The Ridge Outdoor Resort — Hotel in Sevierville

I am writing to express my deep concern regarding an incident that occurred during the Easter egg hunt at the campground. My 7-year-old daughter and 5-year-old nephew were both injured after being trampled by older children. The event grouped children ranging in age from approximately 5 to 12 years old (or older), which created an unsafe environment for the younger participants.

My daughter was knocked to the ground face first and stepped on, while my nephew was knocked down and scraped his knees. Both children were visibly shaken and upset. What was especially troubling was not just the incident itself, but the lack of care and compassion shown by staff and the event owner. None of the staff ask them if they were ok or offered any sympathy. When we approached the owner to voice our concerns, we were met with a dismissive and condescending attitude. Her initial response was, “What do you want me to do about it?”—a statement that reflected a complete disregard for the seriousness of what had just occurred. AFTER this was said, my husband did become upset and told the OWNER that she had aided in ruining our Easter. He became more upset after she was very dismissive just to be clear.

Although the owner did eventually offer an apology, it came across as highly condescending and insincere, further emphasizing the lack of empathy in the situation. Later, she returned with an accident report and rudely "asked" that we fill it out, tapping her finger on the clipboard in a manner that was both unprofessional and disrespectful. This was done to cover them. Someone also told my daughter, after she had been stepped on, to simply “get up and go on,” which added to her confusion and distress.

I am not only upset that the children were injured, but more so with how poorly the situation was handled. There was a clear lack of empathy, responsibility, and customer service throughout the experience. Events involving young children must prioritize safety and age-appropriate groupings. Unfortunately, this was not the case, and it had real consequences.

I hope they take this feedback seriously and implement better safety measures and training for their staff in the future. Families attend these events to create joyful memories—not to leave feeling hurt, dismissed, and disrespected.

Sincerely, A concerned mother P.S. Please learn to deal with patrons more...

We are here now at site 65. The checkin process was seamless and the camp store is amazing. We have purchased several things and they have a great sale going on right now so we stocked up on quick dry towels. Our site is a pull through and it is very level. I am a bit sad I didn't try for one of the signature sites with a hot tub, fireplace and grill, but I probably wouldn't have gotten one as those book up quickly. The picnic table and firepit are fantastic. I am going to try to find out how to buy a firepit like they have for our house. There is trash pickup at your site twice a day, however, I think they come by more than that. Nice bathhouses. The only complaint there is that the toilets seem to be a bit off-center with the toilet paper dispensor somewhat overlapping the toilet...at least in the women's restroom with the exception of the handicapped restroom. The laundry facilities are top-notch. There is an app you can download that allows you to pay via cc and monitor when your laundry is done. They also have a great system where they can text you with updates such as when you need to disconnect water due to freezing temps, or when they have propane back in stock. I loved that! My teen girls loved the kids room and this is such a family friendly park that all three kids and us made several new friends. It was a great "vibe" that not all campgrounds possess. They have a deli but it was closed for the season. Honestly, we would have gone there a good bit if it were open and I am not sure why it closes for the season. The only thing that disappointed me, and this wasn't the park's fault, was that there was a lot of dog poop not picked up in the dog parks. They have bags and cans for disposal and it might be due to the lack of lighting at night in the dog parks. I certainly struggled to find my dog's poop one night. One of the dog parks was pretty muddy but that is understandable in the winter and not quite as bad as some I have seen. My dogs are crazy and probably contributed to this with their roughhouse playing. The drive to Pigeon Forge is quick and easy which was great. They have very nice pools which were closed for the season but our daughter did get to use the hot tub which she loved....

We had booked a double site for this weekend and one of our family members tested positive for COVID. We called to see if there’s something we could work out and offered to move the dates, take a penalty, or even asked if the site could be opened up to see if it could be booked again by someone else. They refused to help in any way. It is true, we did not purchase the trip protection they offer. The trip protection that charges extra money for something that should be offered to guests anyway, especially with the expensive rates they already charge. I get it, this is a business. They say we have to be fair to each other, because people cancel and leave businesses hanging. Those things I understand, when it’s someone who just doesn’t show up. What’s interesting is that this resort charges for the entire price of the stay automatically on your credit card over a week before the trip, so they’re protected in every single case. So, it seems like that resolves the people who “don’t show up” or put the business out unfairly, leaving only people who have unfortunate circumstances that can’t do anything about their inability to arrive at their site. My plea is mostly for other guests, here, because it’s obvious the resort was unwilling to work with us. This policy is not “fair” and does not protect the company from those people who book, don’t show up, and just cancel. It doesn’t seem very “fair” that a family loses over 250 dollars on a two night stay, while the company gets the money and didn’t make any effort to help find someone else that could potentially book the site and taken care of everyone in the process. This is a policy that overcorrects the problem, and I would highly recommend making a modification to provide some grace for customers who are trying to enjoy camping and save as much money as they can in the process. I would not recommend booking here. There are other premium camping locations in the area that offer much better customer service and understanding to...