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🇺🇸 State · United States
Tennessee: the world capital of music
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Tennessee is above all a land of music and mountains. To the east, Great Smoky Mountains National Park, the most visited in the country, unfurls more than 800 miles of trails toward waterfalls like Laurel and Abrams Falls, beneath the bluish haze that gives the range its name. At its gateway, Pigeon Forge is home to Dollywood, a beloved amusement park with dozens of rides. Farther west, Nashville sets country music alive: the Ryman Auditorium, dubbed the mother church of the genre, and the Grand Ole Opry keep a living tradition burning. In the far west, Memphis cradles the Mississippi to the sound of Beale Street blues, the rock and roll born at Sun Studio, and the aura of Elvis at Graceland. Between grand wilderness and unmatched musical heritage, Tennessee unfolds to the rhythm of guitars and ridge-line trails.
All the concert footage in Coal Miner's Daughter (1980) was shot at the Ryman Auditorium, the Grand Ole Opry's cradle in Nashville.
Uranium for the first atomic bomb was made in Oak Ridge, a secret Tennessee town built in 1942 for the Manhattan Project.
In Nashville, climb the steps of Centennial Park's Parthenon, a full-scale replica of the Athens original, seen in Nashville (1975).
Spring (April-May) and fall (September-October) bring the best weather, mild and with little rain; for the Smokies, late spring and early summer offer pleasant conditions and lighter crowds. Summer is hot and humid. Because the state is large and stretched east to west, a car is essential to link Memphis, Nashville and the mountains across nearly 450 miles. Allow plenty of driving time between the major hubs. Network coverage is very good in the cities, along the interstates and around the main attractions, but can thin out at higher elevations and in the remote valleys of Great Smoky Mountains National Park.