The lower Skyway on the Tennessee side, climbing out of the Tellico River country into the Cherokee National Forest — the first big overlooks open here.
Feel the road tilting up under you? You're climbing now, out of the river valley and into the Cherokee National Forest, and the first of the big overlooks start opening on this stretch. Pull off at one and look back west — that green country falling away behind you is the Tellico River watershed, and every mile ahead gains you elevation and view.
This lower forest is second-growth, and there's a reason it looks that young. A hundred years ago this whole basin was clear-cut — the great logging companies came in, laid railroad up every creek, and took the timber out wholesale. What you're driving through is the forest that grew back, and it grew back magnificently. Give it another century.
Take these lower curves easy and get a feel for the Skyway's rhythm — long, wide, sweeping bends, engineered gentle, nothing like the white-knuckle switchbacks over on the Dragon. This is a road built for the view. So use the pull-offs, let the faster folks by, and keep climbing. It only gets better up high.
Photo: Brian Stansberry · CC BY 3.0
