Exploring the Best Scenic Drives Near Your Gatlinburg Cabin

Add a scenic drive to your Gatlinburg vacation! Cruise at your own pace across mountains, through lush forests, and alongside sparkling streams. These three roads offer incomparable views. Which will you pick? Why not drive all three! 

Newfound Gap Road

Experience the incredible variety of the Smokies along this 33-mile drive from Gatlinburg to Cherokee, NC. Travel through diverse old-growth forests to reach Newfound Gap–-the lowest drivable pass through the Smokies, 5,000 feet above sea level. 

Revel in breathtaking views. Visit the Rockefeller Memorial, commemorating the Rockefellers’ role in founding Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Other stops include overlooks and picnic sites, plus:

• Sugarlands Visitor Center: Pick up maps here.
• Quiet Walkways: Short trails known for wildflowers.
• Clingmans Dome Road: Leads to the highest point in the national park.
• Mingus Mill: An operational 1880s grist mill.

From the Gatlinburg Parkway, follow signs to Sugarlands Visitor Center, then follow signs for Cherokee, NC.

Roaring Fork Motor Nature Trail

Meander along this one-way loop road. You’ll be rewarded with views of thick forests (watch for bears in the trees!) and plenty of stops for history and hiking. The 5.5-mile road follows a lively stream. Visit historic cabins and see a rare 19th-century tub mill.

This trail is the gateway to Grotto Falls, the only Smokies waterfall where you can walk behind the cascade. Park, then hike to the dramatic falls. Later, you’ll drive past The Place of a Thousand Drips, a roadside waterfall famed for rivulets tumbling downhill. 

At traffic light #8 on the Gatlinburg Parkway, turn onto Historic Nature Trail Road and drive to the national park’s Cherokee Orchard entrance.

Foothills Parkway

Following one edge of the national park, the parkway whisks you past 33 miles of unparalleled views. In clear weather, you can see views as far as 50 miles away. The parkway is dotted with places where you can pull off the road, including these:

• Look Rock: Highest point along the parkway, at 2,400 feet.
• Emerine Gap Overlook: Only point on the parkway with views on both sides of the road.
• Great Smoky Mountains Overlook: Spectacularly panoramic vista, with ample parking.

From U.S. Highway 441 south, follow Wears Valley Road to Foothills Parkway on the right. 

End your road trip at your cozy Gatlinburg cabin. Scroll through your photos from a grand day out! Reserve a Gatlinburg cabin rental today.