The last time we went down Parsons Branch was back in the 80's in a Ford Escort station wagon. The road was nowhere this maintained at that time, when you crossed the bridge to start the drive you went through a tunnel of rhododendron, it was so thick it was like night until you came out. One thing about the drive, it was extremely quiet, no noise of any kind, not even birds chirping, the only thing you heard was the rush of the creeks. I plan to make the trip come this May as I like the solitude of the forest and escape from what we call civilization.
Great video. We made that same trip on 10/22/22 but got a bit of a late start and were slowed down by all of the traffic in Cades Cove so it was dark before we finished. I was actually surprised to see a mini van parked at that trailhead parking lot. Lol.
I went to cades cove on Sunday and drove my 2023 Tacoma trd offroad on thus parsons branch road. It was a fun drive. I want yo come along sometimes id you get other folks organized to go riding on other mountain tain trails in northeast Tennessee or over in western nc.
Nice! Ya I need to try to do some sort of group ride. I posted on here asking people about it but nobody ever commented 😂. I don’t think hardly anyone saw it because it wasn’t a video. Lol
The first time I did parson's branch road, I did it in a Miata... (it was not necessarily the smartest decision, but it was doable at the time). That was before it was closed for so long because of the tree blight. I've since done it in my Colorado ZR2 and there's no way I'd do it again in a Miata, I don't think I could make it up that first big hill now, given how rutted it was last year when we went through there... but it's a beautiful way to get out of the park and back over to the Tail of the Dragon. If you haven't, there's also a nice (but notnecessariuly at all challenging) ride up Bald River Falls River Road off the Cherohala Skyway near Tellico Plains. You can take it from the Cherohala all the way across to Murphy NC and Hwy. 74.
I’ve heard of a few trails out in Tellico Plains, but ever been down there yet. Ya there was an F-150 there when we were at Parson’s Branch. He didn’t make it up that first big hill the 1st time. I wish I had gotten a better view of that hill on camera haha
I went back to look at the times on the videos/pics. We just used Apple Maps or Google maps to get from Pigeon Forge the Cades Cove Jeep Outpost store. Then, used the same navigation tools to get to Cades Cove. By the time we got to Cades Cove it was around 2:45pm when we got to that area where the horses are fenced in. At the 8:16 mark in this video where the Parsons Branch sign is, it was 4:00pm. The Parsons Branch trail starts at the GPS location of 35.5631, -83.8471. It’s a one way trail so you have to go in from this side per the sign. Of course we were getting out to film and stuff during the trail ride so you could do it faster than us, but we ended the trail at 5:00pm. It is about 7.9 miles. The exit of the trail is at 35.49970, -83.93402.
@@appalachhaun_adventures thank you for looking this up for me, going their in two with Switch I Up UA-cam group out of 175 RV we have about 20 keepers, and only about 5-hrs of open time Sunday morning. From Sout Fl Thanks You again for your time in helping me plane an outing for our group.🙂👍👍👍
Parsons Branch should never be opened to Vehicles. It is a beautiful natural area. I don’t know what the park service is thinking by doing that. If you can’t Bike it or Hike it well sorry you would have to stay off. One idea is to have a lottery for a certain amount cars. I have seen Jeep clubs in there and it destroys the road.
@@appalachhaun_adventures Your sadly mistaken. Obviously you never have Mountain biked it ? It is Part of a ride called the “Henious” loop. 70 miles of pain. No I advocate for open trails and gravel roads. I,We don’t want jeeps flying on them,I was almost hit and the damages they cause. Go to Windrock or Royal Blue.
@@greglovelace7689 I’m not the person to cry about to. 🤷🏻♂️ it’s open for vehicles…I didn’t open it. Obviously on a bike it’s rough cause the hills and what not. There’s zero obstacles or anything to prevent any vehicles from going on it beside one hill that has a couple little tiny off terrain places. People need to pay attention where they’re going. People ride the Smokey Mountain 1000 too with dirt bikes and vehicles. Both parties need to watch and pay attention to traffic especially on curves.
@@greglovelace7689 I also see PLENTY of bicycles on our county curvy roads acting like they own the road and not getting the hell out of the way when they’re holding up 10 cars and the cars cannot see far enough on the curvy road to pass…. Idk 🤷🏻♂️ goes both ways. Parson Branch is open to vehicles.
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The last time we went down Parsons Branch was back in the 80's in a Ford Escort station wagon. The road was nowhere this maintained at that time, when you crossed the bridge to start the drive you went through a tunnel of rhododendron, it was so thick it was like night until you came out. One thing about the drive, it was extremely quiet, no noise of any kind, not even birds chirping, the only thing you heard was the rush of the creeks. I plan to make the trip come this May as I like the solitude of the forest and escape from what we call civilization.
Great video. We made that same trip on 10/22/22 but got a bit of a late start and were slowed down by all of the traffic in Cades Cove so it was dark before we finished. I was actually surprised to see a mini van parked at that trailhead parking lot. Lol.
Been waiting to catch Parsons Branch trail during the fall color change this year but missed it again.
I went to cades cove on Sunday and drove my 2023 Tacoma trd offroad on thus parsons branch road. It was a fun drive.
I want yo come along sometimes id you get other folks organized to go riding on other mountain tain trails in northeast Tennessee or over in western nc.
Nice! Ya I need to try to do some sort of group ride. I posted on here asking people about it but nobody ever commented 😂. I don’t think hardly anyone saw it because it wasn’t a video. Lol
The first time I did parson's branch road, I did it in a Miata... (it was not necessarily the smartest decision, but it was doable at the time). That was before it was closed for so long because of the tree blight. I've since done it in my Colorado ZR2 and there's no way I'd do it again in a Miata, I don't think I could make it up that first big hill now, given how rutted it was last year when we went through there... but it's a beautiful way to get out of the park and back over to the Tail of the Dragon. If you haven't, there's also a nice (but notnecessariuly at all challenging) ride up Bald River Falls River Road off the Cherohala Skyway near Tellico Plains. You can take it from the Cherohala all the way across to Murphy NC and Hwy. 74.
I’ve heard of a few trails out in Tellico Plains, but ever been down there yet. Ya there was an F-150 there when we were at Parson’s Branch. He didn’t make it up that first big hill the 1st time. I wish I had gotten a better view of that hill on camera haha
Do you have more info on where that trail starts in Tellico Plains?
Two questions, where did you start and end? How much time did it take (4-hours)? How much time did you stop at the buildings (2-hr total)?
I went back to look at the times on the videos/pics. We just used Apple Maps or Google maps to get from Pigeon Forge the Cades Cove Jeep Outpost store. Then, used the same navigation tools to get to Cades Cove. By the time we got to Cades Cove it was around 2:45pm when we got to that area where the horses are fenced in. At the 8:16 mark in this video where the Parsons Branch sign is, it was 4:00pm. The Parsons Branch trail starts at the GPS location of 35.5631, -83.8471. It’s a one way trail so you have to go in from this side per the sign. Of course we were getting out to film and stuff during the trail ride so you could do it faster than us, but we ended the trail at 5:00pm. It is about 7.9 miles. The exit of the trail is at 35.49970, -83.93402.
@@appalachhaun_adventures thank you for looking this up for me, going their in two with Switch I Up UA-cam group out of 175 RV we have about 20 keepers, and only about 5-hrs of open time Sunday morning. From Sout Fl Thanks You again for your time in helping me plane an outing for our group.🙂👍👍👍
Parsons Branch should never be opened to Vehicles. It is a beautiful natural area. I don’t know what the park service is thinking by doing that. If you can’t Bike it or Hike it well sorry you would have to stay off. One idea is to have a lottery for a certain amount cars. I have seen Jeep clubs in there and it destroys the road.
@@greglovelace7689 it’s basically a gravel driveway……Are you one of these folks that wants all forest roads closed???
@@appalachhaun_adventures Your sadly mistaken. Obviously you never have Mountain biked it ? It is Part of a ride called the “Henious” loop. 70 miles of pain. No I advocate for open trails and gravel roads. I,We don’t want jeeps flying on them,I was almost hit and the damages they cause. Go to Windrock or Royal Blue.
@@greglovelace7689 I’m not the person to cry about to. 🤷🏻♂️ it’s open for vehicles…I didn’t open it. Obviously on a bike it’s rough cause the hills and what not. There’s zero obstacles or anything to prevent any vehicles from going on it beside one hill that has a couple little tiny off terrain places. People need to pay attention where they’re going. People ride the Smokey Mountain 1000 too with dirt bikes and vehicles. Both parties need to watch and pay attention to traffic especially on curves.
@@greglovelace7689 I also see PLENTY of bicycles on our county curvy roads acting like they own the road and not getting the hell out of the way when they’re holding up 10 cars and the cars cannot see far enough on the curvy road to pass…. Idk 🤷🏻♂️ goes both ways. Parson Branch is open to vehicles.
@@appalachhaun_adventures Agree. I don’t ride Lance Armstrong bikes,just Mountain Bikes.