The 8 Can't-Miss Towns In Tennessee
Tennessee's biggest cities pull the tourism spotlight. The state's smaller towns are where you actually feel the place. Some anchor a courthouse square. Others sit at a mountain pass or a river confluence. Eight below cover the state, and each one is a solid one-day stop.
Bell Buckle
Bell Buckle is a small railroad town about 60 miles southeast of Nashville. The Webb School has anchored the town since 1870, and its brick campus still runs as a private prep school right in the middle of downtown. The Bell Buckle Historic District has more than 40 buildings on the National Register with the late-19th-century Robertson House and Ransom-Morgan House among them. The Bell Buckle Café covers homestyle Southern plates with live bluegrass on weekends. The RC Cola and MoonPie Festival every June draws thousands to the streets with a parade, a road race, and the ceremonial cutting of what organizers bill as the world's largest MoonPie.
Gatlinburg
Gatlinburg sits directly at the Great Smoky Mountains National Park entrance on Route 441, and the town runs on that adjacency. Great Smoky Mountains National Park has averaged nearly 12 million recreational visits a year over the past decade, keeping it the most-visited national park in the country. The downtown Parkway carries the entire foot-traffic weight with distilleries, arcades, restaurants, and mountain-tram access. Anakeesta and Ober Gatlinburg both run mountaintop attractions with chairlift and gondola access. Ripley's Aquarium of the Smokies and the Gatlinburg SkyLift Park with its 680-foot pedestrian SkyBridge round out the in-town attractions. The Great Smoky Arts and Crafts Community sits eight miles northeast with more than 80 artisan studios.
Cumberland Gap
Cumberland Gap sits at the base of the mountain pass it takes its name from, right where Tennessee meets Kentucky and Virginia. Cumberland Gap National Historical Park protects 24,000 acres across all three states with 85 miles of trails and the passage that carried more than 300,000 westward settlers through the Appalachians. The Pinnacle Overlook drive gives the classic three-state panorama with less than a mile of walking from the parking lot. Downtown runs a few blocks of restored storefronts on Pennlyn Avenue. Gap Creek Coffee House is the local gathering point with baked goods and long porch views of the ridges. The Cumberland Gap Artists' Cooperative shows regional Appalachian work in a member-run co-op format.
Greeneville
Greeneville is Andrew Johnson's hometown, and the 17th president lived here for most of his adult life. Andrew Johnson National Historic Site runs the visitor center, the tailor shop where Johnson learned his trade, two of his residences, and the National Cemetery where he's buried. The Dickson-Williams Mansion, built between 1815 and 1821, hosted the Marquis de Lafayette, Henry Clay, Andrew Jackson, and James K. Polk during their travels through East Tennessee. The General Morgan Inn on Main Street operates in an 1884 railroad hotel restored to full operation with a downtown restaurant. Downtown Greeneville keeps 19th-century brick storefronts working with antique shops, independent cafés, and the town square anchoring the district.
Lynchburg
Lynchburg is Jack Daniel's town, and the distillery is why anyone stops here. Jack Daniel Distillery, registered in 1866, is the oldest registered distillery in the country and still runs guided tours through the charcoal-mellowing vats, the limestone cave spring that supplies the water, and the aging barrelhouses. The Lynchburg Town Square sits a few blocks from the distillery with 19th-century storefronts and the Moore County Courthouse anchoring the middle. Miss Mary Bobo's Restaurant serves family-style Southern meals in a former 19th-century boarding house. The Lynchburg Hardware and General Store runs the official Jack Daniel's gift shop with a museum-style walkthrough of company history. The Moore County Old Jail Museum sits behind the courthouse with local artifacts and exhibits.
Dayton
Dayton is the town where the Scopes Monkey Trial happened. In July 1925, John Scopes was tried in the Rhea County Courthouse for teaching evolution, and the case brought Clarence Darrow and William Jennings Bryan to Dayton for one of the most publicized trials of the century. The Rhea County Courthouse still stands with the second-floor courtroom preserved and a Scopes Trial Museum in the basement. Downtown Dayton runs the courthouse square with historic markers, local shops, and the Robinson's Drug Store where the trial was reportedly conceived. Chickamauga Lake sits east of town on the Tennessee River with fishing and boat access. The Pocket Wilderness routes near town add short trails through forested Tennessee Valley terrain.
Sewanee
Sewanee sits on top of the Cumberland Plateau, and The University of the South (commonly just called Sewanee) occupies 13,000 acres of it. The university was founded in 1857 by Episcopal bishops from Southern dioceses, and All Saints' Chapel in the middle of campus is the most photographed stop with Gothic Revival stonework and full stained glass. The Sewanee Perimeter Trail runs 22 miles around the university's Domain with cliff-edge views of surrounding valleys. Sewanee Natural Bridge is a short walk from a small parking area three miles from downtown, a sandstone arch spanning Lost Cove. The Mountain Goat Trail is a paved rail-trail running through town and out into the plateau. Shenanigans Sandwich Shop has been serving deli plates in downtown Sewanee since 1974.
Dover
Dover is a Cumberland River town in northwestern Tennessee, and Fort Donelson National Battlefield is the reason it's on this list. The February 1862 Union victory at Fort Donelson was Ulysses S. Grant's first major win, and the town spent the rest of the Civil War under federal control. The battlefield covers the fort itself, the river batteries, and the Dover Hotel where Confederate General Buckner met Grant to negotiate terms. The National Park Service runs a self-guided auto tour with 11 numbered stops across the battlefield and through Dover. Views of the Cumberland River from the old river batteries add scenery to the history. Cross Creeks National Wildlife Refuge covers 8,862 acres just outside town with waterfowl viewing platforms and wetland trails.
Tennessee's Small-Town Range
Bell Buckle and Lynchburg give the compact Middle Tennessee day-trip version, with squares built around a school and a distillery. Gatlinburg and Cumberland Gap sit at opposite ends of the mountain-town spectrum, one loud and busy, one quiet and historic. Greeneville and Dayton bring the state's biggest presidential and legal history to two small courthouse squares. Sewanee sits on the Cumberland Plateau with a working college campus. Dover ties Civil War history to the Cumberland River. Eight towns, eight distinct reasons to stop.
