Riders tend to roll through Tazewell on the way to somewhere more famous, Cumberland Gap to the north or the Smokies to the south, and that is a pity, because the country around this small Tennessee county seat is quietly excellent. Tazewell and its larger twin, New Tazewell, sit on a low ridge in Claiborne County between two long mountain walls, Powell Mountain and Clinch Mountain, with the Powell and Clinch rivers running in parallel valleys and Norris Lake spreading its many arms through the hills to the south.
The towns are practical places. Between them you will find several gas stations, local diners, fast food, a supermarket and a couple of motels, which makes this a sensible food and fuel stop before or after the climb to Cumberland Gap on US 25E, about twenty minutes north. The old courthouse in Tazewell, with its brick and stone, and the small historic streets around it are a reminder that this was settled early, by people who came down the Wilderness Road and took the first available valley rather than pressing on into Kentucky.
What draws riders are the roads that leave the main highway. Route 33 runs south from New Tazewell toward Maynardville and Knoxville, a lovely rolling road that curves along the valley and crosses ridges with good views of the mountains on either side. Route 63 heads west toward LaFollette, climbing and dropping through wooded gaps. Smaller lanes lead down to the shores of Norris Lake, where the water is clear and green, ringed by limestone bluffs and forest. Norris was the first major dam built by the Tennessee Valley Authority in the 1930s, part of a vast programme to bring electricity and flood control to this region.
The surfaces are generally good on state routes, with occasional patching and gravel at farm entrances. Valley fog in early morning and late autumn can be dense, so allow time for it to lift. Summer afternoons can turn stormy, and deer are common. For a break, the lake is the best place to sit quietly for a while, and in spring the redbud and dogwood flowering in the woods make even the main road look festive.