Shuttle from Gatlinburg to Atlanta Airport

[Fireweed108]

I will be hiking on the AT in April and have to get back to the Atlanta airport from Gatlinburg--are there any shuttle services?
Thanks.
--Fireweed

[TNhiker]

ya.....

there's a few shuttle services...

a walk in the woods is in the gatlinburg area...

not sure if they will take you all the way to atlanta or not, as they mainly do shuttles around the park and such...

do you have a specific date?

i may be able to do it myself based on work schedule and such.......

[HooKooDooKu]

First of all, it ain't going to be cheap. It's several hours (one way) to get from GSMNP to Atlanta (and that's not considering Atlanta traffic).

I believe there is an airport in Knoxville. It might be cheaper pay for a cab/shuttle from Gatlinburg to the Knoxville and fly from the Knoxville rather than Atlanta (even if the 1st leg of your flight likely takes you to Atlanta).

If you indeed want to start your flight from Atlanta, it might be cheaper to hitch/shuttle to Cherokee, NC rather than Gatlinburg, TN; because you're still going to go thru Cherokee, NC to get from Gatlinburg to Atlanta.


Some shuttle services I've used in the GSMNP:
A Walk In the Woods - www.awalkinthewoods.com
AAA Hiker Services - http://www.aaahikerservice.com/SHUTTLE.html


Another idea would be a one-way rental car... but when I do a quick search on rental car companies (like Hertz and Enterprise), there closest offices to Gatlinburg are about 1/3 to 1/2 the distance to Knoxville. (So again, flying out of Knoxville might be cheaper).


Now I'm assuming you want to stay somewhere to rest and get cleaned up between the AT and getting on a plane. You don't specify if you are going to hitch hike to get from the AT to Gatlinburg or if you're going to take a shuttle for that. If you go the shuttle route, you might be able to get a shuttle from say New Found Gap to Severville where there are hotels and car rental agencies. You could then do a rental car from Severville to Atlanta. (But then again, that shuttle might be so expensive at to make it cheaper to hitch to Gatlinburg, and then shuttle/cab to Knoxville.)

[Traffic Jam]

Get a shuttle to Knoxville and ride the Megabus? The last time I checked, the Megabus to Atlanta was about $5.

[TNhiker]

I believe there is an airport in Knoxville

there is a knoxville airport-----its actually in maryville which is closer to the park than knoxville..

its on the townsend side (about 20 minutes from townsend)..........

[Almost There]

You can give Tom Bazemore a call. He gives fair pricing and splits his time between the Gatlinburg and Dahlonega areas. He's in the AT shuttle list, but here is his contact info.

Tom Bazemore
Dahlonega, GA
(706) 265-9454
(865) 209-1827
[email protected]

I'd also echo what others have said and look into the Knoxville airport, might very well be cheaper.

[Fireweed108]

Thanks for all the info. My plan is to shuttle to Gatlinburg from the AT on April 2, then somehow make it to Atlanta to fly out on April 4. I would flyout of Knoxville, except I want to use airline miles and US Airways will debit round trip even if I'm flying one way. So I have to fly into and out of Atlanta. If the shuttle to Atlanta is more expensive than a flight from Knoxville to Oregon--then I'll fly. A shuttle to Knoxville, then the bus to Atlanta sounds like a good alternative.

[Fireweed108]

This sounds like a good alternative--I can get one of the local shuttles to Knoxville from the AT, stay overnight, then take the bus the next day to Atlanta and use public transit to get to the airport.

[Fireweed108]

TNHiker--I want to get off the AT on April 2, then fly out of Atlanta on April 4.
--Fireweed

[moytoy]

Where on the AT are you shuttling from?

[TNhiker]

Right on----April 3 is a Friday......I typically work Fridays......

[Tennessee Viking]

If you have to go to Atlanta, you will have to do a hip hop shuttle. Getting multiple shuttle services involved.

[Uncle Cranky]

I am the author of a guide book on public transportation to the AT titled "Philbrick's Appalachian Trail Transit Guide".
It is possible and less expensive to access transportation from Cherokee, NC than private shuttle service from Gatlinburg. Here are some tips from my Guidebook on how to get from the US441 AT road crossing at Newfound Gap to Atlanta airport or the Greyhound station by way of Cherokee, NC. The whole one-way trip will set you back $60. But, to do this will take some prior planning and two phone calls in advance to reserve shuttle seats.


Here are the details and the steps:


Step 1: Contact Skylink Express charter bus at 770-723-0237. They operate a round trip gambler charter bus from Atlanta to Harrah's casino in Cherokee, NC on Monday, Thursday, Saturday and Sunday. Buses depart from Atlanta in the morning, arrive at Harrah's Casino in Cherokee in the early afternoon and depart from the casino for Atlanta at 6:30 pm. Obviously you will be taking the evening return trip from Cherokee to Atlanta. You must make a bus reservation two to three days in advance to reserve a seat. The normal fare is $45 round trip but you might be able to talk them into a discounted rate for one-way service.

Step 2: One you establish which day you will be leaving Cherokee on the Skylink Express bus contact Cherokee Transit at 866-388-6071 (Toll Free) between 8:00 am and 5:00 pm 24 hours in advance of the day you want to ride and make an appointment for the shuttle which operates Monday to Saturday (closed on Sunday). For a Monday shuttle you must call on Friday. They will pick-up at Newfound Gap on the AT and shuttle to Cherokee. The price is $10 one-way and $5.00 for each additional person. Have them drop you off in town at Harrah's Casino where you board the Skylink Express to Atlanta.


Step #3: The Skylink Express bus arrives in Atlanta in the evening at two locations, the West End Mall located at 850 Oak St and the Northlake Mall located at 4800 Briarcliff Rd.


From the West End Mall bus drop-off point (in the Mall parking lot behind Taco Bell) it is a 0.3 mile one minute walk south on Lee St SW to the West End MARTA Station served by the Red and Gold Lines. The MARTA trains run in the evening and both Lines access the Atlanta airport at Airport Station and the Greyhound Station at Garnett Station. The current fare is $2.50 one-way.


From the Northlake Mall bus drop-off point (in the Mall parking lot behind Macy's) it is a 0.3 mile one minute walk north through the Mall parking lot to the bus stop on Northlake Pkwy NE for the Route #30/LaVista Rd bus to Lindburgh Center MARTA station. The Route #30 bus runs in the evenings and the Lindburgh Center station is served by the Red and Gold Lines with access the airport and the Greyhound Station. The current fare is $2.50 one way for the bus and $2.50 one-way for the train.

It will cost you $2.50 less and perhaps easier to take the Skylink Express bus to West End Mall rather than the Northlake Mall to get to the airport.


I hope this information helps and please consider purchasing my guide book.


Philbrick's Appalachian Trail Transit Guide is in Ebook format and can be purchased and downloaded from either Smashwords E-publishing or from the Amazon Kindle store. The Complete edition:GA to ME is $6.99 each. The Southern edition: GA to the Mason-Dixon Line and the Northern edition: The Mason-Dixon Line to ME are available for $3.99 each.

[dmax]

Cool, I need to get me your book. Getting a ride from tour buses is a great idea!

[Uncle Cranky]

dmax,

Thanks for your interest in my public transportation guide to the AT.
I spent nearly 2 years researching and writing the guide and published it in June.
That guide is going through a revision and should be out soon.
The information on transit between Cherokee and Atlanta is in the revised edition.
I'll most likely drop the two regional editions and just sell the complete revised edition in the future.
Besides the E-book edition I'm also considering offering the guide in a Print-On-Demand soft cover edition.

I just finished working on a history and hiking guide to the Old Appalachian Trail routes from Georgia to the Mason-Dixon Line.
I spent nearly a year comparing out of print USGS topo maps (archived online at the US Geological Survey and several University Libraries) with current AT hiking maps.
From the maps I uncovered many miles of the Old AT route that where re-named and re-blazed after trail relocations.
These former AT routes are still open for hiking.
I should be publishing that guide in E-book format soon.

[MomOfFive]

Step 2: One you establish which day you will be leaving Cherokee on the Skylink Express bus contact Cherokee Transit at 866-388-6071 (Toll Free) between 8:00 am and 5:00 pm 24 hours in advance of the day you want to ride and make an appointment for the shuttle which operates Monday to Saturday (closed on Sunday). For a Monday shuttle you must call on Friday. They will pick-up at Newfound Gap on the AT and shuttle to Cherokee. The price is $10 one-way and $5.00 for each additional person. Have them drop you off in town at Harrah's Casino where you board the Skylink Express to Atlanta.

I called Cherokee Transit today (10/14/15) and was told they no longer run a shuttle between Newfound Gap and Cherokee, NC.