Route 74, NC

It's not a bad ride, I have pulled our 5'th wheel that way several times. You will have hills and 2 sections of 2 lane road. Through the Ocoee gorge and the section through the Nantahala National Forest. If you don't mind crooked 2 lane with no shoulder it a beautiful ride. Most of it is good 4 lane.

74 through the Ocoee Gorge in TN is vastly improved and very scenic. Likewise the Nantahala Gorge is two lanes and can be slow going with rubber neckers but the majority of the route is divided 4 lanes. 74 is better than 64 which has a pretty good climb/decent before Franklin and then another after Frankin.

We will be leaving Chattanooga area & wanted an alternate & FRIENDLY RV route to take back to I-40 & on to Raleigh, NC. I didn't particularly want to go up to Knoxville to pick up I-40 East across that part of mountains into NC.
Thanks for all your kind replies!

It's US 74 so 18 wheelers use it. Welcome to the forums and good luck.

It’s a nice Road and gets more scenic the further west you go. It’s also 26W and 40W to about Clyde. Lots of RV and trailers use it. Mostly 4 lane until you get far west.

So. where you goin?

Yes, I have experience with this route all the way from Waynesville, NC to Murphy, NC -- many times in auto and a few times towing a fifth-wheel. I've always enjoyed it, especially through the Nantahala National Forest. Just don't be in a great hurry. Don't know what else to say except that this would be my route of choice between those two towns in North Carolina. We've been going to Western North Carolina since the late 1950s: Whittier, Dillsboro, Sylva, Cherokee, Bryson City, Lake Junaluska, even Asheville.

74 is an easy ride. Monroe, and Charlotte are the worst parts. But you can go around Charlotte, on 485, hit 85 South, and then hit 74 west at Kings Mountain, or ride 85 to Shelby and hit 74 there. Or skip 74 all together, and hit 26 off 85.

Any way. Once you leave Shelby on 74 it is a good 4 lane road pretty flat, all the way to where it turns into I-26, where you start up the mountain on Saluda Grade.

Of course there are roads leading from 74 to Forest city, Lake Lure, and Chimney Rock