'You have to get on some of these gravel roads to be able to appreciate what Tennessee has to offer' – 37 new gravel routes unveiled in US state

The Tennessee Department of Tourist Development has unveiled 37 new routes across the state. The gravel trails will join an existing 52 road routes already in existence, opening up more than 1,800 miles of trails to explore.

Take a scroll through Bike Tennessee’s extensive list of routes all accessible by the Ride with GPS app, to see forest climbs to day-long mountain rides. Selecting at random, ‘The Big Sandy Out and Back Gravel Ride’ promises 32 miles (2,000 feet of climbing) of ‘tree tunnels, lake views, farm fields and punchy hills.’ Another search turns up the ‘Upper Sequatchie Valley Loop’, a 35 mile ride through the Sequatchie Valley, through the region’s ‘low-traffic roadways and historic agricultural landscape.’

“It also provides exposure to rural counties and those scenic landscapes that really aren't viewable if you're just driving down the road,” Brent Lambert, East Tennessee Division Manager for Tennessee Department of Tourist Development told News Channel 9.

“You have to get off on some of these little gravel roads to be able to really appreciate what Tennessee has to offer.”

The roll out of additional routes has been made possible by the state’s thriving outdoor economy. In 2024, it generated more than $15 billion, turning over the fourth largest profit in the Southeast according to the Bureau of Economic Analysis.

Perhaps most famous for Nashville, music and bachelorette parties, Tennessee is also home to several national parks, including the 500,000 acre Great Smoky Mountains National Park (the most visited in the US) and the Cherokee National Forest. Road and gravel trails ribbon off and around these areas.

“That’s actually the fastest growing segment in cycling,” Shannon Burke of Tennessee Gravel told UC Now of gravel cycling. “You put together a nice day for people where they’re able to park… do a really nice ride, come back, have lunch, maybe do a hike to the waterfall,” Burke said. “It becomes a full day of activity, or maybe even a full weekend.”