Explore : The Foothills Parkway
In East Tennessee and West North Carolina, you’ll find some of the best driving roads in the country. In a roughly 2 hour radius, you can find the Tail of the Dragon, the Cherohala Skyway and the Foothills Parkway as well as a large number of roads without a big name. In fact, there are so many roads in the area that are great driving/riding destinations that people from all over the country and the world come to visit this area specifically to drive these great roads! Although all of these roads deserve some attention, today we’re going to focus on the Foothills Parkway, an amazing road living in the shadow of the nearby Tail of the Dragon.
If you ask any local, they’ve probably heard of the Foothills Parkway; the Parkway is home to some of the best views in the area, and many of us get out to enjoy it once in a while. However, outside of the local enthusiasts, the Foothills Parkway seems to be overshadowed by the Tail of the Dragon, one of the most famous ( or infamous ) roads in the world. If you’ve visited the Dragon from the Tennessee side, you’ve passed an entrance to the parkway and probably didn’t even notice! This lack of attention paid to the road can definitely be a good thing for the enthusiast wanting to enjoy a nice drive, but it’s such a shame that the road isn’t being enjoyed by as many people as it could be.
The Foothills Parkway offers lots of things to the driving enthusiast: for starters, you get a relatively open road with low traffic and smooth tarmac. Aside from that, you also get a multitude of pull-offs to choose from, each with its own perks. Best of all, however, is the route itself. The Parkway offers longer, more flowing turns compared to the tight and technical turns of the Dragon and many of the other better known local roads. The Parkway makes bigger, more powerful cars like my Mustang feel much more at home while still offering a fun and interesting combination of twists and turns that make it a unique experience.
Although I’ve mentioned multiple times already how low-traffic the Parkway is in comparison to the Tail of the Dragon, don’t mistake that to mean that there aren’t any cars on it. Because of its entry and exit points, many people use the Parkway as a shortcut to or from work as part of their daily commute. Aside from the convenience factor of the Parkway, there are lots of people out enjoying the trails that branch off from it or exploring the local area. Because of these things, just keep in mind that you will at some point get behind someone on the road, so take times like that to relax and take in the beautiful scenery.
While lots of driving enthusiasts will look at the traffic as a bad thing, I try to keep a positive mindset about it! The Parkway is a fun road, and as such attracts lots of driving enthusiasts, so you’re bound to find a likeminded car enthusiast somewhere along the way! It’s always refreshing to meet new friends through something you’re passionate about, and some of the best friends in my life were introduced to me through cars or something related to them. Even for someone as antisocial as myself, it becomes much easier to connect with new people through shared interests, and the car community gives us a great platform to build relationships with.
In closing, the Foothills Parkway is a road that you absolutely need to try out if you’ve never had the pleasure and is a route you should run more often if you’ve done it before. The beautiful scenery, great road conditions, and ample areas available for breaks make this road an enthusiast’s dream and adds to the plethora of beautiful, fun roads available to us in the area. No matter the time of year, Foothills Parkway is a great addition to your day or your trip!
