In the last few years the Gatlinburg, Pigeon Forge and Sevierville areas have been exploding with growth and the development of new attractions, chain restaurants and new venues. It's a very exciting time! Families and friends love to come together in this special place in the mountains of East Tennessee and enjoy a place with so much natural beauty and so many delicious places to eat and so many unique and family friendly attractions! However, people who have been coming to the area for years may reminisce about the days when Gatlinburg had only mom-and-pop style restaurants and was mainly focused on the natural beauty of the mountains and old fashioned family fun. Let me let you in on a secret of the area. Cosby, Tennessee is just a 1/2 hour East of Gatlinburg and Pigeon Forge. In fact, you pass right by it if you are coming from the Carolinas or the Virginias on your way to Gatlinburg!
Cosby is a small town with a big heart of adventure. It is now called the "Adventure side of the Smokies". Here in the Cosby area, you can hike in the national park, go whitewater rafting, take an ATV Polaris tour, go ziplining and even do a moonshine tasting in the original home of moonshining! In the next few years we will also be able to enjoy a world class mountain biking experience right here in Cosby. You can enjoy so much adventure by driving more than a 1/2 hour from your beautiful cabin here in Cosby.
The restaurants in Cosby are mainly family-owned. My favorite restaurant experience in Cosby is definitely Carver's Apple Orchard. At Carvers, they have fresh made country cooking such as chicken and dumplings, the most amazing chicken tenders, turkey and dressing and several other homestyle dishes as well as fresh made vegetables , apple fritters and desserts. Service is so friendly and another unique feature at Carvers is the farmer's market located right next to the restaurant. You can get Amish made butter and cheese, apple cider to take back to the cabin as well as fresh picked veggies. Fresh apples are available from the orchard and from surrounding orchards bring up to a 100 different varieties of apples to Carver's! They are open for breakfast and lunch certain days of the week. Janice's Diner is another local favorite. They have an extensive breakfast, lunch and dinner menu of country country cooking as well as a daily variety of freshly made cakes. The Woodshed is just about a 10 minute drive towards Newport. It is another country cooking place but also features steaks as well. It's another excellent option. On a Saturday night you can go to Adventure distilling company and hear some live music and sip on a moonshine frozen drink and get some barbecue from the food truck.
Also at Adventure Distilling is Smoky mountain adventure tours. They have ATV Tours in a Polaris That take you for scenic drives along creeks and up mountains for a day of fun you'll never forget. Hiking trails may be found at the Cosby entrance to Great Smoky Mountains National Park! You can choose from up to 11 different trails that go from the Cosby entrance!
When you stay in one of our cabins You get a free ticket to several local attractions. One of them is for Big Creek Expeditions, a Whitewater rafting company. You will want to plan ahead for your whitewater rafting adventure! There are several ziplines to choose from In the area. With your cabin reservation, you get a free pass to Legacy Mountain zip lines which is one of the top zip lining places in the area with over 7 miles of ziplines!
If you'd like to just get a glimpse of some gorgeous mountain views take the Foothills Parkway up a few miles and you will see pull offs with amazing mountain vistas. With all of these things to choose from you can keep busy enjoying the great outdoors through hiking, ATV tour, Whitewater rafting zip lining and enjoying mountain views all outside of the hustle and bustle of the busy tourist areas. And of course you can take a day and drive to Gatlinburg to wander up the strip and do some window shopping,eat at your favorite restaurants, and of course get some fudge or taffy.
If old fashioned nature-focused adventure is what you're looking for, or if you just want a peaceful place without crazy mountain roads but with creeks and mountain views and you'd like to take a break from the chain restaurants and enjoy some amazing Southern food, come stay in Cosby with Mountain Time Cabin Rentals!
By Melinda Johnson