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So you’ve packed the car, got the kids loaded up, dropped the dog off with a friend, and planned out your next seven days to a tee in order to make your trip to the Smoky Mountains as fun as possible, or so you think. There might be just one small detail you’re leaving out – how do you get there?
Well, we’re here to make it easy for you so we’ll tell you the best way to get right to the heart of the Smoky Mountains in Pigeon Forge, Tn. And while there may be a few ways to get to Pigeon Forge, we’ll list them as well, there’s really only one way that has been built to handle all the traffic flowing into the area throughout the year. And that way is from Interstate 40 to Sevierville, TN on to Pigeon Forge.
More often than not, people are coming to the Smokies by way of Nashville, Knoxville or Asheville, with some choosing Chattanooga, Cherokee, or the Tri-Cities of Bristol, Johnson City, and Kingsport, TN. One way or the other, you’ll all end up hitting Interstate 40 at some point with the exception of those who come by way of Cherokee, NC. The exit you should be looking for is Exit 407 – Winfield Dunn Parkway (Hwy 66) to Sevierville, Pigeon Forge, Gatlinburg, and the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. You’ll follow that route as it turns into U.S. 441 Scenic Parkway in Sevierville and keep following it into Pigeon Forge.
Coming south from Chattanooga there is a “back roads” way that takes you through Maryville and a few other Smoky Mountain towns if you’d rather make a few stops along the way and reach Pigeon Forge in a kind of “off the beaten path” way. Traveling north on Interstate 75, look for Exit 81 to Lenoir City. From there you’ll travel east on Hwy. 95 until it becomes West Lamar Alexander Pkwy takes you straight through Maryville, TN becoming East Lamar Alexander Pkwy/U.S. 321/Hwy. 73. This route will take you through the Smoky Mountain towns of Walland, Townsend, and Wears Valley as it becomes Wears Valley Road/US 321/Hwy 73, eventually spitting you out right in the middle of Pigeon Forge.
The final route to Pigeon Forge takes you right through the middle of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park by way of Newfound Gap Road/US 441/Hwy 71. Coming from Cherokee, NC by way of Waynesville and Asheville, NC, you’ll take this route north through the national park and into Gatlinburg, Tn. You’ll continue north on the Parkway in Gatlinburg until you reach Pigeon Forge.