Tennessee State Route 32

Route description

SR-32 stretches 89 miles from the North Carolina state line to the Tennessee-Kentucky state line near the town of Cumberland Gap.

Cocke County

SR-32 begins in Cherokee National Forest, from Mt. Sterling Road at the Tennessee-North Carolina state line, just north of Great Smoky Mountains National Park. SR-32 wends its way west, through Cocke County, along the southern border of the forest, for 11 miles, to where it joins US-321 and SR-73 at the town of Cosby.

In Cosby, the three routes run concurrently, and they junction with the Foothills Parkway, and with SR-339, just a few hundred feet from each other. Leaving Cosby, the three routes head north toward Newport, the county seat, with SR-73 splitting off to the east halfway there. At Clevenger, the two remaining routes junction with Interstate 40.

Leaving Clevenger, US 321 and SR-32 then run through a heavily congested retail area. Upon entering Newport, they junction with US 70 and US 25, which are themselves running concurrently, as well as US 25W. SR-32 then turns northwest, off US 321, to run concurrently with US 25 and 70, until the junction with US 25E, just outside Newport, at which point SR-32 turns north, to run concurrently with US 25E.

Jefferson County

US 25E and SR-32 soon cross Douglas Lake reservoir on the French Broad River into Jefferson County and, after a junction with SR-341, next arrive at White Pine. The two routes become three, when they junction with SR-113, which comes from downtown White Pine to the southwest. US 25E, SR-32, and SR-113 run concurrently, and they form a concurrency with State Street.

Hamblen County

Going north from White Pine, in Hamblen County, the triplex concurrency interchanges with Interstate 81. There is a brief concurrency with SR-343 which soon departs to the northwest. After that, SR-113 leaves the concurrency to head northeast, leaving US 25E and SR-32 to continue together. Further north there is an interchange with SR-160. Past Walters State Community College and a retail area on the outskirts of Morristown, the county seat, there is an interchange with US 11E in the city.

Grainger County

Leaving Morristown, going north, US 25E and SR-32 junction with SR-375, cross Cherokee Lake reservoir on Holston River into Grainger County, and come to Bean Station, where they turn west onto, and have a concurrency with, US 11W. Shortly before Tate Springs, US 25E and SR-32 leave US 11W, turning north, then west, climbing the crest of the Clinch Mountain range, toward Thorn Hill, where they intersect with Mountain Valley Highway 131 and turn north.

Claiborne County

US 25E and SR-32 soon cross the Clinch River into Claiborne County and turn northwest, where they join, and have an unsigned wrong-way concurrency (where northbound SR-33 follows southbound SR-32 and US 25E) with, SR-33, into Tazewell, where SR-33 departs to the west, and there is a junction with SR-345.

Traveling northwest out of Tazewell, US 25E and SR-32 cross the Powell River and have a junction, and brief concurrency with, SR-63, within the Harrogate city limits. Outside of Harrogate, the two routes continue a short distance to an intersection with US 58. SR-32 continues northwest, in an unsigned concurrency with US 25E, until it comes to an end at the Cumberland Gap Tunnel, at the Tennessee-Kentucky state line.