Attending the 2025 Great Smoky Mountain Bronco Stampede took us to charming Pigeon Forge for some southern hospitality earlier this year. The weather was hot, the days were long with summer sun, everything was green and blooming, and black bears were roaming around town. After the event had ended, we found ourselves with a day to explore and a 2-door Ford Bronco outfitted with new Hankook Dynapro AT2 Xtreme tires. So, we pulled up the map and started looking for an adventure.
Presented by Hankook Dynapro Tire
Less than an hour from Pigeon Forge, we found ourselves in Townsend, Tennessee, at the entrance to Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Once in the park, we arrived at our first adventure, the Cades Cove Loop Road, where we waited for the park ranger to open the gate at sunrise. The air was filled with silence and heavy with mist. Clouds of fog hovered low over broad pastures filled with horses, deer and wild turkeys. The road through Cades Cove is a slow and tight single lane; traffic flows one way for 11 miles.
Cades Cove is a lush valley first settled in 1818, and was home to some 800 residents. Examples of their efforts remain, including churches, schoolhouses, and cabin homes. Most of the structures were removed to allow nature to reclaim the land, and if you take a moment to look around, you’ll see animals everywhere.
Just past the visitors centre, about halfway around the loop road, you’ll find Parson Branch Road. It is an 8-mile dirt track that twists through the forest, encountering about 18 water crossings along the way. Early in the day, the road was still wet with dew, and it took a relatively slow pace to manage the tight twists and endless ups and downs as we meandered across the hilly terrain. This was a great environment for showcasing the AT2 Xtreme as an all-terrain tire. Part of our goal while in town was to test these tires in a variety of conditions. The track went back and forth between squishy and wet hardpack.
All the water crossings added another dimension, too. None of them were deep or dangerous; they were all poured concrete fords with about two to five inches of slow-running water and occasionally some slippery green growth. They provided some beautiful waterfall views and a bit of fun.
Parson Branch Road ends at a paved road called the Tail of the Dragon. This was our third adventure for the day, as the Tail of the Dragon is a famous road providing driving enthusiasts with 318 turns within 11 miles of road. Our Bronco on all-terrain tires was the odd duck among six-figure sports cars and track-ready motorcycles with riders geared up in full leathers. Nonetheless, we were giddy with excitement.
We quickly fell into a rhythm with the turns of the Dragon as each quickly led into the next, with few noticeable straightaways. As soon as you find the entrance to a turn and dive in you’re looking for the exit and eyes up for the next one, the road stitches together beautifully. An occasional pull out to the side allowed the race-ready vehicles to whiz by us like fighter jets, and our camera operator to find better handholds! We were impressed by the Bronco, the shorter wheel base of the 2-door helped in the tight turns, and the AT2 Xtreme all terrains were far from reaching their limits. The tires held tight and never lost their grip.
Read more: 2025 Bronco Stampede Episode 2: All-terrain Tires Up Close with the Hankook Dynapro AT2 Xtreme
Images: Hankook
