Day 9: Sevierville, TN to Middlesboro, KY

94 Miles |

2:40 Riding Time

it’s Friday, April 19, 2024, and Day 9 of my cross country motorcycle trip.

It was also a relatively short day today. While the roads and parks in eastern TN are absolutely gorgeous, I don’t love the towns of Gatlinburg, Pigeon Forge and Sevierville. They are just too busy and too touristy for me. Kentucky is one of the most beautiful states I’ve ever been through. Eastern KY has this unique combination of the twisty mountain roads and the sweeping turns and rolling hills of hors country. And…there’s bourbon. So off to Kentucky I go.

Navigated through Knoxsville and the busy, construction-laden roads of it’s suburbs, until I got to RT 33. Took that to Tazewell, and picked up 25E Through the Cumberland gap tunnel and into TN, where I found the Cumberland Gap National Historic Park. I went in and bought some stickers (‘cause when you’re on a bike, your souvenirs have to be small, and flat).

Got My National Park Pass!

And, I got my park pass. I feel like that’s a milestone on this trip, since I’ll be visiting so many of our national parks. I’m official.

It was a 15 minute ride up to the Pinnacle Overlook, which let’s you see Virginia, Tennessee and Kentucky. The ride up is slow, and super-curvy—like 10-15 mph. The view at the top (above) is absolutely breathtaking.

This is about when I noticed that the lens protecter on my camera had a crack in it. It’s that curve starting on the left side, and curving down to the bottom. Sorry about that.

A quick trip to Walmart for another charger and toothpaste. Dinner at the local Chinese buffet. Then, back to my hotel.

The Route

Elevation Profile