What to explore beyond 441: ‘The best part of Gatlinburg’ visitors might miss

by: Naomi Hillmer

Posted: Apr 9, 2026 / 12:28 PM EDT

Updated: Apr 9, 2026 / 05:25 PM EDT

GATLINBURG, Tenn. (WATE) — Millions of people visit Sevier County each year. While many of them stop along the 441 Parkway on their way up to the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, there are several attractions off the beaten path, from local artisans to niche museums. 

“You never know what you may find up here in the mountains,” said visitor Katy Strain.  

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While the parkway can be fun, President of the Great Smoky Arts and Crafts Community Joe Compton said his pocket of Gatlinburg is unlike anything you’ve seen before. From photography to pottery, and restaurants and coffee shops in between, he said the community captures the essence of the region’s roots.   

“This is the best part of Gatlinburg, this is an eight-mile loop of more working artists and craftsmen than anywhere else in the country,” said Compton. “The draw is the handmade, it always has been. It’s something that hillbillies started doing way back in the teens and ’20s to just make a living, and it just kind of grew and grew with the area.”   

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Just before you reach the arts and crafts community, there are also a number of family-owned businesses, like the Salt and Pepper Shaker Museum.  

“We have a little over 20,000 pairs of salt and pepper shakers. Pretty much anything and everything that you can think of has been made into salt and pepper shakers,” said Andrea Ludden, the museum’s owner. “What we try to show is the creativity, the ingenuity, the artistry behind a simple container that holds salt. But it’s still very beautiful and like miniature sculptures.”  

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The museum, which opened in Gatlinburg in 2002, draws in the curious and collectors. In 2010, a sister location opened in Spain, housing another 20,000 pairs of shakers.

“The beauty of Gatlinburg is that you have a great mix. You’ve got the corporate big ticket, you know, fancy places. And then you have here on 321 and the Arts and Crafts Community Loop, the mom and pop, or the single solo entrepreneur that’s doing the business,” said Ludden. “This is a labor of love, my mother’s the one who collected all these salt and pepper shakers. We set up the museum, and it’s been in the family ever since.”  

From finding your niche to tapping into the roots of the area, there is much to explore.  

“The traffic is not fun, so it’s just nice to find little things like this that are kind of off the mainstream,” said Strain.  

Compton added that there are over a hundred businesses in the 8-mile loop that make up the Great Smoky Arts and Crafts community.