Tellico OHV Area

The Tellico OHV Area encompasses Forest Service-designated motorized trails in the Tellico and Nolichucky Ranger Districts of the Cherokee National Forest in Monroe and McMinn counties, southeastern Tennessee, the Unicoi Mountain country southwest of the Appalachian ridge and north of the North Carolina border. Tellico Plains, a small community at the edge of the national forest on TN-165, serves as the gateway and western staging point for OHV access, with USFS trailhead parking and a district information cabin on the main forest road corridor. The terrain is characteristic Southern Appalachian: the heavily forested ridges and creek drainages of the Unicoi Mountain range, thin rocky soils on the steeper slopes, and the mixed hardwood-hemlock forest that covers the Cherokee NF's southern Tennessee districts. Trail character in the Tellico area is more technical than many Appalachian OHV systems, the Unicoi Mountain terrain produces genuine rocky and rooted conditions on the ridge traversals, with easier riding on old logging roads and the gravel forest roads that connect trail segments. The variation in difficulty makes the Tellico system accessible to intermediate riders while offering meaningful challenge on the steeper technical sections. ATVs, off-highway motorcycles, and narrower UTVs are accommodated on designated motorized routes; wider machines find some sections restrictive. The Cherokee NF OHV permit system applies throughout the forest including the Tellico district ($5 daily, $30 annual, purchasable at Recreation.gov). Camping is available at multiple developed and primitive sites within the Tellico Ranger District, including the Tellico River sites that draw both OHV riders and trout anglers. The Tellico Ranger District office in Tellico Plains (423-253-2520) manages seasonal closures and publishes current trail condition updates.