We got a lot of second and third gear riding in. Here's an idea, if you can't drive a car in the mountains.........stay home. Going to the Smokey Mountain National Park means that you and the kids should actually get out of the car and look at the beauty and touch it, not do a slow roll through it with the a.c. on and the Windows up. City twits.
The ride out of Cherokee out 441 and along the river to Townsend would be best done after Thanksgiving. No leaves, kids in school, city folk obsessed with Christmas shopping.