Inside the Westgate Smoky Mountain Resort & Spa, Wild Bear Falls Water Park keeps 300,000 gallons (over 1 million liters) of water flowing seven days a week. While it’s certainly geared toward youngsters (think mini-sized slides, a toddler spray pad, and an interactive treehouse), adults will also find lots of ways to relax and have fun—whether that means a float down the lazy river, time in the hot tub, chilling in a private cabana, or coursing down a 350-foot (107-meter) tube slide until you’re splashed out. This is a spot for kids and kids at heart.
A room reservation at Westgate Smoky Mountain Resort does not include water park admission.
Tickets can be booked online—children under 3 are free—and walk-ups are accepted.
You’ll find a lunch spot, the Roaring Fork, on the second floor of the water park.
Water Bear Falls Water Park is just north of the Gatlinburg Parkway Bypass, practically adjacent to the Gatlinburg Visitor Center. Most visitors drive here, and since the park is at the Westgate Smoky Mountain Resort, there’s plenty of parking on-site. If you don’t have a car, you can take a rideshare or taxi.
Tickets are good for 1 day, 3 days, or 5 days, and you can arrive anytime during your ticket window—though to get the most bang for your buck, come early. While the water park is an obvious choice for rainy or snowy weather, it’s also a great respite from the heat, too.
Taking into account its location in Gatlinburg, most of the slides and rides here are Great Smoky Mountain–themed: Just like in the national park of the same name, you’ll summit Clingman’s Dome (the park’s highest tube slide), float along and through Cades Cove, and ride down the majestic Laurel Falls, among other highlights.