On a recent trip to Pigeon Forge, we had planned to spend most of our time outdoors hiking and exploring in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Since it’s only about a 20-minute ride from Gatlinburg to Sevierville, we figured we would add in a few indoor activities in case we had a rainy day or two. We were lucky that the weather cooperated during our stay. But if it does happen to rain, the Rainforest Adventure Discovery Zoo is a fun indoor zoo in Tennessee that is well worth a visit.
Rainforest Discovery Zoo Pigeon Forge
In nearby Sevierville, Tennessee nestled in the beautiful Smoky Mountains, Rainforest Adventures Zoo is open year-round. An affordable attraction for the entire family with the added bonus of being indoors, is a perfect rainy day activity.
Looking for an Indoor Zoo in Tennessee?
RainForest Zoo features over 600 live animals representing over 130 species and has been themed by one of the nation’s finest zoological contractors. (their work includes the Animal Kingdom at Disney World)
Some of the animals either hatched or born in captivity or on loan from zoos across the US include and include reptiles, mammals, birds, bugs, and amphibians.
We were specifically intrigued to see the Rat’s Life Cycle display that chronicled a pregnant rat and all stages of a rat’s life through to adult, at which point I believe they become tasty snacks for the reptiles of the zoo, but don’t quote me on that.
Ahhh, the Circle of Life.
A Perfect Stop for Roadschoolers and RVers
I appreciate it when the places we visit in our travels have relevant educational information on their website. This allows me to tie in what we’ve seen and discovered into our homeschooling lesson plans.
The RainForest Discovery Zoo website is a wealth of information for both before and after your visit to Sevierville and can be an entire animal science lesson in and of itself. For example, the Rainforest Mammals page has detailed information like habitat, size, the diet of animals on display.
There’s also a pretty large gift shop on-site as well, so don’t forget to stop in and check that out too!
While we visited, we encountered several staff members cleaning and scrubbing the animal’s homes, ensuring they were well cared for and happy.
Adult Tickets are just $12.99. Seniors can get in for $10.99, Children ages 2-12 pay $7.99 while preschoolers under age 3 get in for free! What’s even better is that you can print a coupon on the RainForest Zoo website and get an additional $2 off for each person in your party!
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