I would head North MUCH sooner unless you just want to stick to I-10 along the coast. In general, I would avoid the interstates unless you are just trying to maximize miles/hour to get to the fun stuff and back. Even then, I would rather ride I-20.
I have done the ride out/back to the Smoky Mtns several times from Huntsville. There are plenty of State highways that you can run at 70mph and make good time to get across Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama. I would not do the Natchez Trace Pkwy again though unless you want to stop and visit historical sites. As a ride, it is 45mph (patrolled) and kind of boring in my view. It eats up a lot of time.
I've attached a file with two GPX tracks in it. It is a big loop from Anniston out and back. I had to make it two files because there was a tiny section of Big Laurel Rd. (1318 on the Google map in the upper NE corner of the loop) that would NOT route. So I had to skip that tiny gap and start on the other side. However, I have ridden this road multiple times and I know it goes through to I-26. I have ridden ALL of this route up to the point at Sugar Hill on Hwy 60 in NW Georgia. That bit going West from there should be paved, but I have not personally ridden it. I've ridden about 80% of the optional Asheville East loop, but the parts I have not ridden are state highways and should be paved.
When I head so the Smoky Mountains, I am not really there to spend a lot of time stopping and seeing stuff. I am there to ride the incredible roads. I do stop often for pics, to each lunch, etc,... But I don't do things like visit museums or other stuff that eats up a lot of time. A 250 mile day in this area is a good day of riding. Anything over 300 miles is a LONG day of riding. It is not like riding in Arkansas, Colorado, or other places out West where the roads are not as twisty. I also like roads that are typically not heavily traveled. So I would only hit Deals Gap on a weekday. US 441 through the Smoky Mtn NP is a bumper to bumper RV cooked brake nightmare. I've done that loop up through Gatlinburg back over toward Deal's Gap and it is not much fun. So the routes attached are set up to maximize the awesome riding in the area. Figure this as a 7 to 8 day trip, leaving Saturday to get to Anniston by Sunday evening, riding 4 to 5 days to do the loop (5 if you include the Asheville East option), then you have Friday, Saturday, and Sunday to get home from Anniston/Birmingham. If you don't do the optional loop, that even leaves a whole day to do the Barber Museum if you like.
Anniston, Al., to Robbinsville, NC., 265 miles.
Stay in Robbinsville or Deal's Gap. Highlights are Hwy Ga 52, Tn 68, and the Cherohala Skyway & NC 143 over to Robbinsville. Be sure to check out Bald River Falls East of Tellico Plains.
Robbinsville, NC., to Hot Springs, NC. 221 miles, or Robbinsville, NC., to Asheville, NC., 276 miles
Hotel or camp in Hot Springs or push on to Asheville for more lodging/eating options. 276 miles might not sound like a long day, but it is a LOT of REALLY twisty roads. The roads on this day are some of my favorite in the area! Start the day with Deal's Gap, NC 28 down Wayah Bald, then back up 28 to US 19. Wayah Bald and 28 North of Franklin are superb roads. Then you have the option to run the first part of the BRP from Cherokee, which gets you up high enough to be cooler. If you like Museums, there is the Wheels Through Time in Maggie Valley. The make the awesome run up NC 209 to Hot Springs!
Wayah Bald Rd., and NC 28 are miles and miles of this
Typical of much of NC 209 heading up to Hot Springs, NC.
Optional Asheville East Loop - 252 miles of bliss
If you are having fun and want to do even more incredible roads, add this loop. It is all paved. Every single bit of this is a fantastic ride, even the first bit of interstate is not too bad (for interstate
). Most of this route does not have a lot of traffic. That little loop of NC 197 and Double Island Rd, then NC 80 going back down to US 19 is just out of this world fun. 226A South of Little Switzerland is also great! You can visit Mt Mitchell on the way back down the BRP to Asheville. I don't have ANY pics of these roads because they were so much fun I just couldn't make myself stop to take any
Asheville, NC., to Suches, Ga., 252 miles (if you stay in Asheville, otherwise 292 miles from Hot Springs)
Suches is home of the Two Wheels Only campground. This day also hits many many great roads and includes a nice selection of the Blue Ridge Parkway. NC 151 outside of Asheville just before you reach the BRP has some of the tightest twisty corners you might ever ride! 276 abd 215 run up and down the from the bottom of the mountains to the ridge and are super twisty as well.
A few shots from 151
Typical tunnel on the BRP
NC 1001, Just SE of Franklin, NC., one of my favorite roads!
You will run through Wolf Pen Gap on Ga 180 before reach Suches. This is a really twisty section, tighter than Deal's Gap in many places.
One of the less twisty sections around the Suches area
Suches, Ga., to Anniston, Al., 185 miles
This will be an easy day so you might want to push on past Anniston to Birmingham to see the Barber Museum.
If you have never been to this area before, it is hard to really grasp just how twisty so many of the roads are. Think of the tightest and twistiest sections on 335, 336, and 337 in the Hill Country and then imagine that going ALL DAY in many places. Not only that, the roads are usually in very good condition as well. If they have had rain recently, then you just need to watch for run off debris on the inside of corners where you are going around the edges of the mountains. If you run the whole route I have here, plus the optional Asheville East loop, you will have hit a BIG chunk of the best paved riding in the area!
Oh, if you stick to the route you posted, just East of I-59 coming down from Chattanooga, look for the Little River Canyon National Preserve. Hwy 176 along the edge of the Canyon is fun with some good views. Then you can just hop back on 59.