Scenic drives in the Southern Appalachians
25 curated roads, 16 paved and 9 gravel, across AL, GA, KY, NC, SC and TN. Every road here was researched and verified rather than pulled off a listicle, and each is paired with the town worth basing yourself in.
- Aska Road & the Ocoee Gorge (US 64)
- Blue Ridge Parkway & The Rattler (NC 209)
- Blue Ridge Parkway (Linn Cove Viaduct)
- Cherokee Foothills Byway (SC 11) & Caesars Head
- Cullasaja Gorge waterfall byway (US 64)
- Lookout Mountain & the Sequatchie
- Moonshiner 28 & the Nantahala Gorge
- Nada Tunnel & the Sky Bridge loop
- Newfound Gap Rd & Cades Cove
- Richard Russell Scenic Hwy (GA 348)
- Tail of the Dragon (US 129) & Cherohala Skyway
- Talladega Scenic Byway (AL-281)
- The Diamondback (US 276) over Pisgah
- The Snake (US 421)
- Two Wheels of Suches (GA 60 & 180)
- Wayah Road & the Nantahala Forest
- Cohutta Wilderness gravel (Lake Conasauga)
- Iron Mountain & Cherokee NF gravel
- Nantahala & Wayah gravel + the Bartram
- Ocoee & Cohutta forest roads
- Pisgah gravel — Yellow Gap & Kelly Mtn Rd
- Suches & Cooper Creek forest roads
- Trans-America Trail: Cataloochee
- Wagon Train Rd (FR81) & Tatham Gap
- Warwoman Rd & the Bartram Trail
The turn-by-turn routes are members-only. Each of these roads has a verified Google Maps route that actually draws the road — the part that took the work, and the part interactive maps usually get wrong. Those live in the full Drives Atlas, which opens with an email. No account, no password.
Driving one of these?
Turn on “Avoid highways” in your maps app first. Otherwise you get rerouted onto the interstate and skip the entire point of the road.