Traveling the Trails

Cherokee Heritage Trails sometimes lead to remote areas. As you travel, you can cruise on four lane highways or you can explore the wild places of the southern Appalachians where cell phones may not work, where fast food franchises are few and far between and where gas stations do not light up the night sky on every corner. Whether you consider this a blessing or a curse, be prepared.

Several location along the trails offer accommodations, fuel, food, and areas where cell phones will function. If you are choosing to explore Cherokee Heritage Trails in the backcountry along scenic drives and side trips, be sure to fuel your car, get supplies and make any necessary calls at these locations. In Tennessee they include Vonore and Rd Clay (Chattanooga area).

The most remote drive tours include the Unicoi Turnpike and the Overhills Driving Loop. The Unicoi Turnpike was used to take Cherokee people from their homes to begin the Trail of Tears and in places the original road remains visible as wagon ruts in the ground alongside the paved or gravel road. The Overhill Driving Loop tours through the backcountry locations of original Cherokee town sites in Tennessee. Many of the Cherokee Heritage Trails routes follow state-designated Scenic Byways.

If you want to travel by means other than automobile, you can bike, canoe, kayak, ride horseback, or hike throughout the Cherokee homeland territory. Accommodations range from luxury hotels to comfortable cabins to primitive camping in roadless wilderness areas.

Reprinted online by permission of the publisher.