I'll be driving solo from Durham, NC to Knoxville, TN in mid-Oct. Due to schedule issues beyond my control, I need to do it in one day and not be completely knocked out upon arriving in Knoxville since I'll be meeting up with friends that I haven't seen in many years for dinner. The obvious route is to just take I-40 and get there quickly (I'm assuming that would be at least 5 hours), but I REALLY want to do some of the great roads in the mountains.
Could someone suggest a route that would give me a taste of the fun, but not be too overwhelming given my time constraints and need to save some energy for the evening after I arrive? I don't mind leaving early in the morning, like around 7am or so. Thanks a lot.

 

Well, you could take I-26 south to 19 and wind your way through Robbinsville. Then you could take the Dragon (129) up to Knoxville. You'd likely double your driving time, and unless you left REALLY early, you may find yourself on the Dragon after dark, but you'd see some beautiful parts of the country and find some roads only a Mini can love.

My problem is that I'd have to drive it twice, and I'd not get to Knoxville till 3 AM.

 

That would be ideal if I had 2 days for the trip. I've been looking at the map and there are many different routes that look amazing, but I don't know which ones are the quickest without sacrificing too much in terms of fun and beauty. I just need to make sure I'm okay timewise so I arrive in Knoxville by at least 5pm. If I can't be sure of an alternate, I'll have to stick to I-40 and leave the fun for another time.

 

My suggestion is to hit it on the way back. Because you'll be at that end of I40, you could even take 19N and get on the blue ridge parkway.

You could then meander your way back and enjoy the view without stressing yourself out timewise.

2 things to consider.

1) You'll already be in TN. (closer to those roads than if you left Durham)

2) You won't have to deal with darkness since you'll be starting out earlier.

There is a road called 81N. It is a super twisty fun road, you may want to check it out also.

Have fun, be safe.

Mark

 

Here's another alternative... This route will add about 2-2.5 hours to the direct I-40 route... and adds a tremendous taste of Western NC and Eastern TN twisties. NC80 is an incredible road that technically surpasses The Dragon. The roads up by Roan Mountain TN are incredible also.

http://maps.google.com/maps?f=d&sour...,0.452499&z=11

Then, if you're driving back, do the Dragon on the way back as has been suggested.

 

Cool. I hadn't thought about a detour north of I-40. Actually I won't be going back to Durham at all. After Knoxville I'll be headed to Charlottesville on I-81 and then it's back to CT, probably continuing I-81, the I-78 to 95 or something like that. So this is my one chance at the twisties in this area for the foreseeable future. I suppose I could spend an extra night in Knoxville and do a day trip to the mountains from there. My schedule after Friday night is not so tight. But it is a long trip to CT and I don't have company to share the driving. So I'm trying to figure out how to enjoy the trip as much as possible without getting exhausted.

orangecrush - I can't find 81N on the map. Where is it? ps, I love your thread about rebuilding Oscar.

 

If you need to be on a tight time schedule you need to take the I-40 and just get there. If you get stuck on one of the twisty roads and wind up behind slow traffic or run into construction you will have a miserable drive. I-40 is the olnly way you won't be beat-up when you get there. You can plan heading back home to see the sites and enjoy the drive.

 

Just make sure you borrow a GPS from someone in case you get lost. It's really easy to get off route.