Tennessee State Route 68

State Route 68
State Route 68
Route information
	Maintained by TDOT
Length	106.89 mi (172.02 km)
Major junctions
South end	SR 5 / SR 60 in Copperhill, Tennessee/McCaysville, Georgia at TN/Ga state line
	US 64 / US 74 / SR 40 in Ducktown; SR 165 (Cherohala Skyway) in Tellico Plains; US 411 / SR 33 in Madisonville; I-75 in Sweetwater; US 27 / SR 29 near Spring City
North end	US 127 / SR 28 in Crossville
Location
Country	United States
State	Tennessee
Counties	Polk, Monroe, McMinn, Meigs, Rhea, Cumberland
Highway system
	Tennessee State Routes; Interstate; US; State;

State Route 68 (SR 68) is a 107.2-mile-long (172.5 km) state highway in the eastern part of the U.S. state of Tennessee.

Route description

SR-68 begins in southeastern Tennessee, at an intersection with Georgia State Route 5 and Georgia State Route 60 at the Tennessee–Georgia state line in Copperhill, Tennessee and McCaysville, Georgia. It then goes north to Ducktown, Tennessee where it junctions with US 64 and US 74. The route continues north and enters the Cherokee National Forest and goes through a mostly rural area, then in Turtletown it turns east and junctions with the second shortest state route in Tennessee: SR 123. SR 68 then turns back north and continues through a sparsely populated area and crosses over the Hiwassee River, The route then becomes curvy and dangerous. It then enters Monroe County and goes through Coker Creek and then Tellico Plains and junctions with SR 165 the Cherohala Skyway. In Tellico Plains, SR 68 serves as the eastern terminus for SR 39 it then proceeds north to Madisonville where it has an interchange/junction with US 411/SR 33. After this junction, the route then turns more northwesterly toward Sweetwater and passes The Lost Sea. In Sweetwater, it turns west and junctions with US 11 and I-75. Just past the I-75 junction, the route enters McMinn County where there are no highway junctions. It then enters Meigs County and Ten Mile and junctions with SR 305, SR 58, and has a brief concurrency with SR 304. It then crosses Watts Bar Dam and the Tennessee River into Rhea County near the Watts Bar Nuclear Plant and continues west. The route then has a 1-mile-long (1.6 km) concurrency with SR 302 and a 2.7-mile-long (4.3 km) concurrency with US 27/SR 29. US 27 and SR 68 go north to Spring City where SR 68 turns back west and US 27 goes north. Just after leaving Spring City, it turns back to north crosses over Waldens Ridge into Cumberland County where the route ends at a y-intersection with US 127/SR 28 in Cumberland Homesteads near Crossville and Cumberland Mountain State Park.

History

Major intersections

County	Location	Destinations	Notes
Polk	Copperhill	SR 5 south / SR 60 south – Mineral Bluff, Blue Ridge	Georgia state line
	Ducktown	US 64 / US 74 (SR 40) – Cleveland, Murphy, NC, Ocoee River	interchange
		SR 123 east to NC 294 – Hiwassee Dam
Monroe	Tellico Plains	SR 165 east (Cherohala Skyway) – Tellico Plains, Bald River Falls, Indian Boundary
	Tellico Plains	SR 39 west – Etowah
	Madisonville	US 411 (SR 33) – Athens	interchange
	Christianburg	SR 307 south
	Sweetwater	US 11 (Main Street / SR 2)
	Sweetwater	I-75 – Chattanooga, Knoxville	I-75 exit 60
Meigs		SR 305 south – Athens
	Ten Mile	SR 58 – Decatur, Kingston
	Ten Mile	SR 304 north – Ten Mile, Kingston	south end of SR 304 overlap
		SR 304 south – Decatur	north end of SR 304 overlap
Tennessee River		Watts Bar Dam
Rhea		SR 302 south (Old Stage Road)	south end of SR 302 overlap
		SR 302 north	north end of SR 302 overlap
		US 27 south (SR 29) – Dayton, Chattanooga	south end of US 27 / SR 29 overlap
	Spring City	US 27 north (SR 29) – Rockwood	north end of US 27 / SR 29 overlap
Cumberland	Cumberland Homesteads	US 127 (SR 28) – Crossville, Jamestown, Pikeville, Cumberland Mountain State Park
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi