Dolly Parton isn’t a city founder of Pigeon Forge, Tennessee — that honor belongs to Euro-American settlers in the 1780s — but the superstar’s influence is so profound in this country-fried family vacation destination, it feels as if she is.

On highways and byways in and around town, Parton’s name and likeness are splashed on more roadside billboards than a self-promoting personal injury lawyer. She’s the face and joint owner of some of the region’s most popular attractions including the Dollywood theme park. In Sevierville, the next city over, stands the Dolly Parton Statue, one of several landmarks in the country music legend’s hometown. To boot, which for her might be Western-style and beaded, the area’s largest medical center is not only home of the Dolly Parton Center for Women’s Services and the Dolly Parton Birthing Unit, it’s just off Dolly Parton Parkway.

So woven into the fabric of this gateway to the Great Smoky Mountains, Parton, who becomes an age-defying octogenarian in January, even has an animatronic chicken named after her at the most fowl and fun breakfast spot in these parts. You know you’ve made it when Frizzle Chicken Farmhouse Café immortalizes you as “Dolly PartHEN,” the headliner in a chorus of animatronic performing poultry that bursts out in song (“Y-M-C-Egg?”) several times an hour.

“Dream more, learn more, care more and be more” is one of PartHEN’s — check that — Parton’s more sage quotable quotes, and, clearly, the country music icon practices what she preaches, and it’s mutual. Besides living a life that has earned her tremendous love, praise and money (her net worth is estimated at over $650 million), the Tennessee native is celebrating Dollywood’s 40th anniversary this year.

When a certain travel writer from California asked Parton to expound on what the milestone anniversary means to her as one who wears the hat of a businesswoman, an entertainer and one born and raised in the backyard of where Dollywood stands today, she didn’t miss a beat showing off her signature sass.

“This is not a hat — it’s a wig,” she said to the laughter of season-opening guests within earshot. “But underneath it, I am very grateful to see that my dream came true. It means the world to me to do something here in my hometown and honor my own people, and I love that. As a businesswoman, I love being involved in all kinds of things because when they call it the ‘music business,’ I thought early on, I already know what to do about the music because that comes naturally; I gotta focus more on the business part of it. But I like getting involved. I like running around with the big boys out there. I’m so proud I was able to see this dream come true.”

Parton’s vision of building a “fantasy mountain park” was announced in 1983 and it became real two years later when she partnered with Silver Dollar City Tennessee, the 125-acre sister to the original Silver Dollar City still operating in Branson, Missouri. The Pigeon Forge park reopened the following year freshly expanded, rebranded and metamorphosed like a beautiful butterfly, which, as Dollyites know, is their idol’s personal “emblem.” In fact, the “w” in the omnipresent Dollywood logo is replaced with an open-winged butterfly.

The self-deprecating yet self-confident “queen of country music” is enjoying Dollywood’s 40th season with extra swagger. For the third time in a row, her now-165-acre Southern Shangri-la was named by the National Amusement Park Historical Association as America’s favorite theme park, a distinction that may contribute to Dollywood (dollywood.com) being one of the most visited in North America.

Attractions aplenty

Parton’s wild success in bringing country charm, thrill rides and live entertainment to a single gated attraction, in addition to sprouting two stunning resorts, big-production dinner shows, a world-class water park and more in which she has a significant ownership stake, has enabled a glut of amusement operations to ride on her rhinestone-studded coattails.

Dollywood’s Lightning Rod, hailed as one of the best roller coasters in the world, doesn’t come close to making one as dizzy as when counting all the mountain coasters, wacky mini-golf courses, go-kart tracks, themed dinner shows, zip lines, carnival rides, indoor snow-tubing and novelty museums along the main drags of Pigeon Forge, let alone all the attractions dotting nearby Gatlinburg and Sevierville.

Looking at the two most vibrant family-friendly vacation destinations in America’s heartland, it’s safe to say that what Branson is to the Ozarks, Pigeon Forge is to the Smokies. Whereas the Missouri entry is known for its live entertainment set amid majestic beauty, its kissing cousin in Tennessee has that and a whole lot more. So, in that respect, Pigeon Forge may have the edge even without factoring in a world-famous theme park. That said, with the greater variety of attractions come more tourist traps interspersed with quality establishments. So, let’s not waste our time and your money on such idle amusements as the Jurassic Jungle Boat Ride ($22 for 10 cheesy minutes), Lost Mine Mountain Coaster ($19 gets you the area’s longest ride, but with way too much automatic slowing and braking) or Earthquake the Ride (OK, so it’s over the hill in Gatlinburg, but $15 for three minutes of lame effects registers 8.2 on the Rip-Off Scale).

The Titanic Museum and Comedy Barn, both Dolly’s, and the Alcatraz East Crime Museum are solid nice-to-do’s. If beauty blended with brawn is what you crave, Pink Jeep Tours is a winner (pinkadventuretours.com), offering six exciting experiences that take folks in and around Great Smoky Mountains National Park, by far the most-visited among the 63. Bear sightings aren’t guaranteed, but thrills are as tours include some off-roading on steep terrain at the hands of a driver-guide who’s an expert on the area and behind the wheel.

From axles to axes, Paula Dean’s Lumberjack Feud (lumberjackfeud.com) is as corny as Kansas in August, even though the celebrity chef prefers serving guests her famous creamy mac and cheese instead of a buttery cob. For an affordable $58 for adults and $29 for kids, you get a hearty all-you-can-eat buffet, world-class professional lumberjacks giving their all, and G-rated comedy.

For an “Arrr”-rated show, shiver your timbers at Pirates Voyage (piratesvoyage.com), a feast for the eyes thanks to an odd mix of buccaneers doing battle in and around a 15-foot-deep indoor lagoon, fetching mermaids, trained animals and, for the 2025 season, a spirited Polynesian act with fire dancing. The experience is also a feast for the stomach with a delicious, fully served meal featuring fried chicken, ham and apple pie. Epic as Pirates Voyage is, if your travel budget only allows for one dinner show in Pigeon Forge, Dolly Parton’s Stampede is the ticket. Speaking of which, regular admission starts at $82 for guests 10 and over, same over at the swashbuckling sister spectacle up the road.

Stampede (dpstampede.com) satisfies with a four-course dinner (rotisserie chicken and pulled pork are the proteins) and dazzles with impressive horse-riding stunts, hillbilly humor and a star-spangled finale featuring Parton’s original song “Color Me America.” A recent addition to the show is a segment called “Butterfly Dreams,” during which two- and four-legged cast members perform to the owner’s soft and gentle “Love Is Like a Butterfly.” The new act is downright mesmerizing.

Incidentally, Parton also has brought her Stampede dinner show to Branson, and with her expansion of the Pirates Voyage concept, she’s discovered treasure in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, and Panama City Beach, Florida.

Hitting the hay

If Parton can bring her Tennessee magic to Florida, then it’s only fair that another entrepreneurial singer-songwriter has done the same, but in reverse. The laid-back tropical spirit of adopted Floridian Jimmy Buffett is alive and well in the Smokies two years after his death. Pigeon Forge is where four of the region’s five Margaritaville hotels and resorts (margaritavilleresorts.com) are located, and two of those are anchors of a vibrant mixed-use destination called The Island. You can’t miss it thanks to a 200-foot-tall observation wheel that offers spectacular views of this picturesque place.

Margaritaville Island Hotel, not to be confused with Margaritaville Island Inn next door, has 134 upscale rooms and a restaurant-bar with killer coconut shrimp and frozen concoctions that help you hang on. The hotel’s signature blend of mountain latitude and island attitude benefits the more modestly priced, 104-room Inn mere steps away.

Mere minutes away, by car or trailer, is Camp Margaritaville RV Resort & Lodge. A chill island vibe in the foothills can be enjoyed two distinct ways: Stay in a clean, comfortable, 79-room lodge with rustic décor, or park your rig, rented or otherwise, at one of 157 full-hookup sites with equal access to such amenities as a lazy river, pickleball court, dog park and indoor entertainment center.

As many Pigeon Forge visitors delight in wasting away again in a Margaritaville, others relish not working 9 to 5 by booking one of Parton’s two resorts in town. As sure as fresh-baked cinnamon bread is Dollywood’s most famous treat, Parton has a major stake in the 307-room DreamMore Resort and Spa and newer 302-unit HeartSong Lodge & Resort, both a free shuttle ride away from her two gated parks, the other being the wet and wild Dollywood’s Splash Country.

Even in the offseason, which is early January through mid-March for Dollywood and mid-September through mid-May for Splash Country, bunking at either resort could be a vacation all to itself. DreamMore’s homey elegance and HeartSong’s “upscale lodge” atmosphere are in season any time of year. Of course, going when the parks are dark means missing out on TimeSaver ride passes, package shipment to the hotel, preferred parking and other perks of being a Dollywood resort guest.

Now, if only they offered a free loaf of that to-die-for cinnamon bread at check-in.