Hidden Amusements : Fun Mountain - Gatlinburg, Tennessee

Fun Mountain - Gatlinburg, Tennessee

By Kayla Miller

May 1, 2021

Photo Credit: Kayla Miller

Hiding in plain sight, in one of the most popular tourist destinations in the United States, lies the fading remains of Fun Mountain, a family amusement park. Before this land housed the remnants of Fun Mountain, there was an admired hotel called Mountain View Hotel. How do you find this location? What’s there now? Why did this location falter? Stay tuned, I will be answering all of these questions!

Mountain View Hotel

Photo Credit: Digital Commonwealth

Once upon a time, a man named Mr. Andy Huff owned multiple sawmills in the area. He had so much love and compassion for his employees that he often opened up his own home to them. Over time, the demand for housing became too much for him and he felt it rude to charge his guests for staying in his home. In order to accommodate them, he opened up a small hotel under his home. Once the demand outgrew this location, he opened up the Mountain View Hotel in 1926. At its largest, the hotel was 3 stories and had 100 rooms.

Gatlinburg, TN | Mountain view hotel, Gatlinburg hotels, Gatlinburg

Photo Credit: Public Domain

The Mountain View Hotel quickly became very popular. In its day it even housed some celebrities. It was the place to work for young people, and most people in town had at least one memory to share of the location. After the hotel was passed down a couple of generations, one of the owners used the popularity of the location to start up some new hotels and resorts in the area. It is unclear exactly why the Mountain View Hotel went out of business. However, my hypothesis is that the hotel lost the favor of the owner. This might have led to him neglecting to update and refurbish the establishment. If this were the case, it would also cause the business to suffer as people started seeking out better accommodations.

Photo of one of the rooms in the Mountain View Hotel, 1951

Photo Credit: Tim Wynn

Ultimately the hotel closed in the 1980s. Due to the nostalgia and history wrapped up in the building, the community tried to save the building by repurposing it as the town’s Chamber of Commerce building. Unfortunately, this never happened and the building was demolished in 1993.

Fun Mountain

Photo Credit: Brandy Amos

Fun Mountain was opened in 1993 with the intention of being a family-oriented amusement park. Some of the attractions located here included: bumper cars, bumper boats, an antique carousel, go-karts, minigolf, scrambler ride, a swing ride, tilt-a-whirl, electric train ride, ferris wheel, a large arcade, and the famous chair lift. According to an old ad, the chair lift was the longest in Gatlinburg, Tennessee, taking guests up the side of the mountain to enjoy the beautiful view of the town below.

Photo Credit: Jordan Liles

Unfortunately, the family amusement park had financial struggles since the moment it opened. By the year 2000, only 7 short years after it opened, Fun Mountain closed for good. The rides and attractions sat there halted in time for another 8 years until the rides were either sold or demolished. Now, all that’s left is the lonely chair lift. The chairs hang overhead as if waiting for their next guests to hop on in.

Photo Credit: Allie McAdow

My family, best friend (Allie McAdow), and I visited the Gatlinburg area for a vacation in April. While looking for places to go explore, I stumbled across stories of the abandoned chair lift. I was instantly obsessed with learning everything I could learn, and how to find it. Little did I know that it was only 5 minutes from where we were staying. Allie and I quickly headed to the location and were surprised to learn that the area had been turned into a public parking lot. Although the other attractions are long gone, the chair still sits there, overgrown and waiting.