Hillbilly Golf is Gatlinburg's most vertical mini golf: an incline tram climbs to two 18-hole courses terraced down a mountainside, past moonshine stills, outhouses and tractors, with the original objects from mountain life worked into the holes. Tampa Jay's opening film is the full attraction in one take — the tram ride up, both courses, how long it takes and what it costs, with his honest rating at the end. Its age is part of its nature: a working attraction since the 1970s, shot through with nostalgia, and it starts every visitor the same way — uphill.

Watch: first looks

3 videos · summaries from the actual guides

Gatlinburg's MUST-SEE Attraction - Hillbilly Golf!

Brandon’s Travel Guides

Brandon's family guide to the course 300 feet above the Parkway: the two-minute incline lift up (trees all around, kind to height nerves), the two 18-hole courses, and why its roughly 4,000 Google reviews average 4.8 stars.

Key takeaways
  • The incline lift climbs 300 feet in about two minutes
  • Trees screen the lift - kind to height nerves
  • Two 18-hole courses at the top

Hillbilly Golf Gatlinburg TN | Best Mini Golf In The Smokies?

Adventure Is Out There

Adventure Is Out There plays the A side hole by hole at the course that opened in 1971: the two courses compared, the new Hillbilly Pipe Dream feature, parking strategy, and a family verdict on the best-mini-golf-in-the-Smokies question.

Key takeaways
  • Open since 1971 - a Gatlinburg original
  • The A and B courses compared hole by hole
  • The Hillbilly Pipe Dream is the newest feature

Is Hillbilly Golf in Gatlinburg, TN is the BEST Mini Golf In The Smokies?

Visiting Gatlinburg and Pigeon Forge

A family tests the 'best mini golf in the Smokies' claim: the incline ride up with Gatlinburg views, then the themed holes of the mountainside course.

Key takeaways
  • The incline ride is part of the attraction
  • Family-tested 'best in the Smokies' claim
  • Themed holes all the way down the mountainside

The courses

The full walkthrough plays an entire 18-hole course — the moonshine-still holes, the concrete geometry, the hillside run of the place. The two tournament-preview films map both sides for the competitive crowd: the left course's line reads in one, the right course's multi-level layout and mountain backdrops in the other. The Retro Rest Stop revisit walks the incline-ride format itself — the lift makes a simple game an event, which is the whole design.

Where it ranks

The ranking film scored every mini golf in Gatlinburg (Crave, Treasure, the Ripley's courses and more) on value, challenge and uniqueness — and Hillbilly Golf came out on top: a mountain, a tram, two courses, no direct comparison anywhere in town. The original-era 2013 retrospective rounds the record with a fan's early visit and his father's verdict — 'a total blast' — a line about fifty years of families have repeated.

Watch: more views

3 videos · summaries from the actual guides

Our Favorite Hillbilly Golf / Unique Miniature Golf Course Built On a Gatlinburg Mountainside 2026

Yankee in the South

Yankee in the South's 2026 return to a honeymoon-generation classic - Dawn's parents played here on their honeymoon - riding the incline and playing the courses at $14 a round as filmed.

Key takeaways
  • A generational classic - her parents honeymooned here
  • $14 a round as filmed in 2026
  • Both courses played

Must Play ONE OF A KIND Mini Golf Course on the Side of a Mountain!

Brooks Holt

Mini-golf specialist Brooks Holt plays Course B as a family match: the humps, wheels and one-of-a-kind mountainside holes of a course he calls unlike anything else in the game.

Key takeaways
  • Course B played as a family match
  • A mini-golf specialist's course
  • Terraced, mountainside holes unlike anywhere else

Iconic Mountain Mini Golf ⛳️ in Gatlinburg | World’s Most Unusual | #1 Rated Course!

NC Family of 3

NC Family of 3 plays the 'world's most unusual' course in September 2026: the incline, the terraced holes and the number-one-rated billing, on a family round.

The practical note

Spectacular ideas attract crowds: this is one of downtown Gatlinburg's most-visited attractions, and the queue at the incline is part of most visits. The films agree the mountain makes it worth the wait.

Sources: the 8 videos on this page, filmed at Hillbilly Golf in Gatlinburg between 2013 and 2025.

Watch: the full set

2 videos · summaries from the actual guides

How much is Hillbilly Golf in Gatlinburg? A review

The Smokies

The Smokies channel's price-and-review explainer: what a round costs, what the incline ride is like, and why they call Hillbilly Golf an 'I've been to Gatlinburg' checklist item.

HILLBILLY GOLF - GATLINBURG TENNESSEE

Explore with Austin & Julia

Austin & Julia's friendly 2020 round on the mountainside course - an earlier-era record of the classic layout.

More Gatlinburg essentials

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