Do you live in a state where there is a lot of open land, but you’ve never had a chance to really explore? I’ve lived in the same state most of my life, and there are thousands of things that I want to explore, and that’s just in my state. A hiker from Tennessee decided that he wanted to explore his home state a little more. So he headed up to the Smoky Mountains to see what he could find. He had no idea that this abandoned hotel and neighborhood even existed, even though he’d been up into these same mountains many times before. Here are the pictures that he took while exploring this place he likes to call Tennessee Wonderland.
The pictures that he was able to take definitely tell a story about this place.
The hotel had a great big reception room where people could check in and also relax.
I love this fireplace. I bet it was gorgeous back in the day when the hotel was up and running.
The outside of the hotel.
Damage over the years.
I bet this place was so nice to stay at. It’s so secluded but still accessible.
Lots of firewood for that giant fireplace!
It’s too bad that this place is no longer in business.
I wonder what kind of clientele it had. Was it higher end or was it middle of the road? So many questions.
The hard thing with abandoned hotels and other structures, you get part of the story but definitely not all of it.
Maybe it’s haunted? Maybe the owners just didn’t want to operate it any longer?
One of the rooms in the hotel.
It looks like a lot of the rooms had easy access to outside.
An old electrical box.
Beneath the house doesn’t look too bad considering it’s abandoned.
An old maintenance bench complete with paint, stain, and wires.
I bet this hotel was really amazing!
I hate to see beautiful structures in such horrible shape.
One of the many, many windows that were broken when this photographer found the hotel & neighborhood.
A nice screened-in porch to keep bugs away.
One of the houses in the area that is no longer occupied.
It doesn’t look like it has been abandoned for all that long.
I dream of living in a place and house like this. With a little TLC, it’d be amazing!
I’m wondering if this is a heater of some sort.
It had running water at one time, so it can’t be that old.
A room in one of the abandoned homes.
I wonder if the people that lived in the neighborhood worked at the hotel.
The moss on the awning is kind of pretty, in an abandoned type of way.
This room would be so pretty with a little bit of work.
A nice big porch to relax on.
This is so sad! I would love for someone to purchase this area and completely renovate it.
Lots of stuff just piled up like they were possibly working on something when they decided to leave.
Broken glass could be caused by humans or even some sort of animal.
The floor is in bad shape, but the view out that window would be breathtaking.
I have a feeling this hasn’t been abandoned for too long.
More random items just left behind.
It’d be so nice to sit under this porch on a cool, rainy day.
I have no idea what this is.
The old power boxes for the neighborhood and hotel.
You can check out the entire video below:
According to Wikipedia, The Wonderland Hotel was a hotel built in 1911 at Elkmont, Sevier County, Tennessee by the Wonderland Club Company and closed 7 years later. It was then dismantled and partially preserved in 2005 by the National Park Service.
If you came across an abandoned town, hotel, and neighborhood, would you stay long enough to look around or would you be running as fast as you could in the other direction? I’d love to come across something like this and see what stories I could find out.