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Credit: Kristopher Harris, FlickrOn Saturday, Dolly Parton’s beloved Dollywood theme park announced an “unscheduled” indefinite closure. Here’s what fans of the Smoky Mountain theme park need to know.
Dollywood Announces Closure on Saturday
On December 20, Dollywood posted a press release to its official Instagram story, explaining that the Dollywood Express attraction had indefinitely closed due to “unscheduled” but necessary maintenance work. It read:
“PARK UPDATE
The Dollywood Express is not currently operating due to unscheduled maintenance. We are sorry for the inconvenience. We hope you will enjoy all of Dollywood’s other award-winning rides and attractions during Smoky Mountain Christmas.”
Dollywood eventually updated its website to reflect the indefinite closure.
The Dollywood Express
The steam train ride is one of the most historic attractions at Dolly Parton’s Tennessee theme park, and it opened decades before the iconic singer took over the vacation destination. In 1961, the heritage railway opened as Rebel Railroad. In 1966, it was renamed to Gold Rush Junction before being purchased by the Cleveland Browns football team in 1970.
In 1976, Gold Rush Junction became the flagship attraction for Silver Dollar City Tennessee, the sister park to the original Silver Dollar City in Branson, Missouri. The theme park operated for a decade before Dolly Parton took over in 1986, renaming the park Dollywood and the locomotive the Dollywood Express.
When Will It Reopen?
Unfortunately, the Great Smoky Mountain theme park has not announced a reopening date for the Dollywood Express at this time. The attraction most recently underwent scheduled maintenance in the summer of 2025; however, it’s unclear whether the issues addressed during that closure are related to the cause of this unexpected shutdown.
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