I-65 runs north-south through Tennessee, entering from Alabama near Ardmore and exiting into Kentucky near Mitchellville/Portland area, with Nashville as the main city it passes through. It follows a central Tennessee corridor and stays on the west side of the state rather than crossing the whole state east- west.

Tennessee route

  • Southern end: Alabama state line near Ardmore.
  • Major cities/areas: Lewisburg, Franklin, Brentwood, Nashville, Goodlettsville, and near Portland/Sumner County on the north end.
  • Northern end: Kentucky state line near Mitchellville/Portland area.

Simple map view

Think of it as a vertical line through middle Tennessee: Alabama → Ardmore → Columbia area → Franklin/Brentwood → Nashville → Goodlettsville → Portland/Mitchellville → Kentucky.

Useful detail

In Tennessee, I-65 also connects with I-40 and I-24 in Nashville, which makes it one of the state’s most important travel corridors.

Map link

A Tennessee corridor map is available from TDOT here: [I-65 Corridor PDF](https://www.tn.gov/content/dam/tn/tdot/documents/government-how-do-i- documents/Studies/I-65/I-65-map.pdf).

Summary: I-65 goes from the Alabama border up through Nashville and north to the Kentucky border.