"Avalanches Cruise the Smokies" Scenic Cruise
Since the Biltmore is overpriced and a fair distance from Pigeon Forge, I am going to plan a simple Mountain Cruise from Pigeon Forge to Cherokee, NC. This cruise will take us across the mountain through the Great Smoky Mountains.
Distance is 42.2 miles one way, approximately 1hr 15min drive time. 85 miles round trip, approximately 2hr 30min The road itself is a good road, but there are many curves and even an elevated bridge looped around the road below. If you've never been on this road, it really is a great drive with lots of scenic views and beautiful mountains.
UPDATE: 6/4/15
It has been brought to my attention that there are many that would like to cruise with us that may not arrive until Friday afternoon. Therefore, I've made adjustments to the schedule to allow for those folks to join us. In the interest of time and spending the evening enjoying each others company, we may not continue all the way to Cherokee based on interest. We may cruise to the Newfound Gap for a photo op and then back to Pigeon Forge.
Unless someone has another suggestion of a stop and/or we have several interested in going on into Cherokee NC
The plan now is to depart the hotel sometime around 3pm Friday, July 24th and cruise toward Gatlinburg. Depending on traffic, we may cruise through downtown Gatlinburg, or we may take the Gatlinburg Bypass to avoid sitting in traffic for an extra hour. IF those that are in Gatlinburg want to cruise with us, we can meet them at the Gatlinburg Welcome Center, just outside town coming back toward Pigeon Forge.
After 20 miles or so of beautiful mountain views and lovely country roads, we will make a stop near Newfound Gap NC. This will be a good opportunity to stretch and take a few photos of the trucks and surrounding area. Depending on how many Av's we have limits us to what overlook we will stop at, but there is a choice of 2. This should be a maximum 30min stop.
OPTIONAL CRUISING STARTS HERE Depending on intrest we may turn around and come back to Pigeon Forge. EST return time would be around 5:30PM
We will continue on US-441 to Cherokee and arrive around 5:00pm
There are several things to see in Cherokee and several fast food-type places to eat. Enjoy lunch and sight seeing until we meet up to head back to pigeon forge.
Our central meeting location will be the parking lot of the Cherokee Welcome Center, just across from the Cherokee Fairgrounds. When we arrive we will stop here as well, there is a great parking lot across from the welcome center that has diagonal parking spaces perfect for a group photo-op.
Schedule:
3:00pm- Depart Hotel Grounds
4:00pm-4:30pm Stop near Newfound Gap Bronson City, NC
5:00pm -Arrive in Cherokee, NC Group Photo-op near Cherokee Fairgrounds
5:00pm-6:00pm - Explore Cherokee
6:15pm - Meet back at Cherokee Welcome Center to head back to Pigeon Forge
8:00pm - Arrive back in Pigeon Forge
FRS Radios recommended so we can all stay connected on the beautiful scenic cruise,
Channel 8 will be our communication channel
Attending:
1. 4x4dreamer, MOM, & Ash
2. james21
3. Joeairforce +1
4. GoldBowTie & Toots
5. ronthehandymanga
6. Tpicks55 & teach8
7. OldVMer +1
8. 02Z71 +1
9. Mdz66 +1
10. BnGBleeder
11. yukonjack2
12. EricB
13. Dluvr22
14. Hugz (Maybe)
15. moosc
16. silverrider
17. texascwgrl
18. frito
19. NascarDave