State Route 72 (SR 72) is a state highway in the eastern portion of

U.S. state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its sove ...

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 th ...

. It travels through the towns of Vonore and Loudon.

Route description

Roane County

SR 72 begins in Roane County at an intersection with SR 58 just east of Midway. It then goes east as a narrow, curvy, 2-lane highway as it goes through Midway and then some mountains before entering Paint Rock and having a junction with SR 322, a loop route through Sweetwater. It stays curvy as it crosses more mountains and enters Loudon County.

Loudon County

It then begins paralleling the

Tennessee River The Tennessee River is the largest tributary of the Ohio River. It is approximately long and is located in the southeastern United States in the Tennessee Valley. The river was once popularly known as the Cherokee River, among other name ...

as it enters Loudon, and finally leaves the mountains and curves behind. SR 72 then has an interchange with

I-75 Interstate 75 (I-75) is a major north–south Interstate Highway in the Great Lakes and Southeastern regions of the United States. As with most Interstates that end in 5, it is a major cross-country, north–south route, traveling from St ...

before going through Loudon's main business district and having a junction with

US 11 {{Infobox road , country=USA , type=US , route=11 , map={{maplink, frame=yes, plain=yes, frame-align=center, frame-width=290, frame-height=330, type=line, from=U.S. Route 11.map , map_custom=yes , map_notes=US 11 in red, US 11E in blue, US 11W in ...

/ SR 2. It then bypasses downtown to the south before leaving Loudon and the Tennessee River to turn and go southeast. After that, it goes through farmland and has an intersection with SR 444 (Tellico Parkway), which provides access to Tellico Village,

Tellico Lake Tellico Dam is a dam built by the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) in Loudon County, Tennessee, on the Little Tennessee River as part of the Tellico Project. Planning for a dam structure on the Little Tennessee was reported as early as 1936 b ...

, and Lenoir City.

Monroe and Blount Counties

SR 72 then crosses into Monroe County and enters Vonore, intersects with the other end of SR 322, and comes to an intersection with US 411/ SR 33. It becomes concurrent with then and they travel east into downtown, where they intersect SR 360, which provides access to Fort Loudoun and

Fort Loudoun State Park Fort Loudoun State Historic Park is a state park in Monroe County in the U.S. state of Tennessee. Established in 1977, it houses the reconstructed Fort Loudoun along with an interpretive center and recreation area. Park staff also maintain the ...

. They then cross the

Little Tennessee River The Little Tennessee River is a tributary of the Tennessee River that flows through the Blue Ridge Mountains from Georgia, into North Carolina, and then into Tennessee, in the southeastern United States. It drains portions of three national ...

, before SR 72 separates and turns south. It then follows the banks of the lake, crossing into Blount County for a short distance, before ending at an intersection with US 129/ SR 115 near Tallassee.

Junction list

References