One of the more unique waterpark attractions at Dollywood’s Splash Country, SwiftWater Run puts you in a different kind of Great Smoky Mountain whitewater as you corkscrew down a giant streaming funnel and into an exit chute. It’s open to both single tubes and double tubes, making it an awesome choice for both solo and tag-team riders.
Situated between Mountain Scream and SlickRock Racer, Splash Country’s SwiftWater Run gives you a firsthand sense for what it might be like to be swallowed up by some raging river whirlpool—with the very welcome caveat that this ride down the vortex doesn’t see you risking life or limb.
On a single or a double tube, you’ll come shooting into the ride’s huge, candy-striped funnel, where you’ll corkscrew around and around on the spiraling flow before, inevitably, flushing out through the tunnel chute at the bottom with a climactic splash.
This wildwater spin session is available to riders at least 48 inches tall. The single tubes can accommodate solo riders up to a weigh limit of 250 pounds; the double tubes for two riders have a capacity of 400 pounds. The water depth in the runout zone is a foot and a half.
Dollywood’s Splash Country classifies SwiftWater Run as a family thrill ride. It’s one of several rafting attractions at the waterpark, along with such offerings as Raging River Rapids, Big Bear Plunge, and Wild River Falls—not to mention RiverRun, the one and only “water coaster” in all of Tennessee.
If instead of a whitewater simulation you’d rather enjoy some leisurely R&R on a lazy stream, you might consider Splash Country’s Downbound Float Trip and its 1,500-foot meandering “river.”
Sometimes, though, you’ve got a hankering for a little speed and topsy-turvy excitement, in which case SwiftWater Run fits the bill and then some. Take to your raft, alone or with a fellow ride, and enter that striped, swirling vortex!