Exploring Tennessee: Road Trips through the Volunteer State
By Kimberly Graf. Published on July 26, 2024
Tennessee is known as the home of Nashville, Elvis, and Country music. It's one of the longest states in the country. It's also one of our most hospitable states – everyone here is friendly and ready to help make your trips a great experience.
The trips that we're going to be looking at today feature covered bridges, which are prominent in the state. The other trip will focus on some of the state's allegedly haunted locations.
Tennessee's Covered Bridges
We're going to start our covered bridge tour is located at Port Royal State Park. This bridge is no longer performing as a bridge. It's a bare-wood installation that has been around since 1903, but so much of it was destroyed in 1998 that they've closed it down to traffic. You can still go and see it, however.
Almost two and a half hours to the south is the David Crockett State Park, and the bridge there is definitely open to traffic. You can drive through this 58-foot-long bare wood bridge that rests right on the main park road. It stretches over a pond, and makes for a beautiful tourist attraction.
Our next bridge is a bit of a drive, but it's definitely worth it. Harrisburg Covered Bridge is almost five hours away in Harrisburg. This 64-foot-long bridge is in wonderful condition – it's been maintained beautifully to present you with a bridge that you can feel secure about driving over.
Bible Covered Bridge is our next stop, and it's almost an hour to the east. It's open only to foot traffic, but crossing it is a joy. It's been painted red for aesthetic value, and most of it has been restored. Still original, though, are some of the wood and steel struts and substructure. It looks exactly like you imagine that a covered bridge should.
Our last bridge is an hour and 20 minutes to the northeast. Elizabethton reveres this famous bridge. It's a stretch of white bridge that is 134 feet in length. Unfortunately, it's also unstable. You can still go and take a look at it, though. We love the windows set into the side slats!
This slow, meandering trip will take you on a trip that will last about 534 miles. Drive time clocks in at 9 hours and 26 minutes, so it's probably best to do it over a weekend. If you love old covered bridges, this is the perfect trip for you!
Tennessee's Most Haunted
The locations in this trip are either haunted attractions or allegedly haunted locations. Most offer tours. It's a wonderfully spooky trip. We recommend going to these locations in the fall months – not only will most of them be dressed up for Halloween, but you can get a side of Tennessee's fall foliage with your spookfest!
We're starting in Knoxville, at the Baker Peters House. This is a Civil War-era construction, finished in 1840. The doctor that lived here during the war – Doctor James Baker – treated wounded Confederate soldiers in the house. It remained standing even after the doctor was shot by a group of Union soldiers for sympathizing with their enemy. The door he was shot through is still on the property, which only lends itself to the spooky reports. You can take tours of this house and learn all of its history at the site.
Just about 45 minutes away is the Wheatlands Plantation in Sevierville. It was constructed in 1820, but the land was being used long before then. There is a mass grave for Native American casualties of the American Revolution on the grounds. Overall, there are quite a few gravesites around this antebellum-style mansion. Overall, there are an alleged 70 different instances of death on the property. You can take tours of the house and grounds during their business hours!
An hour away is the only haunted attraction on our list. In Gatlinburg, the Mysterious Mansion is popular. It's a 'haunted house' that you can self-tour, full of hidden passages, dark corridors, and winding staircases that you can explore as you attempt to navigate the mystery presented in the attraction. There is a small entry fee for tons of fun!
Ah hour and fifteen minutes down the road is an abandoned property that you can take self-guided tours of. This location, called Gwendolyn's House, is the site of several reported apparition sightings – including a woman in white in the windows. When you enter the house, people say that there is a voice that yells at you. It's an interesting stop, for sure!
Our last stop is the Glenmore Mansion, and it's about an hour and a half away. The main reports from this location are strange lights in the attic, which appear late into the night. You can take tours of this location, but it closes at a reasonable time in the afternoon – which makes the lights unusual. There have even been a few apparitions sighted in the windows.
This spooktacular trip will take you just over 4 hours of drive time, and take you to some interesting places! Combined with beautiful foliage, it's the perfect October trip!
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