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Attractions
What car for what place? These pages match Drive865's fleet to the roads people search for by name.
US-129 // The Dragon
Tail of the Dragon Car Rental
318 curves in 11 miles. We hand you a car that's tuned for it and a pickup that's an hour from the road.
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Great Smoky Mountains // East Tennessee
Car rental for the Smoky Mountains
The most-visited national park in the country has roads worth renting a car specifically for. Here's how to pick the right one.
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Cades Cove // Great Smoky Mountains NP
Car rental for Cades Cove
An 11-mile paved loop, wildlife everywhere, and 20 mph for an hour. The right car makes it the best version of itself.
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Dollywood // Pigeon Forge, TN
Car rental for Dollywood
Five miles from Pigeon Forge. The right car depends on who's in it and what else is on the trip.
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Clingmans Dome // 6,643 ft · Great Smoky Mountains NP
Car rental for Clingmans Dome
The highest point in the Smokies. A comfortable, capable car for the 7-mile climb and the views above the cloud line.
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Foothills Parkway // Tennessee
Car rental for the Foothills Parkway
17 miles of south-facing Smokies, smooth pavement, no trucks, no stop signs. Top down is the right answer.
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Cherohala Skyway // TN to NC
Car rental for the Cherohala Skyway
43 miles, 5,400 feet. The Dragon's quieter, longer sibling: fewer cars, bigger views, a more open throttle.
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Big South Fork // Cumberland Plateau, TN/KY
Car rental for Big South Fork
The underrated Cumberland Plateau park. Rugged gorge country north of Knoxville: the FJ Cruiser's kind of road.
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Norris Lake // Anderson County, TN
Car rental for Norris Lake
800 miles of shoreline, 30 minutes from TYS. Scenic country roads through Anderson and Campbell counties, good for a convertible or a practical van.
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GSMNP // Roaring Fork
Roaring Fork Motor Nature Trail Car Rental
Five and a half miles of old-growth Smokies. Waterfalls, historic cabins, and dense canopy, and you're done before noon if you want.
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UT Knoxville // Drive865
Car Rental for University of Tennessee Knoxville
Move-in day, graduation, parents weekend, or arriving for a game. Twenty minutes from TYS. We have a car for every kind of UT trip.
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East Tennessee's driving roads, matched to the right car
East Tennessee is one of the best road-trip destinations in the eastern United States, not only because of the scenery, but because of the roads themselves. Tail of the Dragon, Cherohala Skyway, the Foothills Parkway, the mountain loops of Great Smoky Mountains National Park: these are destinations that reward a specific kind of car in a way that an airport-counter sedan simply doesn't. Drive865's attraction pages exist to close that gap.
Each page in this hub covers one destination and walks through what the road actually demands: elevation change, corner radius, surface quality, traffic patterns, and which vehicle characteristic makes the biggest difference there. The result is a resource that answers the question most rental sites never try to answer: which car should I bring to this place?
The recommendations are specific. Not 'a sporty car' but the BRZ for the Dragon because it's light, rear-wheel drive, and available in manual. Not 'an SUV' for Cades Cove but the Pilot or the FJ depending on whether you want comfort or capability. The match matters more than the category.
A compact road network worth planning multiple days around
The driving area around Knoxville and East Tennessee is unusually compact and unusually varied. Tail of the Dragon and Cades Cove are less than 90 minutes apart. Cherohala Skyway and the Foothills Parkway can share a day. Roaring Fork Motor Nature Trail runs through the park on the return from almost any Smokies destination. The Norris Lake area adds forest roads and water to the mix.
Because the destinations cluster tightly, a single 3–5 day rental from McGhee Tyson Airport can realistically hit four or five of the roads worth making the trip for. The attraction pages are built to support that kind of planning: read the road, understand what the car should do there, and stack the days efficiently.
Most guests who come specifically for the driving plan a loop: Dragon one day, Foothills Parkway the next, Cherohala out to Robbinsville on the third. That loop is entirely doable from a single TYS pickup, and the attraction pages give you the context to plan each leg before you get here.
Why the car matters here more than most places
Most rental cars are optimized for the airport counter: large enough to fit a family, automatic transmission, forgettable suspension. That works for a highway drive to a hotel. It doesn't work for Tail of the Dragon. It doesn't work for a narrow park loop where a light, communicative car is rewarding and a heavy, quiet one is just transportation.
Drive865's fleet was built for these roads. The enthusiast cars (BRZ, Supra, MR2, WRX STI, Miata) are the cars that the most-booked guests choose when they come specifically for the driving. The practical cars (FJ Cruiser, Pilot, CRV) are the cars that make GSMNP loops and Cades Cove comfortable for groups who want to see the park, not manage a demanding chassis on narrow one-way roads.
The attraction pages do the matching so you can start from the destination and end up in the right car, not start from what's available and work backwards.
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Frequently asked questions
Which East Tennessee attractions call for a specific type of car?
Tail of the Dragon, Cherohala Skyway, and the Foothills Parkway reward a lighter, more communicative car: manual transmission, rear-wheel drive, stiff suspension. Great Smoky Mountains National Park loops like Cades Cove and Roaring Fork Motor Nature Trail are more forgiving; a comfortable SUV or AWD car works well there. Big South Fork has unpaved sections where ground clearance and 4WD matter. Each attraction page on this hub calls out what the road specifically rewards.
Can I visit multiple attractions on a single rental?
Yes. East Tennessee's driving destinations cluster tightly. Tail of the Dragon, Cades Cove, Cherohala Skyway, and the Foothills Parkway are all within 90 minutes of each other and reachable from a single McGhee Tyson Airport pickup. A 3–5 day rental covers most of the major roads. The Guides section has a 3-day Smokies itinerary that walks through a logical combination.
What is the best season for East Tennessee's driving attractions?
April through October is the primary season. Roads are dry, temperatures are comfortable, and the park foliage peaks from late September through mid-October. Summer weekends bring the most traffic on Tail of the Dragon and through the Smokies corridor. Weekday rentals in May or early June offer the best roads with the least company.
Can I take a Drive865 rental into Great Smoky Mountains National Park?
Yes. All Drive865 vehicles are cleared for GSMNP. No special permit is required for personal vehicle entry on the main roads. Some park roads (Roaring Fork Motor Nature Trail) are narrow and one-way; they're manageable in any car but require attentive driving. Cades Cove's 11-mile loop is wide and easy in any vehicle in the fleet.
Do I need 4WD or AWD for any of the East Tennessee attractions?
For most of the destinations on this hub (Tail of the Dragon, Cherohala Skyway, Foothills Parkway, the main GSMNP paved roads), no. These are paved roads and 4WD adds weight without improving the experience. Big South Fork has off-pavement trails where 4WD is useful, and any visit during winter weather benefits from AWD. For dry-pavement mountain driving, a rear-wheel-drive sports car is the stronger choice over a heavy AWD platform.