States: Georgia · Tennessee · Kentucky
Start near: Chattanooga (about 1 h 5 min to New Echota) · Atlanta (about 1 h 35 min to New Echota) · Nashville (about 1 h 35 min to Hopkinsville)
the northern road of the removal
The Trail of Tears: Georgia to Kentucky is a ~350-mile back-roads route from New Echota to Hopkinsville on GA 225, US 41 and US 41A, driven in 3 days, that stays off I-75 / I-24 through the Deep South.
In 1838 the Cherokee Nation was force-marched west, and the Northern Route's detachments crossed Georgia, Tennessee and Kentucky along the line this drive follows: the capital at New Echota where a minority faction signed the removal treaty, the last council fires at Red Clay, the Tennessee River crossing at Blythe Ferry, and the Hopkinsville campground where two chiefs died and are buried. The national historic trail's shields mark the way; the atlas just keeps you company.
📍 Follow the NPS Trail of Tears NHT shields; every state adds its own wayside layer.
The print-shop capital, the Vann House's brick grandeur, Red Clay's council springs, and the river departure at Ross's Landing.
Capital of the Cherokee Nation: the Phoenix print shop, the courthouse, and the house where a minority faction signed the nation away in 1835.
James Vann's 1804 brick mansion, called the showplace of the Cherokee Nation, its floating staircase intact.
The nation's last council ground before removal, blue spring still rising; an eternal flame burns at the site.
A weeping wall of public art at a principal departure point, running from the Aquarium down to the river the detachments left by.
Blythe Ferry's memorial at the crossing, then the plateau towns to Middle Tennessee.
Where nine detachments waited to cross the Tennessee; the memorial's walls carry the names of the removed families.
Through Nashville and Port Royal's trail ruts to the Kentucky campground where the chiefs rest.
A campsite on the northern route with surviving trail ruts and a pretty ruin of a river town around them.
The encampment where Chiefs Fly Smith and Whitepath died and are buried; an intertribal powwow gathers here each September.
The Trail of Tears: Georgia to Kentucky is about 350 miles and takes 3 days at a back-roads pace.
It runs from New Echota to Hopkinsville.
It follows GA 225, US 41 and US 41A.
It avoids I-75 / I-24, using GA 225, US 41 and US 41A instead.
7 stops are mapped, including New Echota, Chief Vann House, Red Clay, The Passage at Ross's Landing and Blythe Ferry Memorial.
Connects with: US 41: Dixie Highway, Nashville to Chattanooga · US 41: Dixie Highway & the Atlanta Campaign · The Overhill Country
More in the Deep South: The Blues Highway · Natchez Trace Parkway · Grant's Vicksburg Campaign · The Civil Rights Trail · The Hill Country Ramble · Hank's Lost Highway · Sherman to the Swamp · US 11: The Valley South · The Shoals · The Black Belt & Gee's Bend · The Old Federal Road · US 84: Wiregrass to Mockingbird · The Free State of Jones · US 49: Jackson to the Sound · Sherman's March to the Sea · US 41: Dixie Highway & the Atlanta Campaign · The Chattahoochee Trace · Plains & Andersonville · US 341: The Golden Isles Highway · North Georgia Gold & Apples