TN Fall Colors Trip

Waiting for a day of sunshine seemed endless here in Middle Tennessee

this fall. We kept a daily watch on the Weather Channel for a forecasted

sunny day. Finally, we were excited to have a day to investigate the

‘fall colors’ in the TN hills.

We met our friends, Gary and Donna at 8:30am in Gallatin. Tim had

mapped out several excellent highways to fill our need of ‘fall color’

viewing. I thought I would highlight our route for anyone interested in

riding a scenic trail.

We headed south on TN-109 out of Gallatin. We

followed TN-109 -> TN-265 -> TN-231 -> TN-266

-> TN-96 to a small village called Auburntown,

where we took TN-145, aka Goat Highway.
Goat Highway (TN-145) is a “must take” road

for all bikers. This road has many twists and turns

and great scenery. There is a huge surprise down

this road . . . you will find a mammoth overpass in

what seems like the middle of nowhere. When given

the time, you will want to take a short detour from

TN-145 and check out where this overpass will take you.

At the end of TN-145, you will be in Woodbury, a

quaint small town that has a great town square. We have been through

this town several times and the town square seems to be the hub of this

community. If you are lucky, they may have a car show, BBQ, or other fun

activity to check out.Heading east out of Woodbury on TN-70S we continued

on our ‘fall color’ quest -> TN-380 -> TN-8 -> TN-111.

TN-111 is where the “awe” in this awesome trip takes place. On TN-111 there is a scenic overlook that is simply beautiful. Make sure you pull over and take in the view.

Overlook view

After the breathtaking view we continue

on TN-111 -> TN-27 -> TN-30.

Now, I would be remised to not point out a comparison between TN-30 and the Dragon’s Tail. I didn’t count the number of curves on this highway; however, for me, the decline in the terrain on this road outweighs the extra curves on the Tail. WOW, what a road this is!
TN-30 merges with TN-127N at Pikeville and then back to TN-30. As we turn back on TN-30 in Pikeville we stopped at a small diner on the side of the road and had a great cheeseburger! Sorry, I can’t remember the name of this diner; however it was just off of TN-30 as we returned from the merge.

Following TN-30 out of Pikeville we made our way through more curves and passed by Fall Creek Falls. If you have time, you may want to check out this great TN State Park. TN-30 then returns us to TN-111 and where we found our way back to Gallatin. We had traveled 344 miles and had spent over 10 hours on the bike.

(Gary & Donna on our 'tail')

Sadly, the leaves have not turned into their fiery colors thus far.

Perhaps we were too early and the best is yet to come. We may

have to retrace this route in a couple of weeks.