Blog for Zipline Attraction in the Smoky Mountains
Located in Pigeon Forge, TN and near Gatlinburg and Sevierville.
Dollywood's Splash Country Water Adventure Park Is Open For The Season
By Ross Bodhi Ogle
Posted on May 26, 2015
Since Dollywood first opened its gates 30 years ago, the Pigeon Forge theme park has continued to expand and grow. Developers added a whole new dimension to that growth in 2001 with the opening of Dollywood's Splash Country, a separate water park destination that occupies more than 35 acres adjacent to the original theme park.
This past Memorial Day weekend, Splash Country officially kicked off its 2015 season, which will last through Labor Day weekend. Those who plan on visiting this year will find some relatively new features and attractions, not to mention water-themed slides and activities geared toward all ages.
This week, we'll give you a quick overview of just some of the things going on at Dollywood's Splash Country this year that you might want to consider.
Last year marked the premier of RiverRush, which is the state's only water coaster. Thanks to some pretty cool technology, passengers occupy four-person inner tubes that not only slide downhill but are also propelled uphill. The course, which sits four stories in the air and winds through surrounding treetops, includes multiple hairpin turns and dark tunnels.
Water slides are the staple of any water park, and Dollywood's Splash Country is no exception. One slide worth noting is Fire Tower Falls, the park's tallest and fastest. At 70 feet tall, these twin tracks take brave souls 280 feet on a wet and exhilarating ride. On the Mountain Scream attraction, you have your choice of two winding corkscrew tunnels or a pretty intense four-drop open slide; you can pick from one of the four slides on Wild River Falls; or you can try out The Butterfly's twin 55-foot-long extreme slides.
Tamer slides include Mountain Twist, Raging River Rapids (a 700-foot family raft ride), Big Bear Plunge (another multiperson raft ride) and Slick Rock Racer (a 300-foot, four-lane mat slide). For a change of pace, you might even try SwiftWater Run, a unique slide attraction in which participants loop around and around the edge of a corkscrew tunnel before funneling down into a final chute slide.
Of course, there's more than just slides at Splash Country, but in every case, you'll still end up all wet. The Bear Mountain Fire Tower has multiple interactive features to keep you occupied until a giant overhead bucket of water dumps 1,000 gallons of water on everyone below. The Downbound Float Trip is a classic lazy river ride, and Little Creek Falls is a shallow pool for kids, equipped with plenty of fountains and squirty things.
For those who like to just hang out in the water and soak up some rays without going from Point A to Point B, Mountain Waves is a 25,000-square-foot wave pool, and The Cascades is an 8,000-square-foot lagoon-style pool with more than 25 interactive features.
Any time you plan a trip to Splash Country, however, it's probably a good idea to check out their website and familiarize yourself with the park's layout, not to mention their guidelines for what you can and cannot wear inside the gates.
Also note that the park has several places to grab a meal or a snack and several vendors with poolside essentials like sunscreen, swimwear and towels. Lockers are available for those who want to store their gear rather than leave it unattended.
Finally, remember that you don't have to have water to have a good time this summer. At Smoky Mountain Ziplines, we offer thrills of a different kind – the kind where you fly through the air at high speeds suspended among the treetops. And with our canopy tours and SuperZip lines, our Pigeon Forge outpost has way more than any Gatlinburg or Sevierville zipline course can offer.
