Day 6 Gatlinburg Nashville | The largest verified route archive thanks to MyRoute-app RouteXperts

Day 6 Gatlinburg Nashville

This route was brought to you by:

RouteXpert René Plücken (MRA Master)

Last edit: 12-02-2021

Route Summary

Day 6 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

6h 28m

Mode of travel

Car or motorcycle

Distance

391.00 km

Countries

RouteXpert Review

Today we drive from Gatlinburg back to Nashville, the ride is approximately 390 kilometers. But before we start the journey home, we can quickly shop at RP2 at Hill Billy Harley Davidson in Gatlinburg and at RP3 we refuel the bikes.

We continue the drive to RP4 where the Sugarland Visitors Center is located, you can stop here if you are interested in additional information about the Great Smoky Mountain National Park.

At RP5 the last beautiful scenic byway starts in the Great Smokey Mountains, the next 28 kilometers (18 miles) we drive on the Little River Gorge Road, this is one of the most beautiful rides in eastern Tennessee, located in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. The road follows the contours of the Little River to the town of Townsend (RP) which is the entrance to the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. We leave this beautiful area where we have enjoyed the last 4 days of beautiful roads and beautiful nature.

The Little River Gorge Road is asphalted and in good condition and one of the most popular rides in the Smokies. The road was laid where once the Little River Railroad ran that was used for logging before the park was built. The ride is a wonderful experience in a beautiful setting.

Along the Little River Road there are seven signposts, each numbered to indicate an interesting point. A number of points are marked with a route point and definitely worth stopping for a photo.
This beautiful winding mountain ride with sharp and blind turns and hairpin bends takes you through the mountains and includes views, trailheads, picnic areas, camping access points and even a waterfall that can be seen from the road.

In Townsend you can stop at RP13 to visit the Great Smoky Mountains Heritage Center, whose mission is to preserve, interpret and share the history and culture of the various peoples and Indians who have lived in the Southern Appalachians, including the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, and offers exhibitions and programs for educational and cultural enrichment.

At RP14 you can visit the Little River Railroad and Lumber Company Museum. It is a non-profit company founded in 1982 to preserve the heritage of the Little River Lumber Company and the Little River Railroad. Discover how the Indians and pioneers depended on the Little River and the surrounding forests for survival.

We continue to RP16 where we turn onto the Foothills Parkway, this scenic Parkway will provide a beautiful view of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park from the road just outside the park. Of the seven Congressionally Mandated Parkways, the Foothills Parkway is the only remaining parkway that has yet to be completed. When completed, the Parkway will be a 72-mile road that crosses the western and northern perimeter of the park and extends from Interstate 40 east of Cosby, TN to its western terminus in Chilhowee. There are several parking places along this Parkway and it is recommended to stop briefly once in a while to enjoy the view of the Great Smoky Mountains and to take a photo.

At RP32 we have reached the end of the beautiful Parkway and on the left is the beautiful Chilhowee Lake, it looks more like a river because it is rather narrow. You can stop here in the parking lot if you want to take a photo.
We drive via Kingston to Crossville (RP38), where we stop for lunch, here are several restaurants and fast food chains.

The last 180 kilometers to Nashville we drive on the US-70, a two-lane road (sometimes four lanes) through the green and rolling landscape of Tennessee. Along the way you pass a number of small villages, such as Pleasant Hill, Sparta and Smithville. If you feel like it you can always stop for a short break to have a drink. You also see many small wooden houses and churches that are so typical of this state.

In the evening we arrive at the Motel and can still enjoy bustling Nashville.
This route again has two very beautiful routes and beautiful panoramas, but the last part is sometimes a bit boring, because of the four-lane roads and therefore I rate this route with 4 **** Stars.

Links

Day 5 Stecoah the Blue Ridge Parkway Gatlinburg
Little River Rail road Museum Townsend TN
Nashville
Drake Inn Motel Nashville

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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.