Scenic Drives and Road Trips through the Blue Ridge and Smoky Mountains

Welcome to the Blue Ridge Highlander Library of Scenic Drives and Road Trips, through the Blue Ridge and Smoky Mountains. Below is a photo and short description about each story, click the photo or title to go to the full story. New stories will continue to be added, so check back occassionally to enjoy the new additions.

Untold Riches • Roadways thru the Highlands, like a great key that unlocked the mysteries and wonders of a fantastic treasure, so rich in fable and resource, so vast in its expanse, that for centuries it denied all but modest extractions from the mighty grip of its impenetrable stronghold. Held within its firm grasp it bore upon its mountainous shoulders and concealed within the depths of its valleys and gorges an incomprehensible beauty, locked away like a time capsule awaiting the arrival of a new age. An age when exploration and discovery would usher in scientific and engineering achievements, a time when leisure travel to exotic location would open gateways into the natural wonders of nature’s very own creation.

Cherohala Skyway.....From heights nearing 6,000-feet, are views of the rugged rolling mountaintops of the Unaka Mountains with the Great Smoky Mountains to the northeast and the Tennessee River Valley to the west. What you will find along the route are lots of great mountain overlooks, camping areas and numerous hiking trails leading off from the scenic byway. The mountain and valley views along the 36-mile stretch are spectacular. read on.....

Unaka Mountains - Unicoi Mountain Wilderness

Unaka - Unicoi Mountains Scenic Byway.....Some of the largest mountain wilderness lands in the nation lie on the fringes of the eastern Tennessee Valley’s mountain region and along the western boundary of North Carolina’s mountain country. This wilderness of over 1,154,000 acres has been divided into three separate mountain ranges. The Upper Unaka Mountains, the Lower Unaka Mountains and bridging the two of them together in the middle is the Great Smoky Mountains. read on.....

Blue Ridge Parkway Cherokee to Asheville

Blue Ridge Parkway from Cherokee North Carolina to Asheville North Carolina. The highest point along the Parkway lies just above the southern end of the Haywood County, you can not only drive this extraordinary scenic drive you can also stop and hike the high country to take in unusual sites and natural wonders true to the great Blue Ridge and Smoky Mountains Province.

Forest Heritage National Scenic Byway definitely lives up to its namesake. The 79-mile loop tour will take you deep into the heart of the Pisgah National Forest with mountain peaks reaching more that 6,000 feet above sea level. Beginning in Waynesville take US 276 to the town of Woodrow, it’s the next town east of Waynesville. At the intersection of US 276 and State 215, head south on State 215.

Union County Georgia Scenic Driving Tour

Union County Scenic Driving Tour, takes you on US 19/129 and GA 180. Driving tours are probably the most popular way to see and experience the beauty and wonders of these ancient Blue Ridge Mountains. Union County not only has natural beauty it also has some of the finest highways and road systems the Blue Ridge Mountains have to offer.

Haywood County Scenic Drives this drive covers both the section of the Blue Ridge Parkway that goes through Haywood County and Forest Heritage National Scenic Byway from Haywood County. The Forest Heritage National Scenic Byway is a 79-mile loop tour will take you deep into the heart of the Pisgah National Forest with mountain peaks reaching more that 6,000 feet above sea level.

Aye'll Take the Highroads a ribbon of asphalt, gently gliding across valleys and over mountain gaps, while occasionally following along the shore of a beautiful lake. We will cross the Appalachian Trail twice, zig-zag over the Eastern Continental Divide, do switch backs up and down mountain slopes, hug the curves of a high mountain gorge and ride the banks of a whitewater river rushing down a steep mountain gorge, all in one trip.

Blue Ridge Georgia and Gateway to the Mountains

Gateway to the Mountains...This story begins hundreds of miles to the north, at the very upper tip of the Blue Ridge Province. A solitary mound of earth rises from the ground to a modest height, its own roots, are bound deep into the earth, reaching back in time to the days of the first turns on the Great Potter's wheel. At the southern most tip of the Province is a valley that extends approximately 25 miles across, point to point crossing, with several small mountain ranges, rivers and a continuous flow of rolling hills. It's from this advantage point, as you enter the valley that the inner corridor gets its name..."Gateway to the Mountains."

Senic Drives in the Blue Ridge and Smoky Mountains

Foothills Parkways...If you can’t get enough the Great Smoky Mountain’s scenic drives or you just want to view them from another perspective at a much lower altitude, then your going to love the Foothills Parkway. The views from these lower mountain ridges are spectacular. The Foothills Parkway takes visitors above the treetops and foothills from the valley below, offering incredible mountain vistas across the entire face of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.

The Blue Ridge Parkway stretches 469 miles from the southern end of the Shenandoah National Park in Virginia to the Qualla Boundary of the Cherokee People on the southern edge of the Great Smoky Mountains Park in North Carolina. The majority of the Blue Ridge Parkway travels across the spine of mountain ridges.

North Carolina's Cherohala Skyway transverses the entire width of the Lower Unaka Mountains; also known as the Unicoi Mountains. The Lower Unaka Mountains are more than half the have the size of the Smoky Mountains with mountain balds (peaks) nearing 6,000 feet high. A vast mountain wilderness so isolated that it was nearly forgotten.

New Found Gap in the Smoky Mountains of Western North Carolina

North Carolina's Newfound Gap Road or US Highway 441 dissects the Great Smoky Mountains National Park the two-lane roadway crosses thru the heart of the park and over its highest mountain gap. Newfound Gap Road follows rivers, climbs steep slopes and offers incredible views from the rooftop of the eastern United States.

Gold City Tour, Dahlonega to Blairsville in the North Georgia Mountains. It all started here and the rush was on. Discovery of gold in Northern Georgia ended decades of broken treaties and scrupulous land deals with the Cherokee People. No more wars, no more debates the Cherokee had to go and the beginning of the Trail of Tears was put into effect.

Russell Brasstown Scenic By Way in the North Georgia Mountains

Russell-Brasstown Scenic Byway is best described as going to the rooftop of North Georgia Mountains. This 38-mile trek ascends the very heights of the Georgia’s mountain country and brings you into contact with some of the most spectacular natural wonders the North Georgia Mountains have to offer.

Tennessee's Cherohala Skyway transverses the entire width of the Lower Unaka Mountains; also known as the Unicoi Mountains. The Lower Unaka Mountains are more than half the have the size of the Smoky Mountains with mountain balds (peaks) nearing 6,000 feet high. A vast mountain wilderness so isolated that it was nearly forgotten.

Newfound Gap in the Smoky Mountains of Tennessee

Tennessee's Newfound Gap Road or US Highway 441 dissects the Great Smoky Mountains National Park the two-lane roadway crosses thru the heart of the park and over its highest mountain gap. Newfound Gap Road follows rivers, climbs steep slopes and offers incredible views from the rooftop of the eastern United States.

Ocoee Scenic Byway in the Tennessee River Valley

The Ocoee Scenic Byway once known as the Old Copper Road, was the first designated National Forest Scenic Byway in the United States. This 26 mile two lane road trip connects what’s referred to locally as Upper and Lower Polk County. The Ocoee Scenic Byway also includes the Chilhowee Mountain Drive on Forest Route FR77 just across from Ocoee Lake in the Cherokee National Forest.

Southern Highroads Trail in North Georgia Mountains, Western North Carolina, Eastern Tennessee and South Carolina Up Country

The Southern Highroads Trail is a 364-mile National Scenic Byway that travels through 4 states of the southern Blue Ridge Mountain highlands. The 364-mile byway will take visitors thru the mountainous regions of the Chattahoochee National Forest of North Georgia, the Sumter National Forest in northwestern South Carolina, the Nantahala National Forest in western North Carolina and the Cherokee National Forest in southeastern Tennessee.