Trail #4: 
The Maggie Valley/Blue Ridge Parkway Trail
 

Trail Highlights:  Mountain streams, river-cut canyon thru the Great Smoky Mountains, a quaint mountain resort town with regional amusement park combine with spectacular views at roadside overlooks, picnic areas and quiet trails along the Blue Ridge Parkway for one of the most popular motorcycle trails for locals and visitors alike. A final ride over the high range of The Great Smoky Mountains National Park is a grand finale for this incredible trail.

Start the Maggie Valley/Blue Ridge Parkway Trail at traffic light #10 in Gatlinburg taking Hwy. 441 North nine-tenths of a mile to traffic light #3.
At the light, veer off to the right onto Hwys. 321 North/73 (also called the East Parkway in Gatlinburg). From traffic light #3 take 321 North out of town thru Pittman Center and  past the Greenbriar Entrance to the national park at 6.2 miles out. From the Greenbriar Entrance, ride on 11.8 miles to where 321 comes to a “T” intersection. Turn left at the intersection and ride 1.8 miles to the entrance to the Foothills Parkway.
Turn Right onto the Foothills Pkwy. and take it 5.9 miles to the entrance ramp to Interstate 40 East (toward Asheville). About half way up the parkway, riders get spectacular views of Cosby Cove and Mt. Cammerer from right-hand-side overlooks.  On the way down to the Interstate there are overlooks facing the South side of English Mountain with Newport, TN off in the distance.
From the Parkway, take I-40 East 3.5 miles to Exit 447, and Hartford, TN. This exit offers numerous white water rafting outfitters along with the last opportunity for fuel and food before making the 20-plus mile run up the ruggedly beautiful Pigeon River Gorge out of East Tennessee and into North Carolina.
From the 447 Exit riders take Interstate 40 E. 24.9 miles to exit 20, Hwy.  276 South. Once on 276, ride 6.4 miles to Hwy. 19 South. At the intersection of Hwys. 276 and 19 take a right onto 19 S and ride 5 miles thru the town of Maggie Valley.
Riders may want to take time out to visit Maggie Valley. It’s a quaint mountain town with lots of restaurants, amusements, music venues, festive retail and sports bars.
Toward the end of town up on the mountain to the right riders will come across Ghost Town In The Sky, a mile-high, western-themed amusement park. Ghost Town offers rides fit for the youngest buckaroo to the bravest outlaw. Ghost Town also features staged gunfights, live music and shows, crafts, food and a lot more.
Continuing on Hwy. 19 S. out of Maggie, riders haul it up the mountain about 3.5 miles to find the entrance to the Blue Ridge Parkway. Follow the signs to the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.
From this entrance above Maggie, the parkway is a curvy, 13.4 mile-run across Soco Bald, Bunches Bald, Big Witch Gap, thru tunnels and down steep grades into the entrance to the Great Smoky National Park.
At the end of the parkway, turn right onto Hwy. 441 North.  About a half mile past exiting the Blue Ridge Parkway, also to the right, is the Oconaluftee Visitors Center and Mountain Farm Museum, a collection of historic log buildings gathered from throughout the Smoky Mountains.
From the visitor center and museum, riders continue up (and we mean this literally) 441 N, past Collins Creek and on some 16 miles to the North Carolina/Tennessee border at the high ridge pass at Newfound Gap (elevation 5,048 ft.). Newfound Gap is the primary crossroads at the top of the national park. The Appalachian Trail passes thru the parking lot at the gap and the road to Clingman’s Dome, at 6,643 ft. the highest point in the park and in Tennessee, is just a few hundred feet before the gap parking lot. (Note – the road to Clingman’s Dome is also closed during the winter months).
Cross the state line at the gap into Tennessee and follow Hwy 441 down the mountain.  About 13.4 miles from Newfound Gap riders pass the Sugarlands Visitor Center and park headquarters. From the visitors center follow the signs 1.6 miles back into Gatlinburg. The first traffic light riders come to is traffic light #10 in front of Smoky’s Pub & Grub. Come on in and celebrate the end of another great trail ride!