PIGEON FORGE, Tenn. — There are Jeeps everywhere. Inside the event center parking areas, cruising surrounding streets, filling up restaurant and store lots for miles in all directions. Everywhere.
And not just the latest Wranglers or Gladiators, either. No, included in the masses is a literal alphabet soup of Jeeps. CJs, MJs, XJs, ZJs, WKs, a few MBs and FCs, and even a souped-up DJ. Among others.
You've probably been to Jeep events before, even some big ones, but if you've never been to this one, you should really plan to attend next year.
The Great Smoky Mountain Jeep Invasion.
This past version, the event's 12th edition, took place August 22-24 at the LeConte Center in Pigeon Forge — filling up the center's inside area with major industry vendors, as well as spilling out across Teaster Lane into an outdoor area where additional vendors set up shop.
Organizers anticipated over 20,000 Jeeps and more than 50,000 people for this year's GSMJI, making it one of the country's largest Jeep gatherings.
Oh, and when show hours ended, the mountain and vacation spot about 45 minutes southeast of Knoxville offered plenty of choices on how to spend an evening. Of course, most people preferred to cruise U.S. Route 441 in their vehicles, quickly turning the six-lane road into a standstill parking lot for much of the night.
As far as the show, it really doesn't have a lot of stuff to do in a Jeep. Sure, Windrock Offroad Park is about 90 minutes away, and participants can sign up for a Show-and-Shine competition, but the actual event is dominated by what you can do to your Jeep, versus what you can do in it.
More than 300 industry vendors dominated the sightlines this year to show off products, sell, and, in the case of Alpine Electronics, even install their wares.
Quadratec made its return to the show as well for the first time since 2019, getting a chance to showcase Res-Q Recovery Products, TacTik Storageitems, Stealth Lighting, Axial RC Model Jeeps, and a variety of other things.
In all, organizers said the GSMJI generates somewhere between $8 to $10 million in additional revenue strictly from those attending the event.
— Torque Staff Report
