6 Best Wellness Retreats in Tennessee, From the Smokies to the Cumberland Plateau

Updated September 16, 2026

The best wellness retreats in Tennessee split cleanly into two kinds. One is the luxury mountain resort, where the wellness is a spa, a yoga studio and several thousand acres of trail outside the door. The other is the retreat center, where a program is the whole point: meditation, silence, Ayurveda, or simply a cabin and nobody to talk to. Both cluster in the same two places, the Great Smoky Mountains in the east and the Cumberland Plateau in the middle, and we say which group each pick belongs to.

A meadow of wildflowers with mist rising off the forested ridges of the Great Smoky Mountains at sunrise
A meadow in the Great Smoky Mountains, the setting for most of Tennessee's resort retreats. Photo: Meadow in the Smoky Mountains by Rhododendrites (CC BY-SA 4.0), via Wikimedia Commons.

Tennessee is an easy state to reach without a long flight: Nashville and Knoxville both have airports within a couple of hours of everything on this list, and Chattanooga is closer still to the Plateau. Fall is the busiest season, when foliage in the Smokies draws visitors from across the Southeast, so book September and October weekends early. Rates vary widely by season, program and room type, so we have not quoted prices; check each property directly.

Resort retreats

1. Blackberry Farm, Walland

The benchmark. Blackberry Farm sits in the foothills of the Smokies at Walland, about 30 minutes south of Knoxville, and its wellness center, The Wellhouse, holds a fitness facility, a yoga studio and an activities room. The daily schedule runs yoga and barre alongside faster classes such as Cardio Core, with personal training consultations available, and the spa sits alongside it. The farm is also one of the best-known kitchens in the American South, which is either the point or the problem depending on what you came for. Best for: a restorative long weekend where the food matters as much as the treatments.

2. Blackberry Mountain, Walland

Blackberry Farm's younger sibling on the next ridge, and the more strictly wellness-oriented of the two. The property covers over 2,800 acres with more than 36 miles of private hiking trails, and its wellness center, Nest, runs yoga, fitness, body therapies, skincare, forest bathing, sound bathing, contrast therapy and a recovery lab, plus an art studio. Vogue included it in its 2025 Global Spa Guide and its list of the top ten spa resorts in the United States. Best for: guests who want the hiking and the treatments in equal measure.

Program-led retreat centers

3. Isha Institute of Inner-sciences, McMinnville

A 1,400-acre yoga center on the Cumberland Plateau, 1.5 hours from Nashville and 45 minutes from Chattanooga, run by the Isha Foundation. The site is built around two consecrated spaces, Adiyogi: The Abode of Yoga and the 39,000 square foot domed Mahima Hall, with the Linga Bhairavi Abode consecrated in May 2025. Programs range from beginner meditation and Inner Engineering to hatha yoga and overnight Adiyogi Darshan retreats, and accommodation runs from private studios to cabins with mountain views. Day visitors are welcome from 8:30am to 8pm, 365 days a year. Best for: a structured introduction to yoga and meditation rather than a spa break.

4. St. Mary's Sewanee, Sewanee

A contemplative retreat center on a bluff on the Cumberland Plateau, at Sewanee, which has welcomed people since 1888. The programming centers on silence and contemplative practice: Centering Prayer, mindfulness, writing and creativity retreats, worship, and personal retreats for people who want to come alone and follow no schedule at all. It is surrounded by forest, trails and gardens, with long views off the bluff. It is rooted in the Episcopal tradition but explicitly welcomes people of many traditions. Best for: a genuine silent retreat, at a fraction of resort prices.

5. Penuel Ridge Retreat Center, Ashland City

An interfaith contemplative retreat center about 30 miles northwest of Nashville, which has been taking groups for more than 40 years. Its stated emphases are contemplation, silence, hospitality, rest, social justice and communion with nature. There is a main retreat house and space to camp, and it takes individuals and couples as well as groups for restorative stays, quiet writing time or deliberate time together. Visits are by appointment because retreats in progress are private. Best for: a quiet, low-cost solo retreat close to Nashville.

6. Bask Retreat Center, Centerville

Ninety minutes west of Nashville, Bask is a 42-acre property of forest, wetland and grassland with geodomes, cabins and a main lodge that sleeps 16 or more. Its practices lean modern: breathwork, sauna, ice baths, creek walks and stargazing in genuinely dark skies. It is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit built around land restoration and holistic health, and it works both ways: it hosts its own curated retreats and rents the site to retreat leaders, while also taking individual overnight guests. Best for: a small group retreat, or a solo stay somewhere that is not a hotel.

How to choose between them

  • Do you want a program or a break? Isha and St. Mary's Sewanee run you to a schedule. Blackberry Farm and Blackberry Mountain hand you a menu.
  • How much silence can you take? A first silent retreat is more comfortable at a center that runs guided programs than as an unstructured solo stay.
  • Which airport? Knoxville for the Smokies, Nashville for the Plateau and the western half, Chattanooga for Isha.
  • What is the budget? The two resorts are at the top of the American market. The four centers are not, and several offer financial assistance or sliding scales.
  • When? Fall is spectacular and busy in the Smokies. Spring is quieter and cheaper, and the Plateau is pleasant well into October.

If you are still deciding on the format, our guides to types of wellness retreats and how to choose a wellness retreat cover the questions to ask before you book, and what to expect on a first retreat covers the rest. For more destinations, start at Retreat Central.

Frequently asked questions

What is the best wellness retreat in Tennessee?

For a resort, Blackberry Mountain in Walland, which has over 2,800 acres, more than 36 miles of private trails and the Nest wellness center, and which Vogue named among the top ten spa resorts in the United States in 2025. For a program-led retreat, the Isha Institute of Inner-sciences at McMinnville.

Is there a silent retreat in Tennessee?

Yes. St. Mary's Sewanee, on a bluff on the Cumberland Plateau, has offered retreats built around silence and contemplative practice since 1888, including Centering Prayer and personal retreats with no schedule. Penuel Ridge near Nashville also emphasizes silence and takes individuals.

Where are Tennessee's wellness retreats concentrated?

In two areas. The Great Smoky Mountains in the east, near Walland and Townsend, hold the resort properties. The Cumberland Plateau and the country west of Nashville hold the retreat centers.

Can I go on a retreat in Tennessee alone?

Yes, and several of these are built for it. St. Mary's Sewanee and Penuel Ridge both take individuals for personal retreats, and Bask accepts individual overnight guests alongside its group bookings.

When is the best time for a Tennessee retreat?

Fall is the most popular, when foliage draws visitors to the Smokies, so book well ahead for September and October. Spring is quieter and generally cheaper, and summer at altitude on the Plateau is more comfortable than the Tennessee lowlands.

Do any Tennessee retreats offer financial help?

Some centers do. Nonprofit and faith-rooted centers are more likely to offer sliding scales, work exchange or financial aid than resort properties; ask directly, because these are rarely advertised on the booking page.

Sources

Checked September 16, 2026 against each property's published information. Programs, facilities and rates change; confirm directly before booking.