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Tennessee

Amusement Parks in Tennessee: A Guide for Families With Young Kids

Where the state's parks are, roughly who they suit, and what the Nashville area offers when your kids are still too small for the big rides.

Buy Day PassesSee our indoor park
  • Open daily 10AM – 7PM
  • Ages 1–10, with a dedicated toddler area for ages 1–4
  • Three levels, nine themed attractions
The indoor play floor seen across three levels — Dinotopia indoor dinosaur playground, Madison TN.

Tennessee's parks cluster in the east

Almost every ride park in Tennessee sits in the eastern third of the state, around Pigeon Forge, Gatlinburg and Chattanooga. From Nashville that means a three-to-four-hour drive, a hotel, and a full weekend rather than a day out.

That geography matters most when your children are small. A coaster park is a long way to travel for a child who is too short for half the rides, and the Nashville area's own family attractions are indoors and much closer to home.

The main parks, by region

  • Dollywood — Pigeon Forge

    Tennessee's best-known theme park: coasters, shows and seasonal festivals in the Smoky Mountains. Best for school-age kids and up.

  • Dollywood's Splash Country — Pigeon Forge

    The state's largest water park, next door to Dollywood on separate admission. Seasonal.

  • Anakeesta — Gatlinburg

    A mountaintop park reached by gondola, with a canopy walk, ziplines and a mountain coaster.

  • The Island — Pigeon Forge

    An open-air complex of rides, shops and restaurants built around a big observation wheel.

  • Ober Mountain — Gatlinburg

    Amusement rides and skiing on the same mountain, depending on the season.

  • Lake Winnepesaukah — near Chattanooga

    A classic family amusement park open since 1925, with a water park alongside it.

What the Nashville area has instead

Nashville has no large outdoor ride park of its own. For families with children under about ten, the everyday equivalent is an indoor amusement park — and the one on this side of town is Dinotopia in Madison, fifteen minutes north of downtown.

It is a three-level, nine-attraction indoor park built for ages 1 to 10: Super Slides, a spiral Donut Slide, the Spider Tower rope climb, the Mammal Ball Pool, Jurassic Soft Play, arcade wall games and a separate toddler zone for ages 1 to 4. Open 10 AM to 7 PM every day, whatever the forecast is doing.

Choosing a park for the age you're actually travelling with

  1. 1

    Ages 1 to 4

    Height limits rule out most rides at the big parks. A soft indoor park close to home beats a long drive, every time.

  2. 2

    Ages 5 to 10

    The east Tennessee parks start to pay off on a weekend trip, but an indoor park still wins the ordinary Saturday.

  3. 3

    Ages 11 and up

    This is coaster territory. Plan the Smokies; our park is built for younger kids.

The Nashville-area option

Dinotopia, on Gallatin Pike N in Madison, is about fifteen minutes from downtown Nashville and ten from Rivergate. Free parking, indoors, open every day.

Hours
10:00 AM – 7:00 PM daily
Address
2291 Gallatin Pike N, Madison, TN 37115
Phone
(615) 920-3850

Closer than the Smokies

A whole afternoon of play, fifteen minutes from downtown Nashville.

Buy Day PassesOpen daily 10AM – 7PM
The Spider Tower rope climb — Dinotopia indoor dinosaur playground, Madison TN.

Common questions

Tennessee has a few dozen attractions that describe themselves as amusement or theme parks, but the well-known ride parks are concentrated in the east: Dollywood and The Island in Pigeon Forge, Anakeesta and Ober Mountain in Gatlinburg, and Lake Winnepesaukah near Chattanooga.

There is no large outdoor ride park in Nashville. The nearest family amusement park for young children is Dinotopia, an indoor park in Madison, TN for ages 1 to 10, about fifteen minutes north of downtown.

Dollywood in Pigeon Forge, in the Smoky Mountains, with Dollywood's Splash Country water park next door on separate admission.

Height limits keep toddlers off most rides at the large parks. An indoor play park is usually a better use of the day — Dinotopia has a toddler zone reserved for ages 1 to 4.

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