Walland is a crossroads village in the east Tennessee foothills, and the first impression is that the Smokies have been waiting politely behind it. A railway track, a few old wooden stores, horse pastures and a few estates of well-heeled owners line the road, while the long blue wall of the Great Smoky Mountains lies just to the south-east. Maryville, a bigger town not far away, supplies the services, and Walland is more a place of passing through, with a slow, rural feel.
The Foothills Parkway starts nearby, and its story is a long one. Planned in the 1940s as a scenic road along the northern edge of Great Smoky Mountains National Park, it was built in sections over decades, and parts stood unfinished for so long that the missing section became a local joke. The long stretch from here to Wears Valley was finally opened in 2018, a ribbon of smooth modern road that runs along Chilhowee Mountain, with broad curves, stone bridges and big views over the valley and the high Smokies beyond. Other segments are joined by ordinary roads, so the route is a mix of parkway and country lanes.
The riding is lovely. The parkway has a low speed limit, wide lanes and long, easy bends, with pull-outs for views of the ridges, which turn layer upon layer of blue in the haze that gave the Smokies their name. Traffic is lighter than on the roads through Gatlinburg and Pigeon Forge, but weekends in October can be busy, and the parkway has few services. Watch for deer, and for gravel washed onto the road after storms.
For fuel, go to Maryville or the strip of stores near Eagleton Village, about thirteen kilometres away, and fill up there. Townsend, a short ride south, bills itself as the peaceful side of the Smokies, and has cafes and cabins. The best seasons are late April, when dogwood and redbud bloom, and mid-October, when the hardwoods turn orange and red. Summer is hot and humid, with thunderstorms in the afternoon. Barbecue, biscuits and sweet tea are the local fuel for the rider.