Leaving the Metcalf Bottoms picnic area on our scenic drive, we exited Great Smoky Mountains National Park via Wear Cove Gap Road. Just outside the park boundary, the road changes names to Line Springs Road. From the bridge over the Little River north to the US 321 intersection in Wears Valley is only 2.7 miles. Turning right on US 321, we drove another 0.8 miles to the Wears Valley entrance to the Foothills Parkway. This new section of the parkway opened in November 2018 and connects to the section from US 321 in Walland to US 129 at Chilhowee Lake that opened 52 years earlier in 1966. The Foothills Parkway is part of Great Smoky Mountains National Park.
The new section is 14.7 miles long and has over a dozen pullouts. Most of the pullouts provide scenic views, but a few seem to be solely for slower traffic to allow others to pass. The only named pullout is Caylor Gap Overlook which has parking on both sides of the road. We drove this section of the parkway in late October 2019.
There is no entrance fee at Great Smoky Mountains National Park.
The park website is https://www.nps.gov/grsm/index.htm.
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