This popular park offers a variety of opportunities for families to learn about local history. Kids will love the hayrides in Cades Cove and watching millers at work. The park also hosts special slide shows, guided walks and Southern Appalachian storytelling during the summer. What kid isn't fascinated with dinosaurs. Visit the Dinosaur Quarry to see bones and dinosaur replicas.
Kids can even watch people working on fossils in the paleontology laboratory.
Families with more time should take a trip down the river or tour the Jones Hole National Fish Hatchery, about 50 miles north of the quarry. Special summertime activities include ranger-guided canoe tours and surfcasting and shellfishing demonstrations. This is the longest recorded cave system in the world, with more than 336 miles explored and mapped. Other park programs encourage families to put on hard hats and discover caving together. Families can take a ranger-led tour of the former residences and buildings dating back to 1860.