Fun Stops on the Drive to Pigeon Forge Tennessee

Visiting Pigeon Forge from the Northeast? Be sure to include these road trip stops during your drive to Pigeon Forge Tennessee.

When we first starting planning our Pigeon Forge itinerary I knew I wanted to include a few fun stops along the way.

The first reason is I like to break up the drive. It is nice to get out and stretch our legs during long drives. Second I like to experience new and unique places in the United States.

Once we had our final destination planned we started working on the road trip part and what to include on our drive down to Tennessee.

Steps to Plan Your Drive to Pigeon Forge

Start with mapping out your route. We are in Rochester, NY and decided to go through Kentucky and Ohio with a couple of stops along the way.

You need to know how many vacation days you are working with to decide where and how long to stop. Our drive to Pigeon Forge looked like this:

• Day 1: Rochester, NY to Columbus, Ohio (382 miles)
• Day 2: Columbus, Ohio to Louisville, Kentucky (221 miles)
• Day 3: Louisville, Kentucky to Pigeon Forge, Tennessee (311 miles)
• Day 4-7: Pigeon Forge Tennessee
• Day 8: Pigeon Forge, Tennessee to Pittsburgh, PA (489 miles)
• Day 9: Pittsburgh, PA to Rochester, NY (284 miles)

Our plan was to take 3 days at the start visiting multiple places, spend 5-Nights in Pigeon Forge, and take two days to drive home.

We spent a lot of time researching different cities and attractions until we decided on the itinerary below. It is a good idea to play around with different routes and involve the kids in choosing your stops.

Day 1: Rochester, New York to Columbus, Ohio

The main goal of our first day was to drive as long as we could in a short amount of time. We planned to leave Rochester around 4:00 pm and arrive in Columbus after 9:00 pm. 

We packed all the road trip essentials, including snacks, food, and movies, and then started on our way. Our one planned stop was at the New York/Pennsylvania border where we would stretch and use the restrooms. 

We arrived in Columbus and checked in to our hotel for the night. We stayed at a Fairfield Inn & Suites and it was clean and perfect for an overnight stay. 

As we checked in we discovered we were across the street from a Skyline Chili. These are popular in this area so my husband brought some back to the room for us to enjoy. It was good and fun to try something new!

Day 2: Columbus, Ohio to Louisville, KY 

Day 2 was a big one. We had 3 stops and it was going to be a super hot day. Our first stop was at the American Sign Museum in Cincinnati Ohio, then the Kentucky Derby Museum, and finally the Louisville Slugger Museum. It was a lot but they were all places we thought would be great for us to experience.

The American Sign Museum was a perfect stop because it didn’t take a lot of time. We toured the museum for about 20-30 minutes and were back on the road. It wasn’t much off our route either so it made for a great stop. 

I love seeing the old neon signs and the American Sign Museum has some really awesome ones.

After the American Sign Museum we headed to Louisville. We planned to stay the night in Louisville and we also wanted to visit two museums during our time there. 

Our first stop in Louisville was the Kentucky Derby Museum. I don’t know much about horse racing but this place was full of history and really told the story of the Kentucky Derby.

We also got to tour Churchill Downs. This was included in our admission ticket and is a great experience. The tour is family friendly (you can bring strollers) but it’s a walking tour with a guide. It may be difficult for kids to listen and pay attention for the duration of the tour. 

Our final stop for the day was the Louisville Slugger Museum. The museum is also a factory where they make the bats. Photos/videos are not allow on the tour but it was neat to see it and explore the museum.

We headed back to the hotel and then went to dinner at The Troll Pub Under the Bridge. This was so good and I would definitely add it to the top of my list when visiting Louisville. They had sweet potato tater tots and fried pickles that everyone loved. 

Day 3: Louisville, Kentucky to Pigeon Forge, Tennessee

We packed up our stuff and got on the road to Pigeon Forge. Before we could leave Kentucky we made a quick lunch stop at the original Kentucky Fried Chicken.

The Harland Sanders Café and Museum is located in Corbin Kentucky and was a really fun stop! It was a great lunch spot and perfect to add a little more to our drive.

Day 4-7: Pigeon Forge, Tennessee

We planned to stay a 5-night family trip to Pigeon Forge. It was our first visit and you can read all the details in this post: Family Trip to Pigeon Forge Tennessee.

Day 8: Pigeon Forge, Tennessee to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

Although we were sad to say goodbye to our cabin in the mountains we were ready to start our journey back home. We also had a few places to stop on the way home. 

I purposely planned less stops on the way back home because typically at the end of a vacation we are all a bit more tired. We were excited to visit Pittsburgh but we were also exhausted from our busy week.

Day 8 was spent driving to Pittsburgh-it was also the longest part of our road trip. We left around 6:00 am and arrived in Pittsburgh around 3:00 pm. This gave us time to check in to our hotel, visit the local IKEA, and pick up a pizza for a night at the hotel.

Day 9: Pittsburgh, PA to Rochester, NY

We have spent a lot of time visiting Pittsburgh but this was a quick visit so we only went to the Pittsburgh Children’s Museum. I love all the family friendly Pittsburgh destinations and if you want more details about planning a visit read this: 3 Day Pittsburgh Weekend Trip Itinerary: Perfect Mix of Museums, Dining, and Attractions

We choose the Children’s Museum because there was a Mo Willems exhibit at the museum. It’s always a good idea to research different museums and what they have to offer during the time you will be visiting.

From there we hopped in the car and made the drive back to Rochester, New York. I was happy that we had a mix of busy days with relaxing days and had a chance to visit so many places.

My Final Thoughts

This was actually one of my favorite road trips because it went at a great pace for everyone. I liked that we added an extra day at the end of the trip to include a fun stop. Overall these spots are great additions to your drive to Pigeon Forge.

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