SkyLand Ranch Pigeon Forge Review: What We Thought
Skyland Ranch is a newer attraction on a 100-acre mountain property at the north end of Pigeon Forge. It features animals, rides, and great views of the Smoky Mountains.
After driving by it many times, we finally checked it out. Here’s what we thought.
This review was not sponsored. It’s our honest opinion, based on paying for it ourselves.
What is SkyLand Ranch
SkyLand is a western-themed entertainment destination in Pigeon Forge. We would describe it as being a similar idea to Anakeesta in Gatlinburg.
They’re both mountain-top destinations reachable via ski lift and shuttle, and they’re both newer destinations.
SkyLand sits on a scenic mountain overlooking the area around the NASCAR Speedpark, Titanic Museum, Beyond the Lens, Sevierville Outlet Mall, and more.
It’s not a super tall mountain, but there are some decent views from the top (more on that below).
The park is split between the top of the mountain and ground level, with most of the attractions at the top of the mountain accessible via the Sky Lift or a shuttle.
Booking and Price
We visited in February, and along with no crowds, we also took advantage of a lower-priced winter special price, which was lower than what was available during peak times.
You can check current prices on Tiqets, or at Skyland to see if there’s any specials for your dates.
But here’s what you can expect to pay.
Basic admission is around $22 for adults and $13 for kids. Note that the age for adults starts at age 10, something we’ve never noticed before at other attractions.
It was our first visit here, and the friendly people at the ticket window explained all the ticket options.
We bought the winter combo package, which included the mountain coaster.
Without the winter special, the mountain coaster would cost approximately $19 per person.
If this is your only stop where you ride a mountain coaster, we recommend adding it.
It’s one of the better mountain coasters and worth a ride.
But if you’ve already ridden other coasters, skip it and add the safari hayride add-on instead.
For $34, you get admission and the hayride, which we’ll review below.
There’s a few other options on their page too, including a Chuckwagon dinner, something we look forward to trying on our next visit.
SkyLand Attractions
SkyLand Ranch is similar to Anakeesta, with a skilift that takes you to the top of the mountain.
The mountaintop isn’t nearly as high as Anakeesta but it still provides some great views of the area.
The ski lift is also one of the main attractions/rides, but you can skip it and take a shuttle up to the top.
Several other attractions, like the hayride and mountain coaster, are located at the mountain’s base.
Hay Ride
The hay ride was our favorite part of SkyLand. Though it’s an extra fee, it was worth it for the chance to feed and pet some animals that you don’t see every day.
The hay ride is a tractor-trailer ride that takes you through different animal pens. While the land is mostly bare, the animals are the main attraction here.
We purchased a food bucket and let the kids feed the animals at each stop.
We’d recommend getting a bucket for everyone, as this was our kids’ favorite part of Skyland.
The first enclosure has alpacas and llamas.
And they weren’t shy about coming to eat some lunch!
There are multiple pens with different animals to drive through and feed.
The next part was one of our favorites:
Our kids could’ve stayed here all day, petting and feeding them.
We had tons of great pictures of these guys, as they were happy to get fed and petted as long as we would stay.
Mountain Coaster
One of the other big attractions here is the Wild Stallion mountain coaster. It’s similar to many of the other mountain coasters in the area but even longer.
It’s the longest in the Southeast U.S., at over a mile long and 8 minutes long. The mountain coaster here has two uphill and downhill sections, so it’s one of the better coasters.
We’ve ridden almost all of them in Gatlinburg and Pigeon Forge, and they’re all pretty similar.
Since they’re about the same in price, you don’t need to ride all of them, but definitely try one or two out.
This has been one of our favorites, along with Rocky Top Mountain Coaster, as they both are long and have more than one hill.
Also, don’t let the looks of mountain coasters scare you, you control the speed on them and they’re a lot of fun!
Mountain Top Ski Lift
The ski lift takes you up to the top of the mountain, where there’s more to see. If you’re not a fan of heights, there’s also a shuttle to get up there.
The ski-lift is similar to the ones at Anakeesta and the Skybridge in Gatlinburg, though it’s not quite as high.
This view is reaching the top station at the end of the skilift.
Top Of the Mountain
At the top of the mountain, there’s plenty to see and do.
Animals
Along with the animals on the hayride tour at the bottom of the mountain, there’s more to see up here.
There’s everything from mini horses & mini cows to alpacas.
There’s also a mini petting zoo coming soon, though it wasn’t open yet on our visit.
Lookout
Skyland’s Legacy Lookout has some great views of the north part of Pigeon Forge and Sevierville.
It’s an elevated platform looking out towards the parkway in Pigeon Forge, above the mountain coaster.
In this view, we’re looking towards north Pigeon Forge (zoomed in), with Titanic and Beyond the Lens visible.
Shops
The attractions are built around the buildings below, which have several restaurants, including a BBQ restaurant and a bakery/cafe.
Our time was limited here, so we didn’t get a chance to try any meals, but we will on our next visit.
The Skyland Mining Company also has a mercantile store for souvenirs, western clothing, and gem mining equipment.
While we didn’t eat any meals here, we did stop at one of the best ice cream places around.
Cruze Farm is located near the bottom of the mountain, though it’s a bit up the hill from the front office.
Driving up to this one is easier, we stopped here on the way out of Skyland.
The ice cream at Cruze Farm is delicious and tastes like I remember ice cream tasting like when I was a kid!
Playground
There’s a small playground, too, although it’s more like one you’d find at a park, vs the huge playgrounds at Anakeesta
Conclusion
Overall, SkyLand ranch is a great place to visit, and we’ll be back. It’s a newer attraction and is a good half-day activity in Pigeon Forge.
The hay wagon ride, an extra cost addon, is one of the best parts of SkyLand. If you’ve visited SkyLand let us know what you thought in the comments!
