One Tennessee moment: Our road trip through the Nokian Tyres One's backyard
Our wildly popular Nokian Tyres One tire rolls throughout the U.S. and Canada from our lush North American production campus, where we’ve won awards for our processes and workplace culture. Whichever direction the all season tire travels from the Southeast Tennessee mountains, it has a steep climb ahead of it – literally.
We would know. We took a group of tire journalists into those hills on a ride-and-drive from the factory that journeyed through hidden hamlets, traversed steep switchbacks and breached some of the most scenic summits in the Southeast.
After we toured our LEED v4 Silver-certified Dayton Factory to learn about our advanced production processes and life-driven workplace culture, we headed for the hills – Walden Ridge, to be specific. A brisk-if-curvy four-lane climb quickly gave way to a winding two-lane descent of more than a thousand feet, the smooth handling of the Nokian Tyres One keeping us on track and away from the deadly drop-offs to our right.
We climbed down the canyon into Pikeville and Dunlap, two small-town gems in the Sequatchie Valley. After enjoying local flavor at an ice cream shop and perusing pastoral general store Dunlap Mercantile, it was time to reach for the sky at Tennessee Tree Tops’ hang-gliding launch point thousands of feet above the valley. To get there, the Aramid-infused Nokian Tyres One cruised over a rutted gravel road, making our small sedans feel for a moment like all-terrain SUVs.
Then came the steepest test yet – again, we’re being literal. Instead of opting for the highway, we ambitiously chose a two-lane (barely) road that dove nearly straight down the mountain back into town. We should’ve known the route would be tricky when we saw – and ignored – the “LOCAL TRAFFIC ONLY” sign. Potholes. Seams. Bumps. The sharpest curves we’d driven in years.
If you want a thrill in the Sequatchie area, Henson Gap Road has it all. Just make sure you can trust your tires’ toughness, handling and braking. The uphill biker who surprised us around one bend was certainly glad we were on tires we could trust. So were we.
From Dunlap, we ventured to the Lodge Factory for a lesson in how cast-iron skillets are made before carving our way to Chattanooga at the southern edge of the Sequatchie Valley. The highway felt smoother than ever under the quiet, comfortable rubber beneath us.
It turns out the Nokian Tyres One isn’t just tough; it’s also tender.
To learn more about the Nokian Tyres One, visit NokianTires.com/One. To find a set near you, check out our Dealer Locator. Did you find this blog interesting? Share it with your friends and family on Facebook: