Waterfall near Townsend, TN
Nestled on the border of the Great Smoky Mountain National Park is a little town called Townsend, Tennessee. Away from the hustle and bustle of resort areas, Townsend is called, “The Peaceful Side of the Smokies” for good reason. It is down-right relaxing here.
From here, you can easily access Cades Cove, the Little River and even Gatlinburg (with its many wedding chapels), Pigeon Forge or Cherokee, NC if you’re looking for something to take you away from relaxing. (Because, you can do a lot of that here!)
Townsend is unlike Gatlinburg, Pigeon Forge and many other towns near the Smokies. Instead of clamoring with the rest to create a ‘tourist haven’ filled with attractions, traffic and bustle, Townsend has remained a quiet and laid back little town where things just don’t move very quickly. As such, it provides visitors the calming experience of being in the Great Smoky Mountains.
Townsend offers quite a few distractions from everyday life, including horseback riding through the mountains, restaurants, tubing the river and many festivals throughout the year.
Little River, Townsend, TN
Townsend, Tennessee is convenient to the incredible number of activities in the Smokies, which makes staying here relaxing and fun! Not to mention, the NW entrance to the Great Smoky Mountains National Park (GSMNP)and Cades Cove is literally “just down the road”. (If you haven’t visisted Cades Cove, you should. There is plenty of wildlife, historic barns & cabins, horseback riding and camping. Not forgetting, of course, the incredible views from the valley.)
The Townsend website
We’ve built a site that contains information about Townsend lodging, restaurants, activities, nature & community. We use high quality photos & video to display information about local businesses & organizations. We write quality content for each one to let visitors know that visiting these local companies is a good thing. Best of all, we do it for free.
We don’t charge local businesses to be listed on our site & never will. Why? Because we live in the area & know how important it is that tourists patronize our local stores, restaurants, & attractions. This is our way of positively contributing to our local economy.
Townsend, TN Hotel Information
Information on hotels and motels in Townsend, Tennessee, Smoky Mountains
There are approximately 13 hotels and motels. They range in quality, price and style.
Choosing the right time to visit Townsend can be key to finding a good deal. The busiest times of the year are summer (for family vacations), fall (late October – mid November … for seeing the fall colors) and the holidays (Thanksgiving and Christmas). Of course, Townsend has several festivals a year that can impact availability of hotel rooms. Old Timers Festival (spring), Troutfest (early summer), Fall Heritage Festival (fall) and several other special interest festivals during the year.
History of Townsend
In the past, Townsend was the site of Cherokee villages in Tuckaleechee Cove (see the photo below). Archeologist have documented humans have been in the area for over 5,000 years.
