Visit Ripley’s Aquarium of the Smokies

With highs in the 20’s and nearby Dollywood closed for the season, you might think Pigeon Forge, Tennessee is no place to be. On the contrary, there’s still plenty going on in this cozy resort destination at the foot of the Great Smoky Mountains. One of our favorite area attractions is inside and open year-round. Join us at Ripley’s Aquarium of the Smokies.

Driving through Gatlinburg, you certainly can’t miss the humongous structure, A-framed roofs stretching to the sky and dwarfing everything around them. Inside is no less impressive, with thoroughly modern facilities and tanks housing more than 10,000 sea dwellers from over 350 species (and possibly many more, depending on the special exhibit).

Ripley’s Aquarium of the Smokies is nothing pretentious, and they don’t trade quality for razzle-dazzle. Despite what you might be thinking with the brand name attached, this is actually a low-key but very high quality aquarium.

Your time is split up into a number of themed exhibits (no surprise there). In the rainforest exhibit, probably the first you’ll see, discover some of Mother Nature’s most vivid creatures like poison dart frogs, cardinal tetras and the fierce red-bellied piranha. The next exhibit, Deep Ocean, houses some of my favorites: giant octopi, West Coast sea nettles (a large jellyfish), and the unbelievable weedy sea dragon with its strange seaweed-like protrusions.

If you’re ready for a ride, head to the most popular exhibit: Shark Lagoon. A slowly strolling glide-path carries you past a 2 million-gallon tank packed with every manner of sea life, but none more stunning than the sand tiger sharks, which drift menacingly amongst the sprawl. You can hop on the moving path as much as like – I think they just put it there because otherwise the kids would never leave.

Speaking of kids, if you’re visiting with little ones, don’t pass up a visit to the Discovery Center. The center is given over to hands-on games, exhibits and educational modules, not to mention a live horseshoe crab touch tank. Just remember, to look at the underside of a horseshoe crab is to look at madness itself.

More hands-on fun can be had at the Stingray Bay. A shallow lagoon allows guests to pet the safer specimens, while a large tank holds the most impressive rays, including the best-named fish of all, the Bowmouth Guitarfish. And finally, in one unusual attraction, you can step behind the scenes to see not the animals, but the nuts and bolts of the facilities themselves. Explore the massive banks of computers and imposing filtration tanks that keep the whole aquarium running. A cool choice for you folks who just have to know how stuff works.

Ripley’s Aquarium of the Smokies is open year-round. Regular adult tickets cost $19.99, or you can purchase a combo ticket online that also includes admission to a selected number of partnered attractions – Ripley’s Believe it or Not, Ripley’s Haunted Adventure, Ripley’s Moving Theatre, etc. Learn more.

Although the aquarium is located in Gatlinburg, we almost always stay in nearby Pigeon Forge for a central location to just about everything. For hotels in Pigeon Forge, TN, we often stay on the Parkway at Vacation Lodge. It fits the aquarium’s theme of simple, dependable quality over needless flash.

Have a fun time at Ripley’s Aquarium of the Smokies!

Related Posts

1. Top U.S. Aquariums – South Carolina Aquarium
2. Top U.S. Zoos – National Aquarium in Baltimore
3. Georgia Aquarium in Atlanta, GA
4. Top Aquariums – New York Aquarium at Coney Island, New York
5. Top American Zoos – John G. Shedd Aquarium
6. Top American Zoos – The Columbus Zoo and Aquarium
7. Congratulations to the Columbus Zoo & Aquarium