I need to spend a week in Guntersville working with one of our suppliers 9/17 though 9/21. Currently working on a plan to ride there and back. I'm planning to depart Lancaster and head for the BRP. I haven't decided whether to slab it there via 81 or head a bit to the west and then cut over through Staunton to the north end of BRP. I have never done the entire BRP so would like to tap in to the collective wisdom of the group. Also once at the southern end I'll need a nice route to northeast Alabama.
What say ye? And if anyone wants to join in you'd be welcome.

74 out of Asheville to I-75 & 24 to 72 south?  Replace the southbound from Lancaster with the BRP.


https://goo.gl/maps/brkrug4LDKy

I'm pretty sure you can cobble up something pretty fun to connect Deals Gap to Guntersville. R Doug and I did it after visiting the Barber museum. Here is some text from my ride report:

We took 19 over to 129 and stopped at Turners Corner for lunch. It looked like a cool place with the deck overlooking the creek, bunch of bikes parked outside and it was noon-ish. I love it when a plan comes together. Doug and I got some info on enforcement on Blood Mtn from other riders having lunch (don't worry about it). We were also told to not miss route 180, which connects Blood Mtn to Suches (part of "The Loop").

After a fine lunch we took off up Blood Mtn. What a great section of road: great twisties snaking up the mountain with a passing lane most of the way! Very reminiscent of route 33 near the WV/VA border. I gather it’s filled with bikes (and police) on weekends, but we only saw (and passed) a few cars on the way. I didn’t take any photos because I had video running.

Route 180 was a very pleasant surprise. I know it looked good on the map, but it didn’t quite fit into my route for the day, other than doing an out-and-back spur on it. Boy am I glad we did it. The first several miles from Blood Mtn to Lake Winfield were really fun: tight and twisty and narrow. Similar to Deals Gap in places, but with elevation changes, no traffic and no cops. Good stuff.

At one point along 180, a doe and her small fawn appeared on the left shoulder. Mom stayed put, but the fawn decided to run down the middle of the road, right in front of me. I slowed way down and let it do its thing. Eventually it cut right down a dirt road. I had video running (no pics of 180 either) and I hoped this bit with the fawn turned out.

Once off Blood Mtn we worked our way north to the Cherohala Skyway via 76, 129, 325, more 129, 294 and finally 68. We could have stayed on 129 and not done the detour to 325, but it looked good on the map and ran along Nottely Lake. Nice road.

294 wasn’t anything special as roads go, but it looked better than doing a major highway. Decent road, but we got stuck behind a delivery truck that wouldn’t let us pass and was cutting way over into the left lane on turns. He was an accident waiting to happen. Eventually a cop with lights going came up behind us. Doug and I pulled to the right and let the cop pass, hoping he would nail the truck driver for driving like an idiot. The truck driver took a couple miles before moving over for the cop. Turns out the cop was headed elsewhere, and the truck finally let us get by.

Route 68 into Tellico Plains was awesome. What a great road. I prefer flowing, technical roads to the uber-twisty stuff and it delivered. Serious giggle in the helmet riding. One of my favorites for the trip. I enjoyed it way more than Deals Gap. Not to be missed.

And here's a very rough idea on getting to the good stuff near Suches and then north to Robbinsville/Deals Gap. I just connected the dots, then moved the blue line to the squiggly roads.

https://goo.gl/maps/e9qzdGJ6bSF2

We would generally jump on the parkway at 56 just because its the least distance between 81 and the parkway and its a fun trip up.  Truthfully, that northern part is kinda sleepy unless you're prepared for some expensive tickets.  Asheville and south is where the money is. If you are on a mission, the VA part will just be annoying and take up time you could spend down south. A couple minutes of pretty and gentle sweepers through fields is nice.  Hours of that isn't nearly as entertaining...if you have a destination.

Gotta agree.  I've done N to S a few times and each time the VA part gets less and less enjoyable.  If you've done it before skip it, if not do it, but N to S!

Thanks for all of the input. Keep it coming. I'll probably get to the northern end as quickly as possible. (Google maps says 4 hours from my house) From there we'll see how far I get. This past May, on a Saturday and Sunday, we were able to make pretty good time, I'd hope a Thursday and a Friday would be a bit better. I should be beating leaf peeper season, correct?

That's what I like to do if I'm trying to get south as quickly as possible. I can be on the Parkway by 10am, in Sparta by 5pm. Not sure how much traffic you'll see this time of year, my guess is not much.

What's your plan for the return trip?

We'll be riding that area in Alabama 9/4-9/8. Here's a link to some of the rides.
http://maxi-scoots.com/scoot/index.php?topic=9489.msg113183;topicseen#msg113183