Blog for Zipline Attraction in the Smoky Mountains
Located in Pigeon Forge, TN and near Gatlinburg and Sevierville.
5 Alternate Ways to Get to the Smokies, Part II
By Ross Bodhi Ogle
Posted on July 12, 2016
Last week, we gave you some helpful hints for driving to the Great Smoky Mountains of Tennessee. Instead of coming into Sevierville on Tenn. Hwy. 66 from Interstate 40, we showed you three alternate routes for getting to the communities of Sevierville, Pigeon Forge and Gatlinburg.
Two of those routes are especially helpful if you're looking for a more scenic or, in some cases, a less congested way to get to downtown Sevierville via Knoxville or Newport, Tennessee. The third, U.S. Hwy. 321 takes you directly into Pigeon Forge, which is where Smoky Mountain Ziplines is located. And personally, we think that if you're planning on doing some ziplining, Sevierville, Tennessee courses simply don't stack up to what we have to offer vacationers in search of family zipline fun.
This week, however, we're going to show you two more alternatives for getting into the Smokies, and these focus more on the south end of Sevier County and accessing the area through Gatlinburg.
4. U.S. 441 from Cherokee, NC
Lots of folks like to work a visit to Cherokee, North Carolina, into their Smoky Mountain travel plans. There's a lot to do in Cherokee, not to mention experiencing the national park from the North Carolina perspective. If you're coming from Cherokee, you simply get on U.S. 441 and head north toward Gatlinburg.
This is very scenic drive, which takes you exclusively through the national park. You'll see rolling mountains stretching out toward the horizon, and there are multiple pullovers where you can stop for a few minutes and take some pics or just gaze in awe at the impressive landscape. Once you leave park property, you'll essentially be at the south end of Gatlinburg on the Parkway, which is the main drag that runs north-south through town.
5. U.S. 321 from Interstate 40
U.S. 321 is another option for scenic driving, and it brings you into Gatlinburg from the east side of town. In fact, as you approach, the road becomes East Parkway and eventually intersects with Parkway in the heart of downtown Gatlinburg.
To get on U.S. 321, however, you have a couple of options. If you're headed east on I-40 from Knoxville or the Tri Cities area, take the Wilton Springs exit (exit 440), which puts you directly onto U.S. 321. Easy peasy.
But if you're headed west on I-40 from Asheville, NC, you actually have a much more fun option. Take exit 443 onto Tenn. Hwy. 339, otherwise known as Foothills Parkway. This is another super scenic highway that winds its way through the national park. It's a two-lane road, so traffic doesn't exactly fly, but it's one of the prettiest routes in the region, and honestly, if you're coming in from Asheville, it's as quick as any other route you might take. Like U.S. 441 from Cherokee to Gatlinburg, Foothills Parkway has many traffic pullover for admiring the mountains and the valleys. The route intersects U.S. 321 in Cosby, Tennessee, and from there, you head southwest toward Gatlinburg.
