Johnson City Roundtrip The Southern Dozen Ride 13 Founders Ride and Beer Trail

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RouteXpert René Plücken (MRA Master)

Last edit: 14-06-2025

Route Summary

The Southern Dozen are twelve scenic routes that start in Johnson City Virginia and take you throughout the region. Each is an adventure in itself that takes you through winding turns, breathtaking natural landscapes, historical landmarks, local attractions, and fun rides.

This 13th route is a bonus to the Southern Dozen, combining the Southern Dozen founder’s ride with the Beer Trail, taking in the area’s famous breweries and distilleries. You’ll also visit “The Birthplace of Country Music Museum” in Bristol.

I rate this ride 5 stars, because of the beautiful scenery, winding roads and of course the brewery visits, but beware: “Don't drink and Drive!”.

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Verdict

Duration

11h 18m

Mode of travel

Car or motorcycle

Distance

175.34 km

Countries

RouteXpert Review

The Southern Dozen are twelve routes that start in Johnson City and travel throughout the region. Each ride is an adventure in itself, taking you through winding roads, breathtaking scenery, historic landmarks, local attractions, and fun rides. Whether you want to explore caves, see wolves, wander historic sites, linger in the arches of the heartland, or just enjoy the view, you’ll find a ride that’s just right for you.

This route is based on a bonus route, created by the founder of the Southern Dozen. The route combines beautiful roads along famous breweries and distilleries, also known as the Brewly Noted Beer Trail.
The Brewly Noted Beer Trail is uniquely positioned in both Tennessee and Virginia, offering craft beer lovers a trail that is both rich and delicious in both states. The Brewly Noted Beer Trail is the first multi-state beer trail in the U.S., featuring an astonishing array of craft breweries unique to the Appalachian region. The Brewly Noted Beer Trail app lets you check in at local breweries and taphouses. To download the app, visit the app store on your iPhone or Android device. You can sample craft beer along the Brewly Noted Craft Beer Trail, but if you must drive, don’t drink and bring samples to enjoy when you get back to your hotel in the evening.

You drive through the area where Daniel Boone was active. Daniel Boone was an American pioneer and explorer, who became one of the first American folk heroes.
The tour starts in Johnson City, we drive to Bristol, where you can visit “The Birthplace of Country Music Museum”, founded in honor of the historic Bristol Sessions of 1927, where some of the earliest country music in America was recorded when the Carter Family, Jimmie Rodgers and several other musicians made their first recordings before they became famous.

The first brewery on the route is Michael Waltrip Brewing Company, which serves beer and food. You might want to stop for a bit. Michael was a Nascar driver who opened this brewery after his career.

Continue to Kingston via Oak Grove where we will visit “Gypsy Circus Cider & BBQ Smokehouse”. Barrelhouse by Gypsy Circus is proud to be the first brewery in Kingsport, as well as the first craft cider factory in the state. The OG is their taproom with 20 taps of craft cider, mead, cider and beer (rotating guest taps from Tennessee). They have something for everyone from the light and dry Raindancer to the Flower Child mead. As a premier brewery in Kingsport, they offer a unique drinking experience where tradition and innovation come together in every glass. You can have lunch at Gypsy Circus & BBQ Smokehouse or at the Riverfront Seafood Restaurant in Kingston about a 10 minute drive away.

After lunch, continue on to the Gray Fossil Site and Hands On! Discovery Center for a prehistoric adventure, where visitors can explore and learn about an active fossil dig site from the Pliocene Epoch. Scientists believe the site was formed when an underground limestone cave collapsed and created a sinkhole. This created a massive fossil deposit that dates back about 5 million years, revealing saber-toothed tigers, alligators, tapirs, rhinoceroses, short-faced bears and a mastodon, as well as hundreds of plants and other animals.

You can visit the Boones Creek Historical Trust Museum and Opry, located in Boones Creek in the historic Keebler House built in the mid-1800s. One of the front rooms has been converted into a museum that highlights history with displays of stone artifacts, information about interesting people and historical events. The Bean Rifle, owned by the first settler of Tennessee, is also currently on display here. Like the Opry, the museum is a community project. Here you can attend a performance by Voices of Boons Creek.

The next stop is Jonesborough, a beautiful small town with lots of sightseeing to do. You will visit the Depot Street Brewery, known for brewing unique and tasty beers. Visit the unique tasting room and enjoy the oldest brewery in the oldest city in the United States.

If you drive this route on a Wednesday or Saturday you can visit the Chuckey Railroad Depot Museum. A great place for railroad enthusiasts, with a viewing platform underneath the museum.
Visit the Chester Inn State Historic Site and Museum, International Storytelling Center and the Lolli Pop Store in downtown Jonesborough.

The Chester Inn State Historic Site & Museum, chronicles the history of Jonesborough from its founding in 1779 to the present. The museum is located at street level in the city’s oldest commercial building. The Chester Inn is a state-owned historic site managed by the Heritage Alliance. Exhibits include information about the state of Franklin, a diorama of Jonesborough in the 1850s, the history of the Chester Inn, and much more.

The International Storytelling Center is a nonprofit organization and the foremost educational, artistic, and cultural institution dedicated to improving lives through the art of storytelling. Its mission is to inspire and empower people everywhere to capture and tell their own stories, listen to the stories of others, and use storytelling to create positive change.

The Lollipop Shop, takes you back in time, they have your favorite sweets from the past and present, retro toys and much more.

We drive back to Johnson City, along the way there are still a few breweries to visit, such as the Tennessee Hills Brewstillery, the Yee-Haw Brewery and last but not least the Johnson City Brewing Company. The employees and owners of the Tennessee Hills Distillery decided to get into the business of brewing beer... and distilling spirits. Business partners Scott Andrew and Stephen Callahan purchased the assets of the former JRH brewery to create a totally unique business model. A place where the best of both worlds come together. Visit the Tennessee Hills Brewstillery to enjoy a wide variety of beers and spirits. If you like bourbon and barrel-aged beer, this is a must visit.

The Yee-Haw Brewery is located next to Founder's Park, where you can enjoy live events. A link to the scheduled events is included in this review.

Johnson City Brewing Company, is the longest running brewery in Johnson City, specializing in small batches.

Enjoy Johnson City with its revitalized downtown, a true gem with always something going on! Founders Park and Kings Commons offer green spaces to stroll and relax. Sample craft beer at one of the many breweries, ale houses and taprooms in the vibrant downtown area, enjoy the music and art scene, browse local shops for unique gifts and souvenirs, and sample local flavors at one of the many diverse, unique restaurants.

Links

Source of the Founder’s Ride
Promotional video of the Founder’s Ride
Founders Park
Tennessee Hills Brewstillery
Jonesborough

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Tennessee

About this region

Tennessee, officially the State of Tennessee, is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States. Tennessee is the 36th largest by area and the 16th most populous of the 50 states. It is bordered by Kentucky to the north, Virginia to the northeast, North Carolina to the east, Georgia, Alabama, and Mississippi to the south, Arkansas to the southwest, and Missouri to the northwest. Tennessee is geographically, culturally, and legally divided into three Grand Divisions of East, Middle, and West Tennessee. Nashville is the state's capital and largest city, and anchors its largest metropolitan area. Tennessee's population as of the 2020 United States census is approximately 6.9 million.Tennessee is rooted in the Watauga Association, a 1772 frontier pact generally regarded as the first constitutional government west of the Appalachian Mountains. Its name is derived from "Tanasi", a Cherokee town in the eastern part of the state that existed before the first European American settlement. Tennessee was initially part of North Carolina, and later the Southwest Territory, before its admission to the Union as the 16th state on June 1, 1796. It earned the nickname "The Volunteer State" early in its history due to a strong tradition of military service. A slave state until the American Civil War, Tennessee was politically divided, with its western and middle parts supporting the Confederacy and the eastern region harboring pro-Union sentiment. As a result, Tennessee was the last state to secede and the first readmitted to the Union after the war.During the 20th century, Tennessee transitioned from a predominantly agrarian society to a more diversified economy. This was aided in part by massive federal investment in the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) and the city of Oak Ridge, which was established during World War II to house the Manhattan Project's uranium enrichment facilities for the construction of the world's first atomic bombs. These were dropped on Imperial Japan at the end of the war. After the war, the Oak Ridge National Laboratory became a key center of scientific research. In 2016, the element tennessine was named for the state, largely in recognition of the roles played by Oak Ridge, Vanderbilt University, and the University of Tennessee in its discovery. Tennessee has also played a major role in the development of many forms of popular music, including country, blues, rock and roll, soul, and gospel.
Tennessee has diverse terrain and landforms, and from east to west, contains a mix of cultural features characteristic of Appalachia, the Upland South, and the Deep South. The Blue Ridge Mountains along the eastern border reach some of the highest elevations in eastern North America, and the Cumberland Plateau contains many scenic valleys and waterfalls. The central part of the state is marked by cavernous bedrock and irregular rolling hills, and level, fertile plains define West Tennessee. The state is twice bisected by the Tennessee River, and the Mississippi River forms its western border. Its economy is dominated by the health care, music, finance, automotive, chemical, electronics, and tourism sectors, and cattle, soybeans, corn, poultry, and cotton are its primary agricultural products. The Great Smoky Mountains National Park, the nation's most visited national park, is in eastern Tennessee.