knoxville area self-guided driving tour Welcome to the White Lightning Trail. SEE THE DRIVING TOUR MAP ON PAGE 16. R ead the story behind the trail on page 30. Get ready for White Lightning — 200 miles of unique American stories told every day through Appalachian TAKING IN THE TRAIL arts and crafts, preserved buildings and sites, historic town • These 200 miles are full of historic sites, preserved homes squares and the tales of legendary characters. and museums that bring the stories of the White Lightning The trail gets its name from the area’s history as a Trail to life. Many of them require advance reservations, prohibition-era, MOONSHINE-RUNNIng CORRIDOR. Rebels admission, or both to experience our history. careened around the curves of “Thunder Road,” transporting • Many historic buildings open their doors to visitors. Many illegal, homemade corn whiskey under the cover of darkness. properties remain as they have for over a century: private residences. Please be respectful of the private More HISTORY-CHANGING PIONEERS made their marks land and homeowners on our tour. along this route. As you cruise through rolling hills and • This is a drive that promises an off-the-beaten-path valleys, you’ll be traveling along the path first cut by Daniel Tennessee experience. What we can’t promise is steady Boone himself. You’ll walk with the ghosts of Civil War soldiers cell phone service. Don’t be surprised if you don’t always have a signal. READY FOR A TENNESSEE ROAD TRIP? We’ve got and coal miners, visit forts that protected the territory’s first • The White Lightning Trail features long, beautiful you covered on the new, self-guided driving trails of the settlers and see the school where the Clinton 12 stood their Discover Tennessee Trails & Byways. On the Sunny Side Trail, stretches of scenic driving. Make sure you fill your tank you’ll marvel at the Great Smoky Mountains, visit ground in the name of civil rights. and use the restroom in the towns along the way. There the birthplace of country music, soak up the history in And speaking of legends, no Tennessee trip would be will always be a “next town” on the route, but it may not Tennessee’s oldest town and discover a region known as be within the next few miles. America’s First Frontier. Pick up a self-guided map at any complete without a little MUSICAL HERITAGE. Visit the Smoky Mountains Region Welcome Center hometowns of country music’s Roy Acuff, Chet Atkins, • While all of the roads on this trail are paved and or visit SunnySideTrail.com. You’ll find the directions, maintained, wintertime in the mountains can make travel stops and stories that make the Sunny Side Trail a Kenny Chesney and Carl Smith. treacherous. Please be mindful of weather conditions as one-of-a-kind Tennessee road trip you won’t want to miss. Your drive takes you along parts of a National Scenic you plan your trip. Byway: EAST TENNESSEE CROSSING, with unforgettable • Summer through early fall is a great time to stock up on local views from the overlook atop Clinch Mountain. The produce at farm stands along the trail. Many stands are cash-only, so visit the ATM before you hit the road. BEAUTIFUL BODIES OF waTER you’ll encounter have shaped the region’s landscape and culture for hundreds of years and • Don’t forget to visit your favorite online review sites (like tripadvisor.com or yelp.com) and help us blaze a trail today attract outdoor enthusiasts of all kinds. to these wonderful hidden gems. So buckle up, there’s adventure at every turn on the White Lightning: Thunder Road to Rebels Trail. The colorful stories and interesting facts you’ll find along the White Lightning Trail have been uncovered Symbol Key: GEATR N ATIONAL Register with the invaluable help of OUTDOORS OF HISTORIC PLACES county tourism partners African- AMERICAN L IVE MUSIC P ICTURE Spot and historians in these heritage VENUE communities. TENNESSEE CLRIVI WA L ODGING MAIN STREET PROGRAM M OTORCOACH- F ESTIVALS FRIENDLY Pictured on cover: Cumberland Gap; Tennessee Theatre, Knoxville; Museum of (R) R IGHT Appalachia, Clinton. Pictured above: Main Street, Morristown; Green McAdoo Cultural Paper contains For complete visitor information F OOD & WINE M OTORCYcle (L) LTEF Center, Clinton; Whiskey still once used by Popcorn Sutton; Douglas Dam on the on Tennessee, call 1-800-GO2-TENN 10% recycled Route French Broad River; Clinch Mountain Lookout Restaurant, Thorn Hill. content. or visit tnvacation.com. Find more information at WhiteLightningTrail.com. 1 424 S. Gay St., Knoxville Downtown Grill & Brewery, the city’s first building in the area with windows, causing KNOXVILLE 865-633-8111 modern brewpub. the Cherokee to call it JAMES WHITe’S FORT 601 S. Gay St. “the house with many The 1786 settlement known as White’s Fort was renamed East Tennessee History Center, where the James White, Knoxville’s founder and first settler, came to Knoxville eyes.” Blount died here Knoxville in 1791 to honor the first U.S. Secretary of War, Henry signature exhibit explores 250 years of the region from North Carolina in the early 1780s. For his service 865-215-8824 East Tennessee’s culture from Native in 1800, but the house Knox. For a time, the city served as Tennessee’s state capital. In had another signif- in the Revolutionary War, he was given a land grant of 1,000 acres the early 20th century, Knoxville’s quarries supplied pink marble Americans and the Civil War to civil rights upon which he built a two-story log house (point 6). Two years and country music. icant tenant: Civil War to much of the country, earning it the nickname “The Marble Confederate spy Belle later he enclosed the house with a stockade fence for protection City.” Today, Knoxville is the third-largest city in the state and Tennessee Theatre The 1928 Tennessee Boyd, who used it as her refuge in 1863. from wild animals. He cleared the area around the fort of trees, the largest city in East Tennessee. 604 S. Gay St., Knoxville Theatre (Tennessee’s planted vegetable gardens and grew tobacco. 865-684-1200 Offering museums, historic homes, Official State Theatre) Exit R onto W. Hill Ave. 5. Women’s Basketball White sectioned off part of his land to establish a town that fine dining, entertainment, a Bijou Theatre and the 1909 Bijou Pt. 5 is just past int. of Hall of Fame – (L) would become known as Knoxville. 803 S. Gay St., Knoxville Hall of Fame Dr. & Opened in June world-class zoo, and the Women’s 865-522-0832 Theatre. Tours by E. Hill Ave. Sixty-four half-acre lots were Basketball Hall of Fame, Knoxville advance reservations. 1999, this is the only segmented into 16 blocks and sold Did You 700 Hall of Fame Dr. facility in the world of boasts big-city attractions with KnoW Knoxville for $8.00 each. White lived here until small town charm and rests in the Gay Street’s historic 865-633-9000 its kind dedicated to early 1793. Later in life, he gave beautiful foothills of Great Smoky Andrew Johnson Hotel women’s basketball. land for the establishment of Blount Mountains National Park. is the last place country The hall offers an College, which would become the ? star Hank Williams Sr. excellent collection of University of Tennessee. was seen alive, New multimedia presenta- DIRECTIONS Park the car in lot or nearby, and walk Year’s Eve 1952. tions, artifacts and experiences. down Gay Street for points 1 and 2. Did You Exit R onto E. Hill Ave. 6. James White’s Fort – (L) Knoxville’s Start at: Turn R onto S. Gay St., 3. Market Square – (L) This historic district KnoW Knoxville is home to the Turn R onto Hall of location near the center of the Great 301 S. Gay St. toward Wall Ave. Turn L has stories to tell Fame Dr. to pt. 6. 1. Knoxville Visitor Center University of Tennessee Lady Vols. Valley of East Tennessee was the hunting Knoxville onto Wall Ave. to pt. 3. dating all the way Former Head Coach Pat Summitt 205 E. Hill Ave. 865-523-7263 ground of the Cherokee Indians prior to its Between Wall Ave. & back to 1854. The was awarded the Medal of Freedom Knoxville White Lightning starts here! You’ll find Union Ave. 865-525-6514 settlement by Europeans. Revolutionary area has served as ? by President Obama in 2012 and War veteran James White moved from Knoxville gifts, snacks, area information, and can a farmers market, was the first woman in NCAA park for free (with permit) to enjoy much North Carolina and established his home commercial basketball history to win more than 800 games. here in 1786, building a fort and cabins. of Knoxville. Built in district, political She retired with 1,098 wins. 1925, this building This re-creation sits less than a mile from stage and cultural center; home to the original site and offers tours and first housed Kuhlman’s Confederates and Unionists, saloonkeepers Abbreviation Key: hands-on interpretations of open-hearth Store and became the and prohibitionists; and witness and host R R IGHT visitor center in 2004, cooking, blacksmithing and spinning. L LTEF to great American history. Roy Acuff got his now operated by Visit 7. Old City – This district is a vibrant evolution N N ORTH start here, as did Elvis Presley. Stroll the Exit R onto E. Hill Ave. Knoxville. If you’re Turn R onto State St.