The Gatlinburg Arts and Crafts Community is an eight-mile loop of working studios, galleries, and workshops that runs east of downtown along Glades Road and Buckhorn Road. It was established in 1937, making it one of the oldest organized craft communities in the United States, and it now encompasses more than a hundred independent artisans — woodworkers, glassblowers, potters, weavers, jewelers, leather workers, and painters, most of them making and selling their work in the same space. This is handmade goods with actual provenance, not imports with a craft label slapped on.
The loop is best done by car, with stops at studios that catch your interest — there's no realistic way to walk the full eight miles comfortably. Most studios welcome visitors who want to watch work in progress, and the quality ranges from tourist-grade to genuinely accomplished. This is where to spend money if you want something to take home that will outlast the trip. It's a world away in atmosphere from the main strip, calmer and more interesting, and easy to combine with lunch at the Wild Plum Tea Room or a drive on the Roaring Fork Motor Nature Trail.