The East Tennessee Crossing Byway is a

National Scenic Byway A National Scenic Byway is a road recognized by the United States Department of Transportation for one or more of six "intrinsic qualities": archeological, cultural, historic, natural, recreational, and scenic. The program was established by Co ...

in the U.S. state of

Tennessee Tennessee ( , ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked state in the Southeastern region of the United States. Tennessee is the 36th-largest by area and the 15th-most populous of the 50 states. It is bordered by Kentucky to t ...

. Established in 2009, it is one of the newest byways in the National Scenic Byway system. The scenic byway traverses mostly along an unsigned concurrency of U.S. Route 25E/ State Route 32 (US 25E/SR 32) in

East Tennessee East Tennessee is one of the three Grand Divisions of Tennessee defined in state law. Geographically and socioculturally distinct, it comprises approximately the eastern third of the U.S. state of Tennessee. East Tennessee consists of 33 count ...

Route description

The byway begins Cocke County at the Tennessee–

North Carolina North Carolina () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the 28th largest and 9th-most populous of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, Georgia and S ...

state line along US 25 in

Cherokee National Forest The Cherokee National Forest is a United States National Forest located in the U.S. states of Tennessee and North Carolina that was created on June 14, 1920. The forest is maintained and managed by the United States Forest Service. It encompasses ...

. Northbound, the byway crosses the

French Broad River The French Broad River is a river in the U.S. states of North Carolina and Tennessee. It flows from near the town of Rosman in Transylvania County, North Carolina, into Tennessee, where its confluence with the Holston River at Knoxville forms ...

twice before reaching the unincorporated community of Del Rio. Departing Del Rio, the byway crosses the Pigeon River and enters the city of Newport. The byway ends its unsigned concurrency (road) with US 25 and begins its concurrency with US 25E/ SR 32. It exits Cocke County and enters Jefferson County after crossing Douglas Lake near the unincorporated community of Leadvale. The byway then goes through

White Pine ''Pinus'', the pines, is a genus of approximately 111 extant tree and shrub species. The genus is currently split into two subgenera: subgenus ''Pinus'' (hard pines), and subgenus ''Strobus'' (soft pines). Each of the subgenera have been furth ...

, until reaching the Interstate 81 (I-81) overpass at exit 8. It then enters Morristown in Hamblen County. In Morristown, the byway connects travelers to the city's

central business district A central business district (CBD) is the commercial and business centre of a city. It contains commercial space and offices, and in larger cities will often be described as a financial district. Geographically, it often coincides with the " city ...

, College Square Mall, and

Walters State Community College Walters State Community College (abbreviated as WSCC, and commonly known as Walters State) is a public community college based in Morristown, Tennessee. It was founded in 1970 and is operated by the Tennessee Board of Regents. The college was ...

via SR 160 and US 11E (Morris Boulevard, Andrew Johnson Highway). The byway then exits the Morristown–Hamblen area after crossing Cherokee Lake on the Olen R. Marshall Bridge, entering Bean Station in Grainger County. In Bean Station, the byway gives scenic views of the Mooresburg Valley and Cherokee Lake. Near the town's central business district, the byway is joined with US 11W/ SR 1 via

trumpet interchange In the field of road transport, an interchange (American English) or a grade-separated junction (British English) is a road junction that uses grade separations to allow for the movement of traffic between two or more roadways or highways, usin ...

. The concurrency to US 11W continues until reaching Briar Fork Creek at the base of

Clinch Mountain Clinch Mountain is a mountain ridge in the U.S. states of Tennessee and Virginia, lying in the ridge-and-valley section of the Appalachian Mountains. From its southern terminus at Kitts Point, which lies at the intersection of Knox, Union an ...

, where US 11W splits off and heads west along the Richland Valley towards

Knoxville Knoxville is a city in and the county seat of Knox County in the U.S. state of Tennessee. As of the 2020 United States census, Knoxville's population was 190,740, making it the largest city in the East Tennessee Grand Division and the state ...

, and the byway northbound into Poor Valley ascending the southern slope of Clinch Mountain. East Tennessee Crossing - The East Tennessee Crossing Meeting Clinch Mountain - NARA - 7718111

East Tennessee Crossing - The East Tennessee Crossing Meeting Clinch Mountain - NARA - 7718111

The byway traverses by a scenic overlook and through Bean Gap before descending down Clinch Mountain's northern slope towards the unincorporated community of Thorn Hill at the intersection of SR 131. After leaving Thorn Hill, the byway crosses over the

Clinch River The Clinch River is a river that flows southwest for more than through the Great Appalachian Valley in the U.S. states of Virginia and Tennessee, gathering various tributaries, including the Powell River, before joining the Tennessee River in Ki ...

and enters Claiborne County. In Claiborne County, the byway first enters the unincorporated community of Springdale, winding through the rolling hills of rural Claiborne County before entering Tazewell. In Tazewell, the byway bypasses the town's central business district and heads north. It crosses over the Powell River and enters Harrogate. The byway offers views of the

Cumberland Gap The Cumberland Gap is a pass through the long ridge of the Cumberland Mountains, within the Appalachian Mountains, near the junction of the U.S. states of Kentucky, Virginia, and Tennessee. It is famous in American colonial history for its ro ...

, and access to

Lincoln Memorial University Lincoln Memorial University (LMU) is a private university in Harrogate, Tennessee. LMU's campus borders on Cumberland Gap National Historical Park. As of fall 2019, it had 1,975 undergraduate and 2,892 graduate and professional students. LMU ...

before exiting Harrogate. It then bypasses the downtown area of

, and enters the

Cumberland Gap Tunnel The Cumberland Gap Tunnel is a dual-bore, four lane vehicular tunnel that carries U.S. Route 25E under Cumberland Gap National Historical Park near the intersection of Kentucky, Tennessee, and Virginia. The tunnel consists of two separate bor ...

, where the East Tennessee Crossing Byway ends.

History

East Tennessee Crossing - Ribbon Cutting at the East Tennessee Crossing - NARA - 7718112

What is now the East Tennessee Crossing Byway was supposedly first traversed by Native Americans, long before the area was settled by European pioneers. During this period, the route was considered a part of the Cherokee Warriors' Path. Most notably, the

to Bean Station section of the route was used as a pathway to

Kentucky Kentucky ( , ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States and one of the states of the Upper South. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to ...

on famous pioneer and settler,

Daniel Boone Daniel Boone (September 26, 1820) was an American pioneer and frontiersman whose exploits made him one of the first folk heroes of the United States. He became famous for his exploration and settlement of Kentucky, which was then beyond the we ...

Wilderness Road The Wilderness Road was one of two principal routes used by colonial and early national era settlers to reach Kentucky from the East. Although this road goes through the Cumberland Gap into southern Kentucky and northern Tennessee, the other (mo ...

. In 1915, the Cumberland Gap to Morristown section was designated a part of the

Dixie Highway Dixie Highway was a United States auto trail first planned in 1914 to connect the Midwest with the South. It was part of a system and was expanded from an earlier Miami to Montreal highway. The final system is better understood as a network of ...

, one of the routes in the

National Auto Trail The system of auto trails was an informal network of marked routes that existed in the United States and Canada in the early part of the 20th century. Marked with colored bands on utility poles, the trails were intended to help travellers in ...

system, which was one of the earliest highway systems developed in the United States. Through-out the early to mid-20th century, the route from the Cumberland Gap to Tazewell, along with SR 33 from Tazewell to

, was part of the infamous Thunder Road, which was used by bootleggers to illegally transport and trade

moonshine Moonshine is high-proof liquor that is usually produced illegally. The name was derived from a tradition of creating the alcohol during the nighttime, thereby avoiding detection. In the first decades of the 21st century, commercial dist ...

. The story was later fictionally adapted into a 1958 crime-drama film and

song A song is a musical composition intended to be performed by the human voice. This is often done at distinct and fixed pitches (melodies) using patterns of sound and silence. Songs contain various forms, such as those including the repetitio ...

of the same name. Based on the overall historical significance and proximity to historic sites such as the tavern once lived in by

Davy Crockett David Crockett (August 17, 1786 – March 6, 1836) was an American folk hero, frontiersman, soldier, and politician. He is often referred to in popular culture as the "King of the Wild Frontier". He represented Tennessee in the U.S. House of Re ...

in Morristown, the Battle of Bean's Station site in Grainger County, and the

Appalachian Trail The Appalachian Trail (also called the A.T.), is a hiking trail in the Eastern United States, extending almost between Springer Mountain in Georgia and Mount Katahdin in Maine, and passing through 14 states.Gailey, Chris (2006)"Appalachian T ...

in the Cherokee National Forest, many local historians called for US 25E and US 25 to the North Carolina state line to become a scenic byway. After a lengthy nomination and funding process, the efforts proved successful, as the East Tennessee Crossing National Scenic Byway was officially established in late 2009.

Major intersections

References

External links

* *{{URL, https://www.tn.gov/tdot.html, Tennessee Department of Transportation East Tennessee Crossings Byway Transportation in Cocke County, Tennessee Transportation in Jefferson County, Tennessee Transportation in Hamblen County, Tennessee Transportation in Grainger County, Tennessee Transportation in Claiborne County, Tennessee U.S. Route 25