NC HWY 226 or 221 to Bear Den Campground?

I've been up both before and remember 226 being much more curvy going up to the parkway. For those that are familiar with the area, would I be better going up 221 then down the parkway vs 226 and up. Bear Den is roughly in the middle of the two.
If I recall 221 is a little steeper but straighter. With a CCLB and 35ft of TT, I'm not looking forward to going up 226 again.