Overlanding

Tennessee

Rich Mountain Road, Great Smoky Mountains National Park, Tennessee

Why Tennessee’s best backroads are one way, gated and seasonal

Tennessee is not a public-land state in the western sense. Federal agencies hold 1,269,357 acres here, 4.7 percent of the state, and the Bureau of Land Management holds none of it. What the state does have is concentrated: the Forest Service with 725,299 acres, the National Park Service with 360,616, the Department of Defense with 128,480 and the Fish and Wildlife Service with 54,962, nearly all of it stacked along the eastern mountains and the Cumberland Plateau. The ground rises from 178 feet on the Mississippi River in Shelby County to 6,643 feet at Kuwohi, which the U.S. Geological Survey still lists under its former name, Clingmans Dome.

That eastern third is dense with road. Great Smoky Mountains National Park alone holds 384 miles of it, most paved, and the Park Service says its gravel roads are kept fit for a standard passenger car. The Cherokee National Forest wraps the park north and south with more than 660,000 acres, more than 700 miles of trail and seven whitewater rivers. The state transportation department counts ten nationally designated byway routes in Tennessee, more than any other state east of the Mississippi and fourth most in the country.

The catch is the calendar and the gate. Half the roads worth driving here are one way, closed to anything longer than 25 feet, or shut from late autumn until spring, and the Forest Service opens and closes its northern roads on a published schedule every year. Add the rain, 52.2 inches a year statewide and 55 to 85 inches inside the park, and Tennessee becomes a state you plan around dates rather than around difficulty.

Tennessee by the numbers

Acres of federal land 1: 1.27M; 4.7 percent of Tennessee. The BLM holds none of it
Kuwohi, the highest point in Tennessee 2: 6,643 ft; Sevier County. The USGS table still prints the former name, Clingmans Dome. The low point is 178 feet on the Mississippi River
Federal campgrounds a vehicle can reach 4: 64; 30 Forest Service, 18 Corps of Engineers across seven lakes, and 16 Park Service. Fifteen are first come, first served
Visitors a year to Great Smoky Mountains 10: 12M; The most visited national park in the country, and entry to it is free
Acres of Cherokee National Forest 13: 660,000+; Split into a northern and a southern half by the national park. The CRS puts all Forest Service land in Tennessee at 725,299 acres
Acres in the North Cumberland WMA 30: 205,000; The largest actively managed wildlife management area in the state, across five East Tennessee counties
Average yearly precipitation, statewide 5: 52.2 in; The 1895 to 2020 average. Inside the Smokies it runs 55 inches in the lowlands to 85 at Kuwohi
Nationally designated byway routes 28: 10; More than any other state east of the Mississippi, and fourth most in the country

Who holds the federal ground

Tennessee’s 1.27 million federal acres are split four ways: the Forest Service with 725,299, the National Park Service with 360,616, the Department of Defense with 128,480 and the Fish and Wildlife Service with 54,962. There is no BLM land at all, which changes how you plan. The dispersed camping you would look for on BLM ground in the West happens here on national forest, and much of the rest of the map is reservoir shoreline.

The Forest Service piece is the Cherokee National Forest, run out of four ranger districts. The Watauga and Unaka districts make up the northern half, eight recreation regions from Iron Mountain to the Pigeon River, crossed by the Appalachian Trail. The Tellico and Ocoee districts make up the southern half, seven regions from Citico Creek to Big Frog Mountain, crossed by the Benton MacKaye Trail. Great Smoky Mountains National Park sits in the gap between them, which is why the forest is always described as two forests.

The Park Service holds four units in Tennessee. Great Smoky Mountains is the large one. Big South Fork National River and Recreation Area covers the gorge country on the Kentucky line above Oneida, the Obed Wild and Scenic River cuts deep gorges into the plateau near Wartburg, and the Natchez Trace Parkway crosses the western middle of the state on its way out of Nashville toward Mississippi.

Source 1

Water, and the agency that grew out of it

The Tennessee Valley Authority is the reason a Tennessee land map looks the way it does. The United States owns and TVA manages roughly 293,000 acres across its seven-state region, about 230,000 of it undeveloped wild land, plus 11,000 miles of shoreline. Around 175,000 acres of the undeveloped land is open to hunting.

TVA runs six dam reservoir campgrounds through a concessionaire, open March 15 to November 15, and the six it names are all in Tennessee: Cherokee Dam near Jefferson City, Douglas Dam Headwater and Tailwater near Sevierville, Melton Hill near Lenoir City, Pickwick Dam near Savannah and Watauga near Elizabethton. Stays run to 21 days in the high season of May 1 to September 30 and 30 days from October 1 to April 30.

You can also camp in the wild on the undeveloped land, which is unusual for a power utility and worth knowing about. The rules are their own, and they are stricter about vehicles than any federal agency in the state: recreational use of motorized vehicles, ATVs and off-road vehicles included, is prohibited on TVA public land, and that prohibition covers reservoir drawdown zones.

Dammed water has a second landlord here. Eighteen of the campgrounds in our build of the federal recreation database belong to the Army Corps of Engineers, spread across Center Hill, Dale Hollow, J. Percy Priest, Old Hickory, Cordell Hull, Cheatham and Barkley, and together they outnumber every Park Service campground in the state.

Source 27

State land: parks, wildlife areas and the elk country

Tennessee State Parks, founded in 1937, runs 36 campgrounds, 373 cabins and more than 1,100 miles of trail. Several of them sit exactly where a driver wants them: Roan Mountain on TN 143 below Carvers Gap, Cumberland Mountain outside Crossville, Frozen Head above Wartburg, Norris Dam on the byway TVA built to reach its first dam, and Pickett CCC Memorial next to Big South Fork.

The Wildlife Resources Agency holds the bigger surprise. North Cumberland is roughly 205,000 acres of mountain across Morgan, Scott, Anderson, Campbell and Claiborne counties, the largest actively managed wildlife management area in Tennessee, split into the New River, Royal Blue, Sundquist, Ed Carter and Highcliff units plus the Otey Mills Refuge. Camping is allowed area-wide as long as you do not block a road, trail or gate, and there is an elk herd, reintroduced from 2000 onward, viewable from a tower on Hatfield Knob in the Sundquist Unit.

It is also the one piece of ground in Tennessee that charges a plated truck to use its trails. That permit is covered in the rules below. The Otey Mills Refuge, by contrast, is closed to off-highway vehicle riding, camping, hiking and horses except during the hunts the agency names.

Source 30

Dates, gates and rain

The Cherokee National Forest manages its northern roads with a published annual schedule rather than a condition report. Roads across Cocke, Greene, Washington, Unicoi, Carter, Sullivan and Johnson counties open in spring and close in December on announced dates, and the forest says plainly that freezing and thawing, drought, fire danger and storm damage can all push an opening later or shut a road early. Forest Road 230 over Unaka Mountain, the gravel half of the Unaka circle out of Erwin, is closed from mid-December to mid-March.

The national park publishes its own seasonal road schedule, and it is the single most useful page for planning a Tennessee trip. In 2026 Kuwohi Road ran April 1 to November 29, Little Greenbrier Road April 3 to November 29, Rich Mountain Road April 10 to November 9, Roaring Fork April 17 to November 29, Parson Branch Road May 1 to November 9 and Forge Creek Road March 6 to December 31. Newfound Gap Road, Little River Road and the Cades Cove loop stay open year round, weather permitting, and the Cades Cove loop closes to vehicles every Wednesday from roughly May through September.

Then the water. NOAA puts Tennessee’s long-term average at 52.2 inches a year, with about 3 degrees Fahrenheit of cooling for every 1,000 feet you climb, January average lows from 33 degrees in Memphis to 22 in Mountain City, and yearly snowfall from an inch or four in the south to nearly a foot in the northeast. Inside the park the rain runs 55 inches in the lowlands to 85 at Kuwohi, and temperatures differ by 10 to 20 degrees between the valley floor and the summits. The haze that gives the Smokies their name is what the Cherokee called Shaconage, land of blue smoke. It is lovely from an overlook and it is a hazard on a one-lane gravel road with no shoulder.

Source 22

What Tennessee asks of a vehicle

Length is the first question here, not capability. Rich Mountain Road, Parson Branch Road, Roaring Fork, Little Greenbrier Road, Heintooga Ridge Road and Wear Cove Road all bar motorhomes, buses and vans longer than 25 feet and any passenger vehicle towing a trailer. Wear Cove Road adds a ten-ton weight limit. On the Natchez Trace Parkway the limits are 55 feet overall including a towed vehicle and 14 feet of height, in an 11-foot lane with little to no shoulder.

Clearance matters on a short list of roads rather than everywhere. The Park Service recommends high-clearance vehicles for the eight one-way miles of Parson Branch Road. The Forest Service recommends high-clearance four-wheel drive on Forest Road 230 over Unaka Mountain. Across the 384 miles of road inside the national park, most are paved and the gravel is maintained for a standard passenger car, with travel speeds on the paved roads averaging 35 miles per hour. Much of the drivable public ground elsewhere in Tennessee is gravel that a careful two-wheel-drive truck handles when it is dry and that turns to ruts after a week of rain.

Speed is written down in places you might not expect. Big South Fork sets 25 miles per hour on all secondary roads and multiuse trails, and defines secondary roads as every gravel and logging road inside the park boundary. The parkway is 50 miles per hour unless posted. Neither figure is advisory.

Source 6

Passes and routes

Newfound Gap Road (US 441)Paved

5,046 ft 31 miles

Gatlinburg to Cherokee, North Carolina

An All-American Road that stays inside the national park end to end. The transportation department calls it the lowest drivable pass through the park at 5,046 feet; our query of the USGS elevation surface at the gap reads 5,040. It crosses the Appalachian Trail and is the access road for Kuwohi. 29

Vehicle
Any vehicle

Season
Year round, weather permitting. Snow and ice close it without notice
Cades Cove Loop RoadPaved

11 miles

A one-way loop around Cades Cove, from the Townsend side

One way around the cove, and the busiest road in the busiest national park in the country. The Park Service tells drivers to allow at least two to four hours, longer if you walk any of it. Forge Creek Road, which leaves the loop, runs March 6 to December 31 and closes for snow, ice or mud. 11

Vehicle
Any vehicle. Allow two to four hours

Season
Sunrise to sunset daily. Closed to vehicles each Wednesday, typically May through September
Rich Mountain Road

3,692 ft

Cades Cove out to Tuckaleechee Cove and Townsend

A one-way gravel road out of the cove, over Rich Mountain and down the Townsend side. It is the exit from Cades Cove that most visitors never take, and the size limits are the reason. 7

Vehicle
No motorhomes, buses or vans over 25 feet, and nothing towing a trailer

Season
Seasonal. April 10 to November 9 in 2026
Parson Branch Road

8 miles

Cades Cove to US 129 near the North Carolina line

One way, eight miles, and the only road in the park where the Park Service recommends high clearance outright. It leaves Cades Cove southbound and does not come back, so commit to it or do not start. 7

Vehicle
High clearance recommended. No motorhomes, buses or vans over 25 feet, and nothing towing a trailer

Season
Seasonal. May 1 to November 9 in 2026
Roaring Fork Motor Nature Trail

5.5 miles

A loop from the Cherokee Orchard entrance above Gatlinburg

A narrow one-way loop through old-growth forest past log cabins and gristmills, reached from traffic light 8 in Gatlinburg by Historic Nature Trail Road. Parking demand regularly exceeds capacity and parking tags cannot be bought on the road, so buy one first. 12

Vehicle
No buses, trailers or motor homes. The Park Service calls the road very steep

Season
Seasonal. April 17 to November 29 in 2026
Kuwohi RoadPaved

6,643 ft

Newfound Gap Road to the Kuwohi visitor center and overlook

A two-lane paved spur off Newfound Gap Road to the 6,643-foot summit area of Kuwohi, the highest point in Tennessee and the highest in the park, signed until recently as Clingmans Dome Road. The parking area fills early and the park tells visitors to arrive with a second destination in mind. 7

Vehicle
Any vehicle

Season
Seasonal. April 1 to November 29 in 2026, and it still closes for snow and ice inside that window
Foothills ParkwayPaved

16.6, 14.75 and 5.6 miles

Chilhowee to Walland, Walland to Wears Valley, and Cosby to I-40

Three finished stretches of a parkway that was never completed, all outside the park boundary and all looking back into it. The Park Service lists them as 16.6 miles Chilhowee to Walland, 14.75 Walland to Wears Valley and 5.6 Cosby to I-40, each measured one way. 12

Vehicle
Any vehicle

Season
Year round, weather permitting
Cherohala Skyway (TN 165 and NC 143)Paved

43 miles

Tellico Plains, Tennessee to Robbinsville, North Carolina

A National Scenic Byway across two national forests. The Forest Service gives the whole route as 43 miles; the state transportation department measures the Tennessee portion at 22.4 miles and says parts of the road reach 5,400-foot elevations. Neither publishes a high point, so none is shown here. Camping within 300 feet of the skyway is not permitted. 16

Vehicle
Any vehicle. No camping within 300 feet of the road

Season
Open year round, with snow and ice on top in winter
Ocoee Scenic Byway and the Chilhowee spurPaved

26 miles, plus a 7-mile spur

Ducktown west along US 64 through the Ocoee River Gorge

The first national forest scenic byway designated in the country, in July 1988. Twenty-six miles of US 64 and Forest Road 77 past Parksville Lake, the gorge and the whitewater center, with a seven-mile climb up FR 77 to the Chilhowee Recreation Area and its views over the Tennessee Valley. 17

Vehicle
Any vehicle

Season
Year round
Unaka Mountain Scenic Drive (Forest Road 230)

5,168 ft

A circle from Erwin on TN 395, Forest Road 230 and TN 107

The gravel half of this circle is the reason to drive it. The Forest Service recommends high-clearance four-wheel drive on FR 230, which climbs from the valley floor of Unicoi County to spruce forest and high balds on Unaka Mountain, past Rock Creek Recreation Area and Limestone Cove. 18

Vehicle
High-clearance four-wheel drive recommended on Forest Road 230

Season
Forest Road 230 is closed from mid-December to mid-March
Tellico River Road (Forest Road 210)

TN 165 above Tellico Plains up the Tellico River

The road follows the Tellico River past Bald River Falls and the historic fish rearing pools, with small campgrounds, picnic areas and trailheads along it. Holly Flats, fifteen rustic sites on the Bald River reached by FR 126, sits about six miles off it. 19

Vehicle
Passenger cars on the lower section, gravel above

Season
Check the forest road schedule before you commit to it
Hiwassee River Road (TN 30 and Forest Road 108)

US 411 through Reliance to Big Bend, Apalachia Powerhouse and back to US 64

TN 30 follows the Hiwassee State Scenic River to Reliance, where crossing the bridge and turning east puts you on Forest Road 108 up the mountain to Big Bend and the powerhouse. Hood Mountain overlook and the John Muir National Recreation Trail are both on it, and TN 30 carries on through Greasy Creek to meet the Ocoee byway. 20

Vehicle
Any vehicle on TN 30; gravel on Forest Road 108

Season
Year round, subject to forest road closures
TN 143 to Carvers GapPaved

5,512 ft

Roan Mountain up through Roan Mountain State Park to the state line

A state scenic parkway that climbs 12.6 miles from the town of Roan Mountain to Carvers Gap at 5,512 feet, where the Appalachian Trail crosses into the high balds and the Rhododendron Gardens on the North Carolina side. There is a vault toilet in season and no trash service, so pack everything out. 21

Vehicle
Any vehicle. Parking at the gap is limited

Season
Open year round, but snow and ice are possible in autumn, winter and spring at this elevation
Big South Fork: the adjacent-area roads

Oneida and Jamestown onto the plateau above the gorge

The gorge itself is closed to motor vehicles by the park’s enabling law except on the access corridors that law names. Above it, motor vehicles and e-bikes are permitted on all designated adjacent-area roads and multiuse trails unless signed otherwise, and the park asks that nobody cut vegetation to reopen a road that has closed naturally. Unregistered ATVs and UTVs are allowed on multiuse trails only during big game season by a licensed hunter actively hunting, plus the O&W Road stretch from Verdun Road to North White Oak Creek. 23

Vehicle
25 miles per hour on every gravel and logging road in the park

Season
Year round, subject to signed closures
Natchez Trace ParkwayPaved

102 miles in Tennessee, 444 in all

Pasquo, southwest of Nashville, to Natchez, Mississippi

Fifty miles per hour unless posted, an 11-foot lane with little to no shoulder, and a designated bicycle route, so plan to change lanes to pass. The corridor averages 800 feet wide, and the Park Service reckons at least ten hours end to end. The state transportation department measures the Tennessee stretch at 102 miles, from Pasquo southwest of Nashville. Driving off-road vehicles or tractors anywhere on parkway property is prohibited, and only recreational hauling is allowed. 24

Vehicle
55 feet maximum length including a tow, 14 feet of height. No commercial vehicles

Season
Year round

Rules worth knowing

Dispersed camping on the Cherokee: 14 days, then ten miles: Camping anywhere on the Cherokee National Forest is limited to 14 consecutive days. On the fourteenth day you must leave that area for at least seven days. If you are camping outside a developed recreation area, you must move at least ten miles in any direction before those seven days start. The forest cites 36 CFR 261.58(a). A single campsite in a developed area is limited to five people and two vehicles, a double site to ten people and four vehicles, and camping within 300 feet of the Cherohala Skyway is not permitted at all. 14
Food storage applies everywhere on the Cherokee: Food storage restrictions apply at all areas on the Cherokee National Forest, not just at named campgrounds. All food and beverages must be kept in an approved bear-proof container, a locked vehicle or a hard-sided camper at all times unless they are being eaten, prepared or carried. Plan for that before you pack a roof box or an open bed, because a cooler strapped to a rack is none of the three. 15
TVA land has its own clock, and no off-road driving: Stays on undeveloped TVA public land are capped at 14 consecutive days in any 30-day period unless posted otherwise, and after 14 days you must move outside a 10-mile radius before setting up again. Vehicles and other property left past the limit can be impounded. Recreational use of motorized vehicles, including ATVs and off-road vehicles, is prohibited on TVA public land, and that prohibition explicitly covers reservoir drawdown zones. Entry into caves is prohibited, campfires are banned within 200 feet of a cave entrance, cutting live or standing trees is prohibited, and metal detectors are not allowed. 26
North Cumberland charges every vehicle on its trails: At North Cumberland, at least one adult per vehicle must hold a North Cumberland off-highway vehicle riding permit. The agency answers the obvious question plainly: a street-legal Jeep or truck going onto the trails needs one too, and an annual or lifetime sportsman license does not include the privilege. Resident permits run $20 for a day, $30 for three days, $100 for seven and $150 for the year; non-resident permits are $50, $125, $200 and $300. Thirteen other wildlife management areas instead require a High-Impact Habitat Conservation Permit, $73 a year or $15 a day for residents and $232 or $37 for non-residents. 31
On any wildlife management area, stay on the open roads: The statewide rule is short. All motorized vehicles must have a muffler and a spark arrester. Operation is confined to roads not designated as closed, off-road vehicles are restricted to roads open to other motorized traffic and to designated trails, and driving off a road into woods, fields or a utility right of way is prohibited for every vehicle. Off-road vehicles may run in daylight hours, and at other times only while taking part in an authorized activity. Overnight camping needs the area manager’s permission in designated areas and may not exceed three weeks from arrival to departure. 32
Tennessee titles off-highway vehicles and stickers them: The Department of Revenue defines an off-highway vehicle as one not intended to be driven on a public highway, and sorts them into low-speed, medium-speed, Class I and Class II, the last covering sand buggies, dune buggies, rock crawlers and sand rails. An owner not registering the machine for road use can take a title only, and once a title is issued a Tennessee Department of Revenue sticker must be fixed to the vehicle. That sticker is required on any off-highway vehicle or ATV operated in many federal or state facilities such as parks and game reserves. County clerks issue both. Read the definition and a plated truck is none of these classes, because the department defines an off-highway vehicle as one not intended to be driven on a public highway. 33
In the Smokies you pay to park, not to enter: Entry to Great Smoky Mountains National Park is free, but any vehicle parked anywhere in the park for more than 15 minutes needs a parking tag: $5 a day, $15 a week or $40 a year, tied to a licence plate and displayed as a physical tag. An America the Beautiful pass does not substitute for one. Camping is only in designated campsites, never in pull-outs or parking lots, two vehicles maximum per site, and the park-wide limit is 14 consecutive days with no more than 60 days in a calendar year. Backcountry camping needs a permit and a reservation, costs $8 per person per night plus a $6 permit fee, and no site may be used more than three nights running. 9
The Natchez Trace allows no dispersed camping at all: All camping on the parkway must be in one of three designated campgrounds: Meriwether Lewis at milepost 385.9, the one nearest Nashville, Jeff Busby at 193.1 and Rocky Springs at 54. They are free, primitive, first come first served, and have no electricity, showers or dump stations. The camping page states a maximum stay of 14 days per campground per calendar year; the parkway’s own FAQ states 14 consecutive nights. Take the tighter reading and plan to move. 25
Burn permits run October 15 to May 15, and a ban stops campfires too: From October 15 through May 15 the Division of Forestry requires a burn permit for debris pile fires and prescribed fires, issued under T.C.A. 39-14-306 and good for a single day. Permits are free, online or by phone. When fire danger rises the division pauses issuing them, which is a burn restriction: it stops permitted burning but does not prohibit campfires, grilling or screened burn barrels. A burn ban is different. The Commissioner of Agriculture or the Governor can declare one, and it prohibits all open-air burning including campfires and outdoor grills. Counties and cities may set stricter rules that override the state programme. 34

How high is Tennessee?

From Nashville at 555 feet to Kuwohi (Clingmans Dome) at 6,643. Altitude decides what your engine, your brakes and your lungs have to work with, and how late in the year the passes open.

Towns

Mountain City Johnson County seat in the far northeast on TN 91 and US 421, within a few miles of both Virginia and North Carolina. 2,420 ft
Crossville On I-40 at the top of the Cumberland Plateau, the halfway service stop between Nashville and Knoxville. 1,857 ft
Ducktown Copper Basin town on TN 68 at the east end of the Ocoee Scenic Byway, near the Georgia and North Carolina lines. 1,740 ft
Jamestown On US 127 on the plateau, between Big South Fork and the Obey River country. 1,714 ft
Erwin On I-26 beside the Nolichucky. Start of the Unaka Mountain circle on TN 395 and gravel Forest Road 230. 1,669 ft
Elizabethton Carter County seat on the Watauga River. TN 143 climbs from here through Roan Mountain to Carvers Gap. 1,527 ft
Oneida Scott County town on US 27 and the eastern approach to Big South Fork and its Bandy Creek side. 1,443 ft
Wartburg Morgan County seat between the Obed Wild and Scenic River and Frozen Head, on the plateau north of I-40. 1,380 ft
Gatlinburg North gateway to Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Newfound Gap Road and the Roaring Fork Motor Nature Trail both start here. 1,290 ft
LaFollette Campbell County town on US 25W below the Cumberland Mountains, under the Sundquist Unit of the North Cumberland WMA. 1,073 ft
Townsend The Blount County entrance to the park. Cades Cove, Rich Mountain Road and Parson Branch Road are all reached from this side. 1,070 ft
Knoxville Where I-40 meets I-75. The last large city before the Smokies, the Cherokee National Forest and the Cumberland Mountains. 899 ft
Lawrenceburg On US 43 in the middle of the Tennessee stretch of the Natchez Trace Parkway, and the last real service town for many miles of it. 894 ft
Tellico Plains West end of the Cherohala Skyway and the turn onto Forest Road 210 up the Tellico River. 875 ft
Chattanooga Where I-75 meets I-24 at the foot of the Cumberland Plateau. Nearest city to the Ocoee gorge and the Sequatchie Valley. 676 ft
Nashville State capital where I-40, I-65 and I-24 meet. The Natchez Trace Parkway ends just southwest of the city. 555 ft

Passes, high roads and summits

Kuwohi (Clingmans Dome) The highest point in Tennessee. A paved seasonal road runs to the parking area below the summit 6,643 ft
Kuwohi Kuwohi Road: Newfound Gap Road to the Kuwohi visitor center and overlook 6,643 ft
Mount Le Conte No road to it. The Park Service says readings above 80 degrees up here are extremely rare 6,593 ft
Roan High Knob Carter County, above Carvers Gap. Our own measurement at the USGS point, not an agency figure 6,282 ft
Carvers Gap TN 143 to Carvers Gap: Roan Mountain up through Roan Mountain State Park to the state line 5,512 ft
Unaka Mountain Scenic Drive (Forest Road 230) A circle from Erwin on TN 395, Forest Road 230 and TN 107 5,168 ft
Newfound Gap Road (US 441) Gatlinburg to Cherokee, North Carolina 5,046 ft
Big Frog Mountain Polk County, in the southern Cherokee National Forest. Our own measurement at the USGS point 4,210 ft
Rich Mountain Road Cades Cove out to Tuckaleechee Cove and Townsend 3,692 ft

Pass, road and summit elevations are the figures published by the agency that manages them. Town elevations are the town’s or county’s own figure where it publishes an exact one; the rest are from the U.S. Geological Survey (3D Elevation Program at the place’s official coordinates), retrieved September 18, 2026. Every source is listed at the foot of the page.

Sources for this page

Congressional Research Service. Federal Land Ownership: Overview and Data (R42346), Tables 1 and 2, data as of September 30, 2024. Retrieved September 18, 2026.
U.S. Geological Survey. Elevations and Distances in the United States, online edition, Highest and Lowest Elevations table. Retrieved September 19, 2026.
U.S. Geological Survey. Geographic Names Information System and 3D Elevation Program point query. Elevation of the 3DEP surface at the GNIS coordinates of the named place, rounded to the nearest foot. Retrieved September 19, 2026.
Recreation.gov. Recreation Information Database (RIDB) full export. Retrieved September 19, 2026.
NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information. State Climate Summaries 2022: Tennessee. Retrieved September 19, 2026.
National Park Service, Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Auto Touring. Retrieved September 19, 2026.
National Park Service, Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Seasonal Road Schedule. Retrieved September 19, 2026.
National Park Service, Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Weather. Retrieved September 19, 2026.
National Park Service, Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Fees and Passes, with the Frontcountry Camping and Backcountry Camping pages. Retrieved September 19, 2026.
National Park Service, Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Frequently Asked Questions, with the Traffic and Travel Tips page. Retrieved September 19, 2026.
National Park Service, Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Touring Cades Cove. Retrieved September 19, 2026.
National Park Service, Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Roaring Fork Motor Nature Trail, which also lists the Foothills Parkway section lengths. Retrieved September 19, 2026.
USDA Forest Service, Cherokee National Forest. Cherokee National Forest home, with the Explore the Forest and Camping and Cabins pages. Retrieved September 19, 2026.
USDA Forest Service, Cherokee National Forest. Campsite Limitations, and the Cherohala Skyway camping alert. Retrieved September 19, 2026.
USDA Forest Service, Cherokee National Forest. Holly Flats campground, which states the forest-wide food storage restriction. Retrieved September 19, 2026.
USDA Forest Service, Cherokee National Forest. Cherohala Skyway. Retrieved September 19, 2026.
USDA Forest Service, Cherokee National Forest. Ocoee Scenic Byway. Retrieved September 19, 2026.
USDA Forest Service, Cherokee National Forest. Unaka Mountain Scenic Drive. Retrieved September 19, 2026.
USDA Forest Service, Cherokee National Forest. Tellico River Road, with the Holly Flats campground page. Retrieved September 19, 2026.
USDA Forest Service, Cherokee National Forest. Hiwassee River Road. Retrieved September 19, 2026.
USDA Forest Service, Cherokee National Forest. Carver’s Gap, and the TN 143 Scenic Drive page. Retrieved September 19, 2026.
USDA Forest Service, Cherokee National Forest. National Forest Seasonal Road Management Schedule for the North Zone of the Cherokee National Forest. Retrieved September 19, 2026.
National Park Service, Big South Fork National River and Recreation Area. Superintendent’s Compendium, signed June 4, 2026, with the park’s Camping page. Retrieved September 19, 2026.
National Park Service, Natchez Trace Parkway. Frequently Asked Questions, with the Recreational Vehicles page. Retrieved September 19, 2026.
National Park Service, Natchez Trace Parkway. Camping Along the Natchez Trace Parkway. Retrieved September 19, 2026.
Tennessee Valley Authority. Rules for Use of TVA Public Lands. Retrieved September 19, 2026.
Tennessee Valley Authority. Recreation, with the Camping and Recreation on Undeveloped TVA Public Lands pages. Retrieved September 19, 2026.
Tennessee Department of Transportation. National Scenic Byways Overview, revised October 2024. Retrieved September 19, 2026.
Tennessee Department of Transportation. Tennessee’s Scenic Handbook, July 2021, the Tennessee’s Byway Collection chapter. Retrieved September 19, 2026.
Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency. North Cumberland WMA. Retrieved September 19, 2026.
Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency. Licenses and Permits: High-Impact Habitat Conservation Permits, and the North Cumberland Off-Highway Vehicle Permit. Retrieved September 19, 2026.
Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency. General Wildlife Management Area Regulations. Retrieved September 19, 2026.
Tennessee Department of Revenue. Off-Highway Vehicles, under Vehicle Registration. Retrieved September 19, 2026.
Tennessee Department of Agriculture, Division of Forestry. Get a Burn Permit in Tennessee. Retrieved September 19, 2026.

Reviewed September 19, 2026. Conditions, closures and rules change; check with the managing agency before you travel.

Who manages Tennessee

The agency on the sign decides where you can drive and where you can sleep. Choose one to see how much of the state it holds and what that means for a trip.

Tennessee
4.7% 1,269,357 acres

Source: Congressional Research Service, Federal Land Ownership: Overview and Data (R42346), Table 2, data as of September 30, 2024. Federal land here means the five agencies shown; state, tribal and private land make up the rest of each bar.

The public land map of Tennessee

Agency boundaries, the BLM and Forest Service roads and trails open to vehicles, wilderness, and BLM campgrounds. Select any point for who manages it.

Map layers

Find a place

Layers

Federal land Who manages the ground, by agency

State and local land State forests, parks and wildlife areas, county and city land, nationwide

BLM roads and trails Routes managed for public motorized use

Forest roads and trails Forest Service Motor Vehicle Use Map

Wilderness BLM Wilderness and study areas, closed to vehicles

Camping and trailheads BLM campgrounds, OHV areas and trailheads

Base map

Map Topo Satellite

Legend

Federal land, by managing agency

Bureau of Land Management (BLM)
US Forest Service (USFS)
National Park Service (NPS)
US Fish and Wildlife (USFW)
Bureau of Reclamation (USBR)
Department Of Defense (DOD)
Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA)
Other Federal
State
Local
Alaska Native Lands (Patented or Interim Conveyed)
Alaska Native Allotment

State and local land (USGS PAD-US)

State land
County and city land
Regional agency or district
Land trust or conservancy

Gaps with no tint inside public land are private parcels, often old mining claims and homesteads. They are not open to the public.

Dashed clay lines on the base map are unpaved tracks from OpenStreetMap. They show what exists on the ground, not what is legal to drive.

Select any point to see who manages the land.

Boundaries are approximate and land status changes. This map is a planning aid, not a survey or a statement of access. Confirm routes, closures and camping rules with the managing office.

Open the full map