The Great Smoky Mountains Parkway runs 23.5 miles (37.8 km) from Interstate 40 at exit 407 in Sevierville, Tennessee, south to the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. It traverses much of Sevier County, passing through the major tourism centers of Sevierville, Pigeon Forge, and Gatlinburg.
The road is simply called "Parkway" in Pigeon Forge and Gatlinburg, where most of the commercial land development has occurred in those two cities. Both have numbered each traffic light sequentially to make it easier for non-locals to find their hotels and other tourist attractions. Sevierville has its traffic lights numbered in miles and tenths, according to the official Tennessee DOT mile markers.
Within the towns, the road is decorated with Christmas lights all winter. As a six-lane divided highway through Pigeon Forge, very tall multi-fixture street lights in the median are decorated with white LED snowflakes that "fall" down the poles. In Gatlinburg, white LED deciduous trees sprout from the lampposts, in addition to other displays, such as the large one that stretches across the road at the town's northern entrance. In Sevierville, the traditional and much brighter snowflake light sculptures are still in use.
From Pigeon Forge to Gatlinburg, it is a divided highway, running on either side of the northward-flowing Little Pigeon River. Where the river briefly diverts to the west and back east again, the southbound roadway on the west bank also curves around, while the northbound lanes go through a tunnel. The Gatlinburg visitor center is located just before entering the town from the north.
The Gatlinburg Bypass is an alternate route around the north and west sides of that town. It is a part of the park, but only covers the road and right-of-way. A park entrance sign is located near the northeast end of the road, but maps show parkland extends all the way north along the main parkway to the south end of Pigeon Forge. A scenic overlook, located at about the halfway point, allows motorists to view most of Gatlinburg. This was intended to be a middle part of the Foothills Parkway, however that road does not currently go near the bypass.
The Parkway is concurrent with:
U.S. 321 is a wrong-way concurrency, indicating NORTH when going south and SOUTH when going north, however 441 is marked correctly along this section from Pigeon Forge to Gatlinburg.