I would rate Banff above Pigeon Forge though.. The Canadian Rockies, in it's entirety, is a huge WOW! 

Every area/region we visit has it's own uniqueness, beauty. Pigeon Forge leans more towards unique.. LOL Very happy we visited/explored the region!

Safe Travels

I haven't been to Banff since 2008 but was amazed at the signage by a lot of the buildings.  The messages were in three languages:  Japanese on top, next was French, and at the bottom was English.

I guess I get it.  There's a whole hell of a lot of money changing hands in Pigeon Forge, Gatlinburg, Branson, etc.  I'd always wanted to go to Banff, AB, and finally made it a few years ago.  No place I've ever been that reminded me more of Gatlinburg. It was a long way to go for pancakes....

TT

Not exactly Pigeon Forge, but close enough.  My Mom and Dad honeymooned in Gatlinburg, TN 1950.  As I grew up my mother talked about how beautiful and quiet it was with the mountains, streams and such.  So after I married, hubby and I took a trip to Gatlinburg in the early 70's staying what was billed as a quaint establishment on the edge of a stream.  What they didn't say was it was between the stream and highway 321 which was already starting to carry a lot of traffic for a 2 lane highway and pancake houses were starting to pop-up - but it was still somewhat laid back.  Fast forward to the late 90's/early 00's when we made our last trip.  Dollywood and other commercial enterprises had totally ruined the quaint mountain vibe and turned it into a tourist trap with multilane roads, stoplights on every intersection, with the usual tourist trap stores and attractions.  It made me sad.

In Missouri, my home state, we managed to do the same thing to a small town named Branson in the Ozarks.  You got there on narrow, twisting, two lane roads (can't call them highways), with log cabins and fishing cabins along the way.  You prayed you didn't get behind a travel trailer or a hesitant driver, but even if you did when you arrived it was totally worth it for the serene surroundings.  Now you wouldn't recognize the place, the tops have been blown off the mountains to fill it the valleys to make it level for music shows, outlet malls, and tourist attractions.  

Pigeon Forge is certainly family oriented.  No strip clubs, dive bars or honkytonks that I know of.  And no casinos, by the way.  I don't think that makes it a conservative (as in Republican) kind of resort town.

Pigeon Forge has been there a long time... since before Dolly, but Dollywood did pretty much transform the place for sure.  She has been fantastic for the local economy. 

Obviously a lot of people like the place but I think it's a scar on an otherwise beautiful part of the world.  Many people who go to Pigeon Forge never even visit the GSMNP, which, i suppose by the criteria we seem to be using is much more conservative.  Of course, a lot of them do, which contributes mightily to the traffic issues in the park....

Somewhat ironically, there is a casino in Cherokee, on the NC side of the park, and Cherokee as suffered/benefited mightily, but it is still the "quiet side of the Park" and is much more enjoyable to my tastes. 

I will drive a hundred miles out of the way to avoid Pigeon Forge on a car show weekend!!!  Those four miles of road can take over two hours to traverse on those days.

I'm probably in the minority regarding my feelings about Pigeon Forge, but that's just the way I feel about it.  All that said, there are some good restaurants there and some place I'll shop.  I suppose there is something there for everyone...

TT

Safe Travels all! Do hope to catch a few of ya's at some point.

Thanks for posting this. People seem to want to politicize everything these days. We just got back from Grand Teton NP, some old guy had two big Trump flags planted in front of his campsite. What is the point? 

I have no idea what wrong turn I took to end up in Pigeon Forge... but I did.. What the heck was all that? We did learn later... It's all part of travel and exploring!

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