Atlanta/Chattanooga to Mammoth Cave in KY: best route

[kokotg]

We're headed to Mammoth Cave from Atlanta this weekend and had been planning to just go through Chattanooga and then Nashville on I-24. But I was just checking the gps on my phone, and it's offering up an alternate route east of that, using state route 111 in Tennessee and 163 in Kentucky. Has anyone tried both and want to offer up a recommendation? I wouldn't mind staying off the interstate and seeing more, but we have a 33 foot trailer, so I don't want to get into any dicey situations with narrow mountain roads (I'm nervous enough about the Monteagle pass if we take I-24). Thoughts? Thanks!

[jaycocamprs]

TN-111 isn't what I would call narrow or crocked, but you will go up & down twice. I-24 over Monteagle is up & down once. Going north you will have the steeper grades going up on either route.
As mentioned above take Briley Parkway around downtown Nashville.

[dapperdan]

kokotg wrote:

dapperdan wrote:
I didn't see your concern about Monteagle before, sorry... it's a long steady pull but we had NO difficulties pulling up that "hill"at all. I don't think it's too bad at all, there's an extra lane there for slower moving trucks or cars so you shouldn't have any trouble there. Going down the other side wasn't bad either. :B

Dan

Going down worries me a lot more than going up :). I think we'll be okay, though...we just drove it not towing a few months ago, and I didn't think anything of it. But seeing those runaway truck ramps is a little scary.

Thanks for the route info....good to know the drive isn't bad! And your tip about tours comes a little too late for me...I just went to reserve one the other night, and the Frozen Niagara one we planned to do had only one ticket left; I had no idea they sold out so far in advance! I managed to grab that last ticket so I could do that tour with our three year old (who doesn't need a ticket), though, and my husband will take the older kids on one of the longer, less toddler friendly tours.

Sorry to hear about your reservation dilemma, we found out the hard way too. Bummer

Just take your time going down the pass, down shift as others have advised and keep your speed down. YOU can do this!

Dan

[kohldad]

As you crest the pass, downshift a couple of gears to let the engine provide some braking. Then use the brakes as needed. Even if you have a gasoline engine, the downshifting will help.

[kokotg]

dapperdan wrote:
I didn't see your concern about Monteagle before, sorry... it's a long steady pull but we had NO difficulties pulling up that "hill"at all. I don't think it's too bad at all, there's an extra lane there for slower moving trucks or cars so you shouldn't have any trouble there. Going down the other side wasn't bad either. :B

Dan

Going down worries me a lot more than going up :). I think we'll be okay, though...we just drove it not towing a few months ago, and I didn't think anything of it. But seeing those runaway truck ramps is a little scary.

Thanks for the route info....good to know the drive isn't bad! And your tip about tours comes a little too late for me...I just went to reserve one the other night, and the Frozen Niagara one we planned to do had only one ticket left; I had no idea they sold out so far in advance! I managed to grab that last ticket so I could do that tour with our three year old (who doesn't need a ticket), though, and my husband will take the older kids on one of the longer, less toddler friendly tours.

[kokotg]

kohldad wrote:
I wouldn't hesitate to take the alternate route even when I had a 35' FW, but then again, even the Blue Ridge Parkway didn't bother me. the alternate route will take an extra few hours plus any site seeing stops though and doubt I would try to do it all in one day. After all, what is the advantage of taking a backroad route if you don't stop along the way?

Thanks kohldad! We do have a tight schedule, so maybe we should save the scenic route for when we have more time.

[dapperdan]

I didn't see your concern about Monteagle before, sorry... it's a long steady pull but we had NO difficulties pulling up that "hill"at all. I don't think it's too bad at all, there's an extra lane there for slower moving trucks or cars so you shouldn't have any trouble there. Going down the other side wasn't bad either. :B

Dan

[dapperdan]

We just drove up from Chattanooga to Cave City on Wednesday (3/30), we stayed on I-24 all the way till we got to 155 (Briley PKWY) then onto I-65 north. VERY easy route, there's a few stop lights on Briley but we hit most of them right. We drove through there with no troubles at all, it was about 11:00 am when we went through Nashville. We're pulling a 38' fifth wheel.

On a side note not to hi jack this thread but know which cave tour you want to do in advance, we didn't know about the reservations needed to tour (guided) the cave and had to take the self-guided one. Was't what we wanted but that's all that was available at the time. 😞

Dan

[kohldad]

I wouldn't hesitate to take the alternate route even when I had a 35' FW, but then again, even the Blue Ridge Parkway didn't bother me. the alternate route will take an extra few hours plus any site seeing stops though and doubt I would try to do it all in one day. After all, what is the advantage of taking a backroad route if you don't stop along the way?

The roads are single lane, you do have to make the climb up the Cumberland Plateau outside of Chattanooga, then will have some more twisty roads as you enter into KY. Some sections you will be able to roll at 55, but some sections you will only be able to ride about 35 mph because of the curves. I don't think there are any tight switch backs that will pose a problem.

If you decide to go that way, once you get on 111 you are pretty much committed until you get to I40. Then you can decide if you want to tackle the slightly harder section up through KY or take I40 over to Nashville and grab I24.

Getting some experience on the backroads may be all that it takes to get more comfortable with them. Just remember, drive at a speed that is comfortable to you and don't worry about the folks behind you. But be courteous and pull over to let them pass once in a while. They may not realize it, but they would much rather drive slowly behind you then wait a couple hours on the tow truck pulling your rig back up the mountain side.

Which ever way you decide to go, be safe and have fun.