About Knoxville

About the Region

Knoxville is located in East Tennessee at the foothills of the Great Smoky Mountains. There are four distinct seasons with temperatures ranging from 20 degrees F. in January to 88 degrees F. in July.

Knoxville is a community of festivals with each season having its own unique events. Festivals offer more than 350 events including craft shows, concerts, sporting events and more than 60 miles of dogwood lined trails. The Dogwood Arts Festival in April is one of the largest of its type in the nation. 

The University of Tennessee calls Knoxville home. It is well known for its many academic programs, as well as its national championship women's basketball teams. The 101,915 seat Neyland Stadium and the 21,678 seat Food City Center on campus host many intercollegiate games, concerts, and other activities.

Our city has a variety of local historical sites and museums including the Knoxville Museum of Art, The East Tennessee History Center, Beck Cultural Center, McClung Museum, James White Fort, Blount Mansion, and the Women's Basketball Hall of Fame.

The Great Smoky Mountains National Park is the most visited national park in the nation, with Cades Cove showing the early life of the pioneers. Pigeon Forge is the home of Dollywood, one of the major amusement parks of the southeast, with rides, crafts and musical shows.

The Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) is world famous for its electrical power-making expertise. TVA's many dams have provided the area with numerous lakes for recreational boating, fishing and swimming.

A visit here would not be complete without a day at the Museum of Appalachia near Norris where the life and times of the early settlers is depicted.

Oak Ridge is the home of the Oak Ridge National Laboratory. If you are interested in the Manhattan Project, the development of the atomic bomb during World War II, visit the Oak Ridge History Museum, the K-25 History Center, the Children's Museum, the K-25 Visitor's Center and the American Museum of Science and Energy. In order to promote goodwill and understanding Oak Ridge's Japanese Sister City sent a large International Friendship Bell cast in Japan and was presented to Oak Ridge.