never been to Tellico plains but keep hearing about it. can anyone fill me in? even better - show me around the place? I'm from the Asheville area & love riding the forest service roads. thanks

stay at Hunt's Lodge in Tellico.
also the Cherohala skyway starts just a bit north of town. awesome ride smooth road

malcolm duke
hurst,tx.
12 DL1000 red

I've always eaten at the Telico Plains Cafe. Great food.
Check out Telico Motorcycle Outfitters if they are still open? Anyone know?

Tellico Moto closed over a year ago.......and then the tshirt shop bought out Mike's Inventory. The "new" shop is located across the street from the "Historic District" (where the shop use to be).....I think next to the Visitor/Welcome Center.....the shop houses a neat little Museum from the area, mainly telephones and service. I was there in May 2015........

Yes, eat at the Tellico Bakery (Grains??) or whatever it is called.....good hand-baked food and sammiches!! Try riding up to "Bald River Falls" (??) right off the Skyway, near town.

It was closed in Sept or July of 2013 when Sandy and I were there last.

..Tom

What Mark said.

And if you like gravel, continue on past Bald River Falls to Baby Falls and ways past take North River Road. It starts out paved, then sort of paved, then gravel, and then sort of gravel. It connects to the Cherohala Skyway at Stratton Gap.

Like a lot of old mill towns in NC, there's not much to Tellico Plains and most of the "new" stuff is on Hwy 68.

Check out Hwy 360 from Vonore, TN to Tellico Plains - nice back country ride that avoids the rest of boring US 411 and Hwy 68. At the intersection with the Skyway, turn right for "downtown" Tellico Plains.

Kat's Deli. Excellent sandwiches, deck right on the river. On road towards the Skyway, a little ways out of town.

Ditto River Road. Ride it all the way to Greens Cove - a place stuck in time, like the 1960s. Trout hatchery is just past it.

North River road is usually good hard pack gravel, but lots of rain may have some ruts. However, that road comes out right at the halfway point (and highest elevation point) of the parkway. You'll miss some good sections of parkway unless you double back on River Road. Or make a figure 8 route - see below.

Visitor center has lot of info about the local history, especially Cherokee. They were the Overhill Cherokees - different treaties than the NC/GA Cherokees.

Since you like gravel, near the NC end, take the FS 1127/1134 road to Joyce Kilmer Memorial Forest for a walk among giant old growth forest (unfortunately, like in NC, all the giant hemlocks are dead due to the hemlock wooly adelgid). That same road goes all the way to Hwy 129 and comes out a few miles north of Robbinsville.

If you want a long, mixed surface route, go through Cades Cove in GSMNP, take the one-way gravel Parsons Branch Rd. which intersects Hwy 129. Then take FS 1134 to the Cherohala. Notice on map the gravel FS Santeetlah Creek Road which branches north off Joyce Kilmer road. Santeetlah Creek Road intersects the Skyway right across from North River Road. So, you could also make a figure 8 route of River Road, NC half of Skyway, Santeetlah Creek Road, TN half of Skyway.

Always inquire with local Forest Service office about conditions of the gravel roads due to all the rain.

To stretch the legs, there are a couple of stops on the NC side with short hikes to open grass balds the FS maintains for the views.

Enjoy the ride and be safe!

Bill in Roswell, GA

Since you are close to Asheville, I would suggest you try out Cove Creek Rd (not paved) which leads over to TN#32 (twisty paved) - it's a great ride close to you!
https://goo.gl/maps/7B3Ci

Tellico Adventure Trail | Adventure Rider

I rode the first leg of this trip last week and it was awesome. I live in Knoxville which is only an hour away so I can ride down there and back in the same day which is nice. That thread has some incredible trails and it really is just some of the best riding in the Smokey Mountains.

tellico grains bakery has the best pizza, but they only make it on saturdays. Cherohala is a fun road and traffic is usually not too bad.