I did it just this last November. I was on business trip and flew into the Knoxville airport and had a some time in the afternoon. It was a very quite day with just a few other cars on the road. It was typical late fall weather with the leaves changing colors but the trees hadn't dropped their leaves yet. The road itself is spectacular and done mostly in second gear. Good news/bad news for me was I was in a Hyundai Sonata rental. Poor car took the flogging alright but not the ideal car for carving up the road even after hitting the sports mode button, haha. Having the Sonata keep me under the radar will the local police in their Ford Explorers. After a stop to take in the views I let a couple guys in their imports go ahead as bait and sure enough they got pulled over which nicely cleared the way for me.
Worth the trip if it's not too far out of your way but there are plenty of other good roads out there.