One of the best kept secrets of TN. To tour this venue is to literally step back into a period of time when lanterns provides light and fireplaces were the single source of heat. The cabins are trimmed with authentic pieces from the days of the settlers and carry an almost palettable sense for the history conveyed inside those walls. The gift shop is full of beautiful crafts and serves good food as well.

We made a second ever visit on Sunday August 23, 2020. Enjoyed it more the second time than the first. The place is beautiful, fascinating, a good value for the price of admission, and so pretty. If you like history you should go. If you dont think you like history you should still go. You may find out this brings it to life for you and causes you to begin liking it! We are blessed to have such a fine museum and collection of the life of Appalachia right here in Clinton, TN. It is open seven days a week through the year with a few exceptions for holidays. The have wonderful food at a bargain price. Home cooking. Great gift store. Restrooms and comfort areas in numerous areas around the grounds. Will definitely go back again.

Awesome place. Great food, great exhibits and so much fun eating at picnic tables with the beautiful peacocks. I highly recommend at least one visit. This is our new favorite lunch place from work. Went there three days this past week and plan on more each week. Prices are great as well️️

A great way to spend the day. I recommend some sunscreen. Plan your trip on a day that isnt going to be too hot. If you want lunch there, get it before 2pm, which is when they stop serving lunch. They have so much stuff and facts about their exhibits, it would literally take all day to read everything. It was very interesting and I recommend going.

Really interesting look at the past. Peacocks were friendly and easy to photograph. Lots to see.

Authentic and well worth the stop! Lots to look at. Home cooked lunch tasted like Grandmas coming.

Love this place! It is so beautiful and packed with so many wonderful items. You could spend hours looking through everything and reading the stories. Susan is very knowledgeable and so willing to help in anyway! Make sure you check out all their goats too!

We didnt tour the museum today. My Wife and I enjoyed a delicious lunch in their restaurant. Highly recommended!

Amazing place! Go on a Monday if you can, to hear the dolcimer ( and other instruments) band play from 10:30-12:30. Be sure to inquire about playing one of the jig dolls as they play, or maybe the spoons. If you like this sort of place plan to spend the entire day. Definitely eat in the restaurant! The other reviews said it was the best food in the area... believe it. Fabulous. Full meal that fed the two of us for $7.95 + tax. Yummy. And then there is the museum itself...extensive, thorough, detailed, and delightful. Great staff is friendly and helpful. This place gets as many stars as you can imagine. Plenty of shady parking too. Entrance fee is $18 for an adult, but the discount for seniors, AAA, or military brings it to $15. Best deal around.

Amazing! Self guided tour. Spend as little or as long as you like! Something for everyone! All ages appropriate!

Randomly drove past this place on a road trip several years ago and ended up spending the entire day looking at exhibitions (easy to do) It’s hands down the most amazing museum I’ve ever visited and is a place I beg others to drive well out of their way for. Most of the placards are hand written and everything is full of heart and soul. If I could marry this museum I would.

Historical kid friendly Christian run outdoor museum general store restaurant clean comfortable covid19 precautions in place

Time capsule. Traveling back to see how people lived and died. And the origins of country music. Well worth the price of admission.

Really neat. Let you go in most of the buildings and even on the second floors. Nice gift-shop. Has lots of little signs that give you a ton of info

Amazing museum! We stopped thinking wed be there an hour or so, and ended up spending over four without quite seeing everything. Remarkable collection arranged into sections so theres always something new around every corner.We overheard some of the locals talking aboit coming there just to eat, and I can see why! My baked pork chop was wonderful. My wife had the chicken and dumplins. It was easy to see everything was home made, and they said a lot of the ingedients came from the garden on site! It was also one of the cheapest places we ate on the trip. Do be sure to eat early. I heard them tell someone they were out of the pockchops after I got mine.

This is a must stop if you are on I-75 north of Knoxville. Authentic, old time charm. Very relaxing. Great gift shop with local and US made crafts and other items. It would get five stars if the food was a little better. Not bad, but not excellent. Go for the experience and some decent homestyle cooking.

The Museum of Appalachia was a good place to visit. Really nice, calm and quite place. Educational as it should be, and the animals were so charming, the stuff are taking care about them and the territory - Well done! They say the food here is delicious, I didnt try, but I will be back! :)

We really enjoyed our visit here. It is near I-75 and worth the stop. It provides a lot of history and insights into the mountain people of this region. It has a lot of antiques and information on the area. It was a very educational visit. The sandwich shop and gift store were very nice also. When we were there in the middle of the week they had live music. We enjoyed the farm animals too.

One of my favorite places now! Definitely will be back and stop at any chance I get! Self guided tour - so easy with the pamphlet give to us. Well... I say self-guided, yet we had a nice little lady seem to guide/follow. We nicknamed her Kiki. Loved all the animals running around (true testament to the peaceful environment).

This place was incredible!! So much history to see. Its a beautiful place. Wonderful lunch. And beautiful property. Even got to listen to some beautiful music on the porch.

One of the most incredible historic collections Ive ever seen. Well kept grounds and great gift shop too. Be sure to check out Popcorn Suttons story at the the still!

We really enjoyed our visit! Such a cool place with lots of history in a beautiful country setting

Great place to learn the history of the area. Nice and friendly ladies working there.

Well worth time and money! Allot at least 2 hours. Walking self-guided tour in and out of buildings and around mostly outdoor museum. Large gift store. Highly recommend lunch at the restaurant. Delish Southern food at a great price!

My husband and stopped by on our way home from Gatlunburg. We were pleasantly surprised! This a fantastic museum! It really is a treasure and we hope to return again when we can spend more time exploring. It was well worth the price of admission.

Great place! My kids had a blast and the museum is very detailed with lots of artifacts and exhibits.The staff was excellent and we liked the lunch menu which is very kid friendly, PP&Js etc. A+Keep up the good work!!!

Had a great lunch here. A friendly cat sat on my lap and it was lovely. 10/10, would recommend.

Very worth the visit. It is well done and many of the exhibits we would consider nowadays as a hardship but at that time a functional family living.

This was a fantastic place. I felt like I had drifted back in time to a whole different era. I could have spent days just lingering around the property

Everyone needs to visit and learn about our local history. Wonderful displays. Very friendly staff.

Absolutely beautiful! I could spend the whole day there!

Great little side trip to stretch your legs

Always 5 stars! Great food and interesting exhibits.

They have the best home cooked meals and the staff was wonderful!!

Highly recommend!! Friendly staff and beautiful animals!

I am so glad we stopped off to visit this place on our travels through the state. It was a beautiful fall afternoon but , since it was a Monday, it was not crowded.We enjoyed a tasty lunch in the cafe and really appreciated all the exhibits on the grounds during our self-guided tour.I didnt understand in advance that this was basically a working farm, in that there were considerable numbers of animals on the grounds. Even the wellfed kitty cats came out to greet us.The gift shop was extraordinary as well, with lots of interesting and what appeared to be locally made items.And we enjoyed one of the best desserts Ive had in months, at the cafe. This will definitely be our stop again the next time we are in the area.

Great Legacy of the history and lives of the people from the region. Specific accounts along with stories told in the actual person who lived it. Great selection of time pieces and workings from the time. Spend time reading the stories

First visit. So much to see. Will surely go back again

A ton of interesting information. Could spend hours and hours just reading all the info on the artifacts and historical items they have.

This is The Place to be on the Fourth of July! Learn about Appalachian crafts, try sawing logs by hand, actual buildings from a by-gone era. Be sure to stay for the anvil shoot, nothing like it anywhere.

Okay I love this place so much that my hubby and I just stop there to eat sometimes! Great home cooking food that warms you up inside. Cute store, friendly animals, and just a fun place to hang for the day.

Great atmosphere. Loved how it was broken into multiple spots.

Wonderful collection of Appalachian artifacts. Make sure to have a meal here, you wont be disappointed.

A lot of history in one place. Great value for the price. Friendly staff. Cant wait to come back!

Love this place. Absolutely amazing pieces of history cover the grounds of this beautiful museum. Well, preserved history along with a great little restaurant. Well, worth the money !!

The Museum of Appalachia is a relaxing place full of the cultural heritage of this area (and beyond). The small restaurant located there is a hidden gem, best southern cuisine Ive had in Tennessee, especially for the price. Id eat there for lunch frequently if I worked nearby. The staff is also polite. They did a GREAT job providing food, drink, and dining space for a family event we held there.

The staff is super nice, the food is great, the trail is a lot of fun, and our furry little tour guide named Marilyn took us in and out of every building on site. Thank you Marilyn! Next time, well bring you treats.

Best museum I have ever been too. Could not do it justice in just one day. Wish I had more time to visit. Definitely will come back. Also, they serve GREAT food. This was one of the highlights of my vacation.

Love it! The atmosphere is from such a peaceful time. Leave your troubles and cares behind, at least for a while.

Beautiful authentic history. Very well organized. Outside buildings quite interesting. Many items to buy including Goatmilk soaps & lotions. Food simple & tasty. Soups homemade & delicious. Staff very accommodating & friendly.

Amazing collection to take you back in time.

Food was fantastic and learned so much. What affected us most was realizing there are still many people who live in those mountains the same way, even today.

Fascinating place. Represents the real deal in 1700s farming and lifestyle. Readers of Outlander should definitely come see.

Museum of Appalachia is a great place to visit. A lot of history. Almost like stepping back to that time period. Great family outting.

Great Family reastraunt

We went here about 3 years ago on a week day in colder weather. Pretty much had the place all to ourselves.We just went back last week on a Friday during an event. It was like a zoo. I would never go back there again when there is a scheduled event. Its a really interesting place to visit when its not crowded though. Lots of very interesting stuff to see. Some of the stuff also has a story to go with it.

This was an amazing experience. The costumed presenters added depth. It was great having someone demonstrate how to use the various tools. Its hard to imagine what it is like to live in that day without the demonstrations. The weaver, sawmill and blacksmith were my favorite. The lady on the loom was awesome. She answered so many of our questions and let us get close to see what she was doing and explain all of the intricate parts. I would have liked to see the demonstration of broom making, rope making and basket weaving. I also enjoyed the peacocks and other animals. Of course the highlight was the anvil toss. Thanks for doing such a great job preserving our history.

As a Knoxville wedding photographer, we LOVE The Museum of Appalachia. With its picturesque acres, lined with split-rail fences, its a charming wedding venue for photographers AND couples alike!

Great! Good food too!

Nice place but way over priced...$20 a person to walk around...but yet you cant go into but 2 or 3 of the homes...they say that its non profit...however, the people that work there say that its owned by national geographic which is a billion dollar corporation....they all agreed with me when I asked why so expensive....they said they believed that it is overpriced....but thats what they have to charge.

Great educational place to take the kids. Learn how people lived during the pioneer days of America.

Make sure you arrive with plenty of time to allow the leisurely pace needed to walk through the buildings and around the outside properties. Literally a thousand and one (+) things to look at. Not suited for handicapped persons or those with trouble doing a lot of walking. Oh, make sure u are out by *5*! They get ill with ya if you arent!

Really enjoyed my time at this museum. The sheer volume of artifacts was astonishing. Everything from banjos to firearms to restored buildings. I particularly liked the hand written comments for each piece from the man who procured the items and created this landmark. Very well done and Id go again.

The Museum of Appalachia recently hosted our sons wedding rehearsal supper, and they are TOP NOTCH! I had visited the Museum before and enjoyed the exhibits immensely, and wanted to return. I ate lunch there too that day, and was blown away! This is a great venue to host your events! I highly recommend a visit to the Museum of Appalachia, it is an experience you will NEVER forget! Thanks to all the staff!

Good place to experience some earlier Appalachian culture. Farming practices, building homes and barns and raising animals. The museum is located in a very nice setting.

Food was good and plentiful. Price was very reasonable. Served in a friendly atmosphere. If you have ANY INTEREST IN HISTORY this is a MUST VISIT place. Plan on spending several hours for the self guided tour.

Worth every penny. Wish I had more time there.

It is a historic place but it does not say it cost money but it is not bad

Always a great visit for our family!

Expensive and boring. $18 per person. Even had to pay for 2.5 year old who hated it.

Its hard to oversell this place. The restaurant is about the opposite of what you would expect from a museum snack bar. The food is straight out of your grandmothers kitchen. Everything is homemade. Prices are extremely reasonable. The museum itself is well laid out and has an accessible feel to everything. New favorite of Norris TN.

Good experience just needs a bit of updating. For such a busy place its run down, signs are handwritten which just seems weird for a museum. The food was surprisingly delicious. Still worth a visit. Do not bring good shoes, lots of mud.

Nice old place

GREAT place for history and country living.The food is AMAZING!

Honestly, not a fun experience. We stopped there hoping to learn something. Instead, we walked through old buildings filled with pictures and belongings of people from the area, but had no idea why they were important. The highlight was seeing the peacocks.

A great piece of history with a lunch you will not soon forget

Nice quiet and educational place to spend a few hours walking and learning. After touring the grounds (or even just taking a break from walking) have lunch in the restaurant, food and service is always good. Heck, just go for lunch or dinner anyway, you wont go wrong.

Great to see how our ancestors lived.

Went to sheep shearing event at the Museum of Appalachia! Really enjoyed it. Kudos to Johnny the sheep shearer!

Very nice displays

So many structures to look at as well and seemingly endless relics of mountain life. We went at a non event time and spent hours looking around.

Amazing experience

Amazing place to visit if you are ever up there...so much history

It was fun to spend there a whole day with kids. Very interesting place.

My parents, me and my son drove an hour to get there. Only to find out they charge an outrageous amount per person. I looked all over the website and it didn’t say anything about that except for group tours of 20 people or more. It’s almost 20$ a person!! All we wanted to do was walk around. We didn’t won’t to do anything else. No food or show. And they still wanted 20$ a person. Needless to say we left and ended up having to drive all the way back home. Really sad, years ago it was free to walk to around.

Very impressive and informative

Very enjoyable

This museum is a hidden gem tucked away and well worth the visit. I would definitely recommend spending a few hours there. The museum, wall of fame & shop are so unique. I oddly enjoyed the section on funeral traditions. Each item has its own unique story. Make sure to say hi to the cat. The space is beautiful, with goats, peacocks, chickens and plenty of space to walk around & explore cabins.

This place has some of the best food I have had in TN. Their kitchen is outstanding and changes weekly (check their website). The restaurant is a walk up and order then seat yourself type. Definitely recommend

Museum is interesting and very full. A little high for static exhibits and self guided. The cafe on the other hand was inexpensive and not very good. They add things to food you dont expect. Like mac and cheese with pimientos or red bell peppers. Their chicken salad sandwich was chicken salad on 2 pieces of bread....thats not a sandwich!

Amazing collection!

This is without a doubt the best history museum Ive ever been to,and Ive traveled all over the world! Their restaurant is wonderful and very reasonably priced, I could not believe it was that good for as cheap as they were. I highly recommend this place, even if you have to travel 1-2 hours to get here

I Loved this incredible Smithsonian-affiliated living history museum. It has 36 original log structures and exhibit halls with hundreds of thousands of Appalachian artifacts. Additionally, on your self-guided tour you will meet people actually working to display the Appalachian ways along with dozens of live farm animals. Do not miss this... it was the highlight of our Smoky mountains trip!

I love this beautiful place. Farm setting full of my Appalachian history! Great southern food, smiling faces, gift shop items locally made! The atmosphere is so welcoming and the peacocks and farm animals are a plus! I cant say enough about this place!

We had a good time. The staff was friendly and the exhibits were really interesting. We were given wrist bands so we could visit all day. The only downside is the cost. Its a bit pricey but is comparable to other museums weve visited. Will go again.

If youre into personal stories then youll absolutely love this Museum. All of the descriptions succinctly captured every personality. Great for the family!

This wasnt what we were expecting at all. We thought it would be mostly a collection of old homes with a few pieces of furniture here and there along with old farm implements, etc. Instead we found fascinating stories about people and life. Every museum piece had a story that really brought the items before us to life. I thought it would be good for a couple of hours but 4 1/2 hours later we were hurrying before it closed! Wow!

An unique collection of pioneer buildings and artifacts all collected by John Rice Irwin and presented with a bit of humor that represents the lives of the mountain folk of Southern Appalachia. This is a self guided walking tour. The gift shop includes a restaurant with good simple foods that change daily.

The volunteers are always so helpful and friendly here. While some things appear run down, it is naturally old, antique stuff thats here. There is much to maintain, and they do a great job on whats, Im sure, limited resources.

This is an amazing place to teach children about our Appalachian history. It is sometimes forgotten, and needs to be brought back to the front burner. Parents are always looking for things to do, close to home. THIS IS IT! GO!!