So we spent most of our visit here at the center. We enjoyed the museum, the gift shop, the restrooms. The shaded benches- and a little room to run around and explore without getting too far afield. We had to purchase (a first for that) our Jr. Ranger workbook, but all 3 kids were able to use the one to work on badges. It was a good day!