United StatesTennessee Mountain Road East
Mountain Road East Bike Climb - PJAMM Cycling

11.4
PDI
4.4 mi
DISTANCE
1,740 ft
GAINED
7.6 %
AVG. GRADE
FULL CLIMB STATS
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Page Contributor(s): Dan Razum, San Jose, CA

INTRO

"This is an excellent and isolated climb from very near Interstate 75 north of Knoxville, Tennessee.  The road is fairly steep right off the bat and through tight turns.  Thick trees over much of the route result in a pleasant ride on hot days.  Towards the top there is a series of tight switchbacks that get you up a big part of the mountain.  At the summit the pavement turns to dirt.  Mountain Road is a somewhat technical descent as well." (This quote is presented with the approval of John Summerson, from his book, The Complete Guide to Climbing (by Bike), 2nd Edition, pg. 116.)

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ROUTE MAP

MEMBER RATING

Difficulty: Moderate
1
Road
5
Traffic
2
Scenery

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NEARBY CLIMBS (0) RADIAL PROXIMITY

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Mar 9, 2021
difficulty: Moderate
scenery: 2
traffic: 5
road: 1
Mar 9, 2021
scenery: 2
traffic: 5
road: 1
Not much traffic but a very rough and deteriorating road. Did this one because it was not far off interstate on the way home. Cool switchbacks but the road was so rough I would not do it again.
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CLIMB SUMMARY

Cycling Mountain Road East

Ride 4.4 miles gaining 1,740’ at 7.6% average grade.

Climb start.

Climb summary by PJAMM ambassador Dan Razum

This climb starts out in the small town of Caryville and winds through a residential neighborhood for the first mile or so.  The road is narrow but in decent condition, about what you might expect for a small town.  After a mile and a half we reach a church, which is at the edge of town.  Unfortunately, the surface of the road deteriorates just after the church.  The road is still paved, but it is in very poor condition.  There are some potholes here and there, but mostly the surface is bad because of patches and roughness of the pavement in general (as of summer 2023).

We have seen dirt roads that are much smoother than this road. Since the road is paved, it won't get muddy in wet weather, which is an advantage over a dirt road but that is about the only advantage.  After the church, we would rate the road as 1 out of 10. Going uphill isn't super bad but there are several sections where we couldn't go downhill any faster than we went uphill.  And surprisingly, we did encounter a fair amount of traffic on this climb.  Not excessive, maybe a vehicle, mostly pickup trucks, every couple of minutes.  But given the road condition we expected to see zero traffic, which was not the case. The traffic wasn't a concern, but the drivers probably wondered what the heck we were doing biking this road…

The condition of the road is a shame because otherwise it would be a very nice ride, with several hairpin turns for variety and a good steady gradient, not super steep but enough to present a good workout.

There aren't any views along this climb, due to the trees. At the top of the climb the road appears to be gravel as it descends the other side, but we didn't ride far enough to see if the rough pavement  resumes again or not.  There is also an intersection at the top with two other gravel roads, to the left and to the right.  

Top of the climb.

Hopefully someday the road will get repaved with a new surface.  But until then, unfortunately, we can't really recommend this ride for a road bike.  It can be done on a road bike but it just isn't any fun. A mountain bike with suspension would be more appropriate but it probably wouldn't be too enjoyable either.