Tampa Florida to Pigeon Forge Tennessee

[humazep]

Looking for some advice on a trip from Tampa Florida up to Pigeon Forge Tennesee in a 36ft Motorhome. Not sure if we should take the I-75 route thru Chattanooga or 129/441 thru NC into Pigeon Forge going thru Smokey Mountain National Park. Please let us know the best route if you have traveled this road. Thanks.

[OkieDave]

I think you would be better off taking the route through Chattanooga and Knoxville, especially if you are pulling a toad.

Also. We were there a few weeks ago and stayed at the Foothills RV park. It is on the south end of Pigeon Forge. You actually drive through Riveredge RV Park to get there. Riveredge is nice but sites packed in tight with a city street running right though it. Foothills sits on top of a hill above the traffic and is very quiet. Has nice pool, showers etc. Not a large park, so I recommend reservations. After you drive through the other park, you will see why Foothills is much, much better.

[hoynackinm]

Stay on I-75 to Knoxville and then I -40 to the State Route 66. There are several campgrounds between I-40 and the Smoky Mountain National Park. Traffic from Sevierville through Pigeon Forge will be BUSY. Discount stores, shops, hotels, restaurants and Dollyworld keep it frantic. Weekends are full house traffic. Drive safe.

[humazep]

Thank you so much for the information. I think we will take your advice and use the I75 route up thru Chattanooga. We are not towing a toad as will get a car when we get there, so it is just the big bus. Looking forward to a wonderful trip.

[Guest BillAdams]

I think it depends upon what you want to do when you choose your route. I am not sure what route you are suggesting if you don't just keep on 75 all the up until around Knoxville, but we just recently made the same trip via Cherokee, NC. You come out of Atlanta in the NE, up 985 to 23 an into Cherokee. It's mostly a tourist trap (with a nice casino) but a beautiful area. You then take 441 up and over the mountain into Gatlinburg and onto Pigeon Forge. It is a great drive and you can make a side trip at the top overlook if your coach is not too large. It's a fairly steep climb and then decent but we did it with a 40' coach and a 20' van in tow. It will save you many miles, but it will not save you any time or money due to the stops and starts. I highly recommend the drive if you have the time and want to see some beautiful countryside along the way. We dry camped in the Casino parking lot in Cherokee for 2 or 3 nights along the edge of the stream and watched the fishermen pulling trout out for dinner. Nice.

[desertdeals69]

We always stay at Eagles Nest campground in Pigeon Forge. Stayed there for 2 to 3 months for 4 times in the past 5 years because we worked part time at Dollywood. Clean and well maintained with a laundromat.