The byway then exits the Morristown–Hamblen area after crossing Cherokee Lake on the Olen R. Marshall Bridge, entering Bean Station in Grainger County.

[5] The byway traverses by a scenic overlook and through Bean Gap before descending down Clinch Mountain's northern slope towards the unincorporated community of Thorn Hill at the intersection of SR 131.

[5] What is now the East Tennessee Crossing Byway was supposedly first traversed by Native Americans, long before the area was settled by European pioneers.

[4] Most notably, the Cumberland Gap to Bean Station section of the route was used as a pathway to Kentucky on famous pioneer and settler, Daniel Boone's Wilderness Road.

[7] Based on the overall historical significance and proximity to historic sites such as the tavern once lived in by Davy Crockett in Morristown, the Battle of Bean's Station site in Grainger County, and the Appalachian Trail in the Cherokee National Forest, many local historians called for US 25E and US 25 to the North Carolina state line to become a scenic byway.

[2] After a lengthy nomination and funding process, the efforts proved successful, as the East Tennessee Crossing National Scenic Byway was officially established in late 2009.