Getting Here and Around
Although there are numerous entrances to the North Carolina side of the park, the main entrance is via U.S. Route 441 near Cherokee and the Oconaluftee Visitor Center.
Another, and much more pleasant (but slower), route to the Smokies is the Blue Ridge Parkway, which has its southern terminus in Cherokee.
You can enter the park by car at nine different places on the Tennessee side. Most of these entrances take you just a short distance into the park to a developed campground or picnic area. The two major entrances to the park on the western side are from Gatlinburg and Townsend.
Air Travel
The closest airport on the North Carolina side with national air service is Asheville Regional Airport (AVL), about 60 miles east of the Cherokee entrance. On the Tennessee side, the closest major airport is Knoxville McGhee Tyson Airport (TYS), about 45 miles west of the Sugarlands entrance.
Airport Information
Asheville Regional Airport. 61 Terminal Dr., Fletcher, North Carolina, 28732. www.flyavl.com.
Knoxville McGhee Tyson Airport. 2025 Alcoa Hwy., Alcoa, North Carolina, 37701. 865/342–3000; www.tys.org.
Car Travel
The nearest sizable city to the park in North Carolina is Asheville. This hip, liberal-minded city is about 50 miles east of Cherokee and the Oconaluftee Visitor Center. It takes a little more than an hour to get from Asheville to the Cherokee entrance of the park, via Interstate 40 and U.S. Routes 19 and 441. If you aren’t pressed for time, however, we advise traveling via the Blue Ridge Parkway—it takes longer, but the scenery is worth it.
The closest sizable city to the park in Tennessee is Knoxville, about 40 miles west of the Sugarlands entrance, via U.S. Route 441.
Coming either from the east or west, Interstate 40 is the main interstate access route to the Great Smokies; from the north and south, Interstates 75, 81, and 26 are primary arteries.
U.S. Route 441, also called Newfound Gap Road, is the main road through the park, and the only paved road that goes all the way through. It travels 31 miles between Cherokee and Gatlinburg, crossing Newfound Gap at nearly a mile high. Once out of the park on the Tennessee side, avoid driving through Gatlinburg (take the bypass option instead), as even in the off-season, intense traffic means you can spend an hour crawling through this small and very touristy town.
