Gatlinburg tn route

[Wi11iamt]

Whats the best route to take comming from central east Illinois to gatlinburg tn... mainly to avoid big mountain pulls..

[navybanker]

Agree with ken56 do not take exit 407 with at least 21 traffic lights and very heavy traffic. In addition the traffic is tourist attempting to look for places to shop as they drive on 441. Many rubberneckers and sudden turns in front of you. We stay in East G,burg and always come in like Ken said.

[STBRetired]

Take 24 east to Remington and grab 65 South. When you get to 465 at Indy, go east and grab 74 east to Cincinnati. Then get 75 South/ Don't be tempted to take 65 to 40. No steep hills that way but quite a bit of backtracking and Nashville is NUTS!. 441 through Sevierville and Pigeon Forge is a very busy highway. Not a bad drive, but lots of traffic.

[ken56]

Wi11iamt wrote:
I drive a semi for a living..grades no biggy bit just unfamiliar with tn mountains.. and our destination in greenbrior rv resort over by cosby tn

Cosby is east of G'burg so stay on 40 to exit 435 and go in to Greenbriar from that side. It's a bit longer in distance but you miss the very heavy traffic on the main drag. You will have no issue with the grades and roads here. Good choice on the campground too.

[Wi11iamt]

Im new to the camping thing . Like many of us are at one time.. my rig is a 33ft forest river salem 6504 dry weight being pulled by a 17 gmc 1500 5.3 .. i know the truck will be good but being this is my first time pulling a bumper trailer up thisroute was just looking for different route ideas from more advanced rv goers. Any and all advice is noted and appreciate even the bad lol..

[CFerguson]

ken56 wrote:
I just came down I-75 yesterday and there might be a fairly long grade but it is not steep or anything like a hair raising mountain pass. If you can't handle a grade up or down you hadn't better go anywhere then.

I didn't mean to sound critical of your post. Please accept my apology if it sounded that way.

The OP is only asking about his route thru/near the southern Appalachians- he knows he isn't going to see any grades like you would in the Rockies. Jellico Mtn grade is probably among the worst grades in this part of the country since they fixed Monteagle. If he's good with that, he's good all the rest of the route.
Another consideration is that we don't know if his tow vehicle is up to pulling whatever he is pulling. He may get hot pulling up JM or heat up his brakes doing down that long stretch. (subsequent post shows the OP certainly knows what he is doing, but at the time of my reply we did not have this info).

And imo what makes JM grade bad is all the idiots driving like idiots and getting into wrecks and such. I'm sure most of you do anyway, but always check a state's DOT site to see if theres any traffic problems before you get there (and let me say that if theres a problem at JM, so NOT take the windy 2-lane 9 as an alternate!)

https://smartway.tn.gov/traffic?position=-86.35683040000003,35.8630463,7&features=incidents,traffic

[Wi11iamt]

I drive a semi for a living..grades no biggy bit just unfamiliar with tn mountains.. and our destination in greenbrior rv resort over by cosby tn

[ken56]

I just came down I-75 yesterday and there might be a fairly long grade but it is not steep or anything like a hair raising mountain pass. If you can't handle a grade up or down you hadn't better go anywhere then.

[CFerguson]

ken56 wrote:
Choose an interstate that takes you to Cinci and head south on 75. When you hit I-40 go east to exit 407 then south to G'burg. There are no big mountain pulls but there are some hills you might need to push the gas pedal down pretty good. Specific destination could help in refining a route into G'burg.

Correct, but realize that on your return trip you will have to go UP Jellico Mtn at the northern TN portion of I75. Pay attention as you come thru there to see if that's something you want to do on the way home.

[ken56]

Choose an interstate that takes you to Cinci and head south on 75. When you hit I-40 go east to exit 407 then south to G'burg. There are no big mountain pulls but there are some hills you might need to push the gas pedal down pretty good. Specific destination could help in refining a route into G'burg.