I-40 West - Asheville NC to Knoxville TN - 4K Highway Drive

Scenic drive through the Blue Ridge Mountains via I-40 westbound from Asheville, NC to Knoxville, TN.
Filmed: June 2021

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From Wikipedia:

I-40 enters North Carolina along the north banks of the Pigeon River, at the foot of Snowbird Mountain. Winding in parallel with the river, I-40 goes through twin tunnels. When the tunnels opened in 1968 they were the first Interstate tunnels east of Mississippi River. I-40 then proceeds through the Pigeon River Gorge for the next 16 miles (26 km). Just south of exit 7, I-40 uses another tunnel, for eastbound traffic only, through Hurricane Mountain. The westbound lanes use a rock cut through Hurricane Mountain. A short distance after the tunnel is the North Carolina Welcome Center. Immediately afterwards is Waterville Lake, where there are a few at-grade intersections in this location, used as service access for Walters Dam and the Harmon Den Wildlife Management Area. I-40 continues toward Asheville. Interstate 40 then merges with US 74 (Great Smoky Mountains Expressway). I-40 and US 74 encounter the Interstate 26, Interstate 240 interchange, sometimes called Malfunction Junction,[6] in the southwestern part of the city. The interchange is the current western terminus of Interstate 240 and the historic terminus of Interstate 26. Interstate 40 then goes along the south side of Asheville, north of the Biltmore Estate towards Hickory. I-240 and I-40 have another interchange before I-40 leaves the Asheville area. Shortly after it leaves the Asheville area, I-40 encounters a steep grade, Old Fort Mountain, with winding roads that poses a hazard to truck traffic. There are several runaway truck ramps on this part of the highway.

Continuing east as a six-lane highway, I-40 travels through a semi-rural residential area before crossing into Sevier County. A few miles later, at exit 407, near Sevierville, I-40 has an interchange with SR 66 and the northern terminus of the Great Smoky Mountains Parkway, beginning an unsigned concurrency with the former. This interchange is the primary means of access to the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, as well as the tourist attractions in the cities of Sevierville, Pigeon Forge and Gatlinburg, and, as a result, is reportedly one of the busiest and most congested non-interstate exits in the state. A few miles later, I-40 crosses into Jefferson County, and about 5 miles (8.0 km) later is an interchange with US 25W/70 in Dandridge. SR 66 also splits off at this interchange, but there is no signage for this. two miles (3.2 km) later is an interchange with SR 92, also in Dandridge. Four miles later, at exit 421 is the interchange with the southern terminus of I-81, which runs into northeast Tennessee to the so called "Tri-Cities" of Bristol, Kingsport, and Johnson City. At this interchange, I-40 reduces back to four lanes and turns sharp southeast.



Time Stamps:
Buncombe County, NC: 0:00-12:01
Haywood County, NC: 12:02-45:46
Cocke County, TN: 45:47-1:04:34
Jefferson County, TN: 1:04:35-1:22:07
Sevier County, TN: 1:22:08-1:25:48
Knox County, TN: 1:25:49