City: Townsend, TN

Category: Parks & Recreation

Telephone: (865) 448-8888

Address: 205 Wears Valley Road

Description: This operation has been making certified (and certifiable) river rats out of patrons since 1995, when the business consisted of a 20-foot-by-20-foot building, an old 1976 Chevy van, and 50 tubes. Today, River Rat’s modern facilities include changing stations, restrooms, a small store, and lovely picnic grounds right on the banks of the river. You’ll find River Rat just 20 minutes from Pigeon Forge on Wears Valley Road (turn at traffic light #3), a short distance before it dead-ends onto the main drag in Townsend.You get two tubing options here. The Family Float (for ages two and up) is the gentlest option. For this one, you’ll hop into your tube at River Raft’s outpost and then float 1 1/2 miles downstream to a place where the shuttle bus will pick you up and bring you back. These trips generally take about an hour and a half. The second option is the Adventure Float (for ages five and up). For this one, you start out taking the shuttle bus for a 1-mile ride to the put-in. The float from here back to the tube shack is about an hour long. Another option is to rent kayaks that you can take on the same routes using the same shuttle. River Rat operates from May through September. You’ll also find a shop at the outpost that sells water shoes, towels, sunscreen, T-shirts, hats, and even underwater cameras—so if you forgot to bring something with you, you’re covered. Tubing costs $13 per person, including tax, tube rental, life vest, and unlimited shuttle service for the entire day. Kayaking is $15 for the first trip and $5 for each additional trip, including tax, kayak rental, life vest, and shuttle. River Rat also operates a rafting company (USA Raft) as a sister business that can take you white-water rafting on the Pigeon River. Various combo tubing/rafting programs are available.

City: Townsend, TN

Category: Parks & Recreation

Telephone: (865) 448-6709

Address: 9275 Tremont Road

Description: About 18 miles west of the Sugarlands Visitor Center, Great Smoky Mountains Institute at Tremont conducts a series of educational programs designed to provide hands-on training to nature lovers of all ages. Using the national park as a classroom, the institute’s educational programs are internationally renowned for their leadership in the field of residential environmental education. A wide variety of 3- to 10-day residential programs year-round emphasize the cultural and natural history of the Smokies for kids, families, teachers, and seniors. Participants stay in a dormitory that holds up to 125 people and eat family-style in a dining hall. Classes meet in several indoor classrooms and one huge outdoor facility. Prices are relatively affordable but vary with the specific program, so for up-to-date adult scheduling and fees, contact the institute or visit the Web site.Some of the most popular of Tremont’s programs are the age-sensitive adventure camps lasting for either 5 or 10 nights. Campers hike, swim, and sing around the campfire, and choose their own schedules from a fascinating menu, all under the watchful care of environmental educators. Many of Tremont’s programs are specifically for adults as well, including hiking adventures, wilderness first-aid courses, photography workshops, and Elderhostel programs. Whatever your destination when you left Sugarlands and turned right on Little River Road, bear in mind that on your return you’re going back over the same road you traveled. If it’s late afternoon, the traffic is going to increase a bunch when you get to US 441. Be prepared to move slowly toward Gatlinburg, and consider taking the bypass toward Pigeon Forge. Even if you’re heading for Gatlinburg, taking the bypass and doubling back on the Parkway is an option.