The mountains of eastern Tennessee are one of my favorite places. The roads, scenery, people, and camping have never been short of excellent to me. As of June 2024, I’ve taken 3 overland camping trips to Tennessee. This post will focus on the first trip but don’t ask me to pick a favorite. Our first TN adventure took place in October 2017, and this was also our first overland travel beyond the Uwharrie. To have a rough travel plan, I saved some maps and notes on my phone in the preceding weeks. As fate would have it, I dropped my phone and broke it the day before the trip. So much for those notes and maps. Without anything to go off other than a rough idea of where to go, we set off before sunrise. I put my SIM card in an old phone that only worked sometimes and didn’t use it for photography. The only media I have from this trip is that taken by Ryan and some from my GoPro.
Before setting the GPS to Tennessee, we wanted to stop by Linville Gorge and drive the road that runs parallel to the west side of the gorge. In route there, we made our first stop at the Brown Mountain overlook.
I couldn’t help but stop the convoy for a quick photo op at the beginning of the road parallel to the gorge.
Photo nor video will ever do Linville Gorge justice. This place is incredible.
Looking over the ledge gives me the heebie jeebies!
Further south on the road in Linville. I believe the Good Work cone on the dash to bring good luck.
From Linville, we set the navigation to point to a (very) small town in the southeast corner of Tennessee. On the way to TN, Ryan was enamored to spot a possibly operational pay phone.
Nearly all I could remember from my defunct trip plans is that there is an entry into Cherokee National Forest somewhere near this small town that I’ll refrain from naming. Notable features of the town include a post office and an abandoned school. After making a wrong turn into someone’s driveway (sorry folks), we found our way into the National Forest.
It was starting to get late in the day, and we had put in a lot of miles, finding a camp became a priority. While driving a forest road, we spotted a side track. Wes turned off to see if it led to a suitable camp site. Moments later we hear Wes come across the CB radio sounding confused and saying “Guys… get down here..now!”. We did as requested and arrived at this concrete structure deep in the forest. Assuming this to be an alien spacecraft launch pad, we took a photo and got out of Dodge. Night fell as we continued driving down gravel roads in search of camp. With no maps and intermittent GPS signal, we continued driving into the night. Coming around a bend to find a sign for a National Forest designated campground was a godsend. We pulled in to find the place all to ourselves and picked a site. Apple sausage from an Amish store in PA and baked potatoes on the menu, we got a fire going while setting up camp. If you ever meet Ryan, ask him how much he enjoyed the potato that night. I guarantee his response will be hilarious.
Packing up camp the next morning at the forest service campground. These sawed up bits of tree were there when we arrived.
Ryan spotted a samsquanch near this hand operated well pump.
With camp packed up, we set back out on the forest roads and eventually found our way to a town with provisions and cell service. We located the nearest ranger station and stopped by to chat with the ranger and buy some maps of the area.
Somewhere in Eastern TN. How fantastic it must be to live here.
Guided by our newly acquired paper maps, we found our way back into the forest. The views out here are amazing.
We came across this down tree and thankfully was able to drive under. Without a chainsaw, we were unable to clear the road for taller vehicles.
This break in the trees provides a great view and photo op.
Without a passenger riding shotgun, Wes had befriended a potato, aka spudbuddy. He was kind enough to let Ryan and Tyler have a photo with spudbuddy.
We then found what would become our camp for the 2nd night atop this bald mountain. This is my favorite camp I’ve ever stayed at. Pictured here with my XJ, Wes’s LJ, and Tyler’s XJ. We noted its location on the map and turned around to explore more, eventually finding our way back to set up camp. I took this opportunity for a photo with spudbuddy.
A shot through the windscreen as we venture ‘round for the day before making our way back to the mountain top camp.
Throughout the trip, Tyler slept in his jeep with this doggo, and somewhat hilariously, Ryan, Wes, and me all had the same tent model and color. This wasn’t intentional but REI had a good deal on it. Succumbing to hunger, Wes cooked and ate his spudbuddy for dinner.
The next morning, we packed up and made our way out of the forest, setting our sights toward home. With plenty of time for sightseeing, we stopped by this mountain lake with a sandy beach. Later in the day we ended up atop those mountains overlooking the lake.
The Haw Knob overlook on the Cherohala Skyway. At one point on the Skyway, I completely cooked my front brakes and had both feet firmly pressed on the brake pedal to barely bring the Jeep to a stop at an overlook. Scary times. After that trip, a brake upgrade was installed.
We slowly made our way east toward home. GPS indicated a traffic jam on I40 near Black Mountain. We took a nice detour on gravel roads near Old Fort, NC to bypass it. No complaints from the peanut gallery.
This concluded our 3-day, 2-night trip to Tennessee. I can’t wait to go back.