Rocky Top. The northern end of U.S. Highway 441. Not very exciting, huh?
The strung-out little northeastern Tennessee village of Rocky Top is not the beginning of U.S. 441, but the end. The highway actually began in Florida as a spur off U.S. 41 to connect Ocala and Orlando, and was gradually extended north and south to its present length of 937 miles. Its southern terminus is in downtown Miami.
But we'll start at Rocky Top, because that's closest to where I am. From here, 441 heads south, crosses over Norris Dam, and passes through downtown Knoxville before turning east and then south through the tourist havens of Pigeon Forge and Gatlinburg, climbing to more than 5,000 feet at Newfound Gap in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park as it crosses over into North Carolina.
A "lost" Rock City barn on U.S. 441 near Dillsboro, North Carolina.
Considered one of the most scenic highways in the United States, 441 continues south into northeast Georgia, passing over 1000-feet deep Tallulah Gorge on its way.
Tallulah Gorge is one of the Seven Natural Wonders of Georgia.
Avoiding Atlanta and Macon, U.S. 441 connects east central Georgia cities such as Athens, Madison, Milledgeville, Dublin, and Douglas before crossing into Florida, first to Lake City, then on to Gainesville.
Andalusia Farm near Milledgeville, home of writer Flannery O'Conner.
From Ocala through Orlando, U.S. Highway 441 achieves its greatest prominence as the historic Orange Blossom Trail, its original route.
South of Kissimmee, 441 skirts the eastern side of Lake Okeechobee, then heads for Lake Worth on the Atlantic coast. From there, it follows the coastline south to its end (or maybe its beginning) in Miami. I've driven many sections of U.S. Highway 441 and I'd like to drive it from end to end someday. But that probably won't happen. I will most likely run out of life before I run out of places I want to go.
Photos: The U.S. 441 sign at Rocky Top was photographed with a Fuji X-H1 camera and the Fujicron 16-80mm f4 lens. An Olympus E-PL1 with the 14-42 mm Zuiko lens was used for the Rock City barn photo. For the picture of Tallulah Gorge, I used an Olympus OMD E-M5 with a Panasonic 14-140mm Vario-G lens. Andalusia Farm was photographed with a Fuji X-H1 and a Fujicron XC 16-50mm lens.
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Photography and text copyright 2024 David B.Jenkins.
I post Monday, Wednesday, and Friday unless life gets in the way.
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