Take a scenic ride across the Cumberland Plateau as we follow U.S. Route 70 from Sparta to Crossville. This 29-mile drive carries us through wooded ridges, historic mountain settlements, and the rolling landscapes of Tennessee’s Upper Cumberland. It’s a journey that balances winding grades with stretches of open road, offering a taste of both natural beauty and small-town character.
We begin our drive just outside Sparta, where U.S. 70 and U.S. 70S meet. Sparta itself is a town with deep history, once a frontier settlement and later a key stop on the stagecoach line that linked Knoxville and Nashville. As we leave the city behind, the highway climbs gradually toward the edge of the plateau, winding past farms tucked into valleys and hardwood forests that crowd close to the roadway. Here the scenery alternates between sweeping ridgelines and intimate stretches shaded by trees, giving us a sense of the plateau’s diverse terrain.
Continuing eastward, we pass through small communities like Riverwatch and Bon Air, each reflecting the quiet persistence of towns perched on the margins of mountain country. Old barns, church steeples, and traces of roadside commerce hint at earlier eras when this was one of Tennessee’s primary east–west routes. Today, while I-40 carries most of the through-traffic, U.S. 70 retains its role as a local lifeline, linking farms, schools, and businesses across the region.
The drive carries us next into Pleasant Hill, a town with roots stretching back to the early 1800s. Pleasant Hill gained prominence as a mission settlement and educational center, with institutions like the historic Pleasant Hill Academy shaping the community’s identity. As we roll through town, the roadway bends southeast, following the natural contours of the plateau. Rolling pastures and open countryside frame the horizon, giving us a sense of space that contrasts with the forested ridges earlier in the drive.
Beyond Pleasant Hill, U.S. 70 pushes toward Crossville. The highway skirts the northern edge of Lake Holiday, a man-made lake that adds a reflective shimmer to the landscape, before descending gently into the city. Crossville, often called the “Golf Capital of Tennessee,” has long been a crossroads town. Located near the midpoint between Nashville and Knoxville, it developed as a trading post and later as a regional hub for travel, agriculture, and tourism. Here, U.S. 70 meets U.S. 127, a major north–south corridor that continues deeper into the heart of the Cumberland Plateau.
Our journey along U.S. 70 from Sparta to Crossville reminds us that older highways still carry a pulse of history and culture. Where the interstate offers speed, this route offers perspective—a slower crossing of the plateau that connects travelers not just to the land, but to the communities that call it home. It is a drive rich in scenery and heritage, a thread tying together Tennessee’s mountain towns with the wider story of east–west travel.
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