Interstate 81 enters Virginia from Tennessee, where the Interstate continues southwest toward Knoxville. After crossing the state line, the highway effectively becomes the border between Washington County to the northwest and the independent city of Bristol to the southeast. I-81 continues northeast as a six-lane freeway through sparsely populated residential areas on the outskirts of Bristol. The highway immediately comes to a northbound rest area that does not serve trucks, before it reaches an interchange with U.S. Route 58 (US 58) and US 421 that also serve the town of Gate City, the county seat of neighboring Scott County to the west. Eastbound US 58 merges onto northbound I-81 to form a concurrency that continues northeast to a directional stack interchange with the northern terminus of I-381, a spur highway that serves Downtown Bristol to the south. The freeway heads into a mix of commercial and residential areas where it has interchanges with US 11/US 19 prior to crossing over the Norfolk Southern Railway's Pulaski District, before the route fully enters Washington County. I-81/US 58 narrows to four lanes and heads into wooded rural areas with nearby development, coming to another interchange serving US 11/US 19 as well as an interchange with Virginia State Route 611 (SR 611) and a northbound truck rest area, before it passes along the southern edge of the town limits of Abingdon, the county seat of Washington County. South of Abingdon, the freeway interchanges with SR 140, which provides access to US 19 and the Virginia Highlands Community College. North of this point are interchanges with US 58 Alternate/SR 75, providing access to the Virginia Creeper Trail and the Barter Theatre, and with US 11, where eastbound US 58 splits from I-81 continuing east towards the town of Damascus.