Day 5 Stecoah the Blue Ridge Parkway Gatlinburg | The largest verified route archive thanks to MyRoute-app RouteXperts

Day 5 Stecoah the Blue Ridge Parkway Gatlinburg

This route was brought to you by:

RouteXpert René Plücken (MRA Master)

Last edit: 12-02-2021

Route Summary

Day 5 of our 6 day vacation in Tennessee and North Carolina.

America is pre-eminently a country to explore on a motorcycle. There are many travel organizations that offer organized tours, but the charm is also to map out routes and drive on your own.

Good motorbike rental companies can be found throughout the country and the bikes are often of the latest model and well maintained.

We drive on the beautiful roads in the states of Nashville and North Carolina and this area is characterized by the beautiful idyllic landscape with provincial two-lane roads that wind through the landscape with many curves, you can visit beautiful towns, villages and places of interest.

Be careful though, because the roads are sometimes of very poor quality and hardly or not lit up in the dark.

For each route there is a more detailed description in the review.

The route is suitable for TomTom, Garmin, Harley-Davidson BoomBox 2 (2019 model) and MyRoute-app Navigation.

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Verdict

Duration

7h 52m

Mode of travel

Car or motorcycle

Distance

456.36 km

Countries

RouteXpert Review

Day 5 today we drive from Stecoah to Gaitlinburg via part of the Blue Ridge Parkway. This is a very long route of about 452 kilometers, the first 50 kilometers we therefore also drive via the highway, it is less interesting to drive but we can hurry the first part and still enjoy the beautiful panoramas en route.

At RP5 we leave the highway and here also starts the beautiful Cherokee Indian Reservation, where Cherokee Indians have lived for centuries, the 56,000 hectare reserve is still linked to ancient customs, culture, history and traditions. For the enthusiasts there are also museums etc. to visit, plan an extra day for that because the area is large and there is much to see and do.

At RP6 we stop to take a photo of the Soco Falls waterfalls, a beautiful double waterfall near the Blue Ridge Parkway between Cherokee and Maggie Valley. A five-minute walk from the parking lot leads to a viewing platform. To the left of the viewing platform a steep path descends to the top of the smaller fall and further down to the creek under the waterfalls. This path is not maintained and is very slippery. It is not recommended to follow this path further. Do not enter the creek above the falls. Tragically, several people were killed at the waterfalls of North Carolina.

RP7 starts The Blue Ridge Parkway, a National Parkway and All-American Road in the United States, known for its picturesque beauty. The Blue Ridge Parkway is the longest linear park in America, is 759 km long and runs through 29 counties of Virginia and North Carolina. It connects Shenandoah National Park with Great Smoky Mountains National Park. It runs along the back of the Blue Ridge Mountains, an important mountain range that is part of the Appalachian Mountains.
The entire Blue Ridge Parkway is a beautiful route that you can drive in 3 to 4 days, I also wrote a review of which I placed the link at the bottom of this review.

We will only drive part of it, but there are points where we can stop to enjoy the beautiful panoramas, these points are marked with a route point;

RP8 Richland Balsam Overlook, also the highest point on the Blue Ridge Parkway at an altitude of 1845m (6053ft).
RP9 Herrin Knob Overlook at 1679m (5510ft). Although misspelled, Herrin Knob was named after James Herren who owned land and operated a sawmill here.
RP10 Pounding Mill Overlook at 1433m (4700ft). More than a century ago, mountain people would have built a hammer-type mill to grind corn. These mills were powered by water and built along streams such as Pounding Mill Branch.
RP11 Pisgah Inn Overlook, here we stop a little longer to have lunch in the restaurant with a great view and good dishes.

After lunch we drive further and at RP12 we leave the Blue Ridge Highway to refuel.
At RP14, here you have two options;
1) Continue straight on the Blue Ridge Highway to the summit of Mount Mitchell (RP15), the highest point (2037m - 6684ft) east of Mississippi. This point is easily reached via a beautiful winding road from the Parkway. This is about 85 km up and down and takes about 2 hours, so if you want to save time you can go for option 2.
2) Turn left and continue to Hot Springs (RP18).
Hot Springs with its 567 inhabitants is perhaps best known for its hot mineral springs, but you can certainly find many other things to do! This village in Madison County is just 40 minutes north of Asheville at the intersection of the Appalachian Trail (right through the center) and the French Broad River. Hot Springs is surrounded by the Pisgah National Forest and is a retreat for those looking for outdoor adventure, healing and relaxation, or a quiet romantic getaway. So a nice village to stop for a while.

We continue the journey through the Pisgah National Forest to our final destination Gatlinburg, a bustling city with a lot of history and where there is a lot to do.

Despite a small piece of highway, this route is certainly worth 5 *****. The roads on the Blue Ridge Parkway are a dream for every motorcyclist and the panoramas along the way are breathtaking.

For those who have more time, a longer visit to the Cherokee Indian Reservation is recommended.

Links

Day 4 Roundtrip Great Smoky Mountains The Tail of the Dragon north to south and Cherohala Skyway
Cherokee Indian Reservation
Gatlinburg
Day 6 Gatlinburg Nashville
Waynesboro to Stecoah along the Blue Ridge Parkway

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Tennessee

About this region

Tennessee, officially the State of Tennessee, is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States. Tennessee is the 36th largest by area and the 16th most populous of the 50 states. It is bordered by Kentucky to the north, Virginia to the northeast, North Carolina to the east, Georgia, Alabama, and Mississippi to the south, Arkansas to the southwest, and Missouri to the northwest. Tennessee is geographically, culturally, and legally divided into three Grand Divisions of East, Middle, and West Tennessee. Nashville is the state's capital and largest city, and anchors its largest metropolitan area. Tennessee's population as of the 2020 United States census is approximately 6.9 million.Tennessee is rooted in the Watauga Association, a 1772 frontier pact generally regarded as the first constitutional government west of the Appalachian Mountains. Its name is derived from "Tanasi", a Cherokee town in the eastern part of the state that existed before the first European American settlement. Tennessee was initially part of North Carolina, and later the Southwest Territory, before its admission to the Union as the 16th state on June 1, 1796. It earned the nickname "The Volunteer State" early in its history due to a strong tradition of military service. A slave state until the American Civil War, Tennessee was politically divided, with its western and middle parts supporting the Confederacy and the eastern region harboring pro-Union sentiment. As a result, Tennessee was the last state to secede and the first readmitted to the Union after the war.During the 20th century, Tennessee transitioned from a predominantly agrarian society to a more diversified economy. This was aided in part by massive federal investment in the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) and the city of Oak Ridge, which was established during World War II to house the Manhattan Project's uranium enrichment facilities for the construction of the world's first atomic bombs. These were dropped on Imperial Japan at the end of the war. After the war, the Oak Ridge National Laboratory became a key center of scientific research. In 2016, the element tennessine was named for the state, largely in recognition of the roles played by Oak Ridge, Vanderbilt University, and the University of Tennessee in its discovery. Tennessee has also played a major role in the development of many forms of popular music, including country, blues, rock and roll, soul, and gospel.
Tennessee has diverse terrain and landforms, and from east to west, contains a mix of cultural features characteristic of Appalachia, the Upland South, and the Deep South. The Blue Ridge Mountains along the eastern border reach some of the highest elevations in eastern North America, and the Cumberland Plateau contains many scenic valleys and waterfalls. The central part of the state is marked by cavernous bedrock and irregular rolling hills, and level, fertile plains define West Tennessee. The state is twice bisected by the Tennessee River, and the Mississippi River forms its western border. Its economy is dominated by the health care, music, finance, automotive, chemical, electronics, and tourism sectors, and cattle, soybeans, corn, poultry, and cotton are its primary agricultural products. The Great Smoky Mountains National Park, the nation's most visited national park, is in eastern Tennessee.