Riding The Tail Of The Dragon

Deal's Gap North Carolina is where you want to start if your going to ride the Dragon's Tail. If you ride the eleven mile stretch and decide you've had enough, there is a nice ride back to Gatlinburg that squeezes its way over the western edge of the Smokies National Park, into Townsend and then Tennessee 73 along the northern reaches of the park. Or if you want to yell," Yee-Haw!", go back and get a t-shirt, the eleven mile trip back to Deal's Gap has a different feel.

No matter which way you decide to go to or come back from the Tail Of the Dragon, you will experience some of the greatest views and motorcycling there is to be had.

Personally, I recommend leaving Gatlinburg and head due south on U.S. 441 through the heart of the Smokies, and leave early enough to allow for a few stops along the way. Once through the park you'll come to Cherokee North Carolina where you want to jump onto North Carolina 19 west. Staying on 19 through Bryson City and past Lauada until you happen upon State Rout 28 (and happen upon is a fair assessment). Going north along 28 it becomes quickly apparent that you are not on a four lane highway like the one you just exited. Sometimes you'll wonder if you're on a two lane road.

North Carolina 28 skirts the southern shores of beautiful Lake Fontana and and then hugs the banks on the Little Tennessee River right at water level. The altitudes along approximately thirty-five miles you travel along 28 range from 2400 feet to just above sea level.

After all the beautiful views of the mountains, the lakes, and rivers you're about to got to work. Turn north On U.S. 129, ride about two miles and pull into the Deal's Gap Motor Resort. Take a breather; the fun is just about to begin.

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Before you attempt riding the Tail Of The Dragon, stop in at Deal's Gap Motor Resort, which has grown up over the years. When I first rode that way there was only the souvenir shop where you could get t-shirts, a snack and some soda. Now there's a grill, hotel, and campsites. I'd guess that booking a room would be about impossible unless you plan pretty far out. There are bikers from all around the world who fly their sleds in for weeks of riding the Tail Of The Dragon.

Pick your t-shirt out , find a pin, or maybe purchase a video; you've made it this far, you're certainly going to earn that shirt. Soak in all the comradeship, after all you're among some of the greatest company in the world. Bikers are the friendliest group of people I've ever been around.

Go! (just follow 129 to your right, out of the resort)

Deal's Gap sits at 2000 feet above sea level an for the next eleven miles you'll gradually wind down to just a few feet above sea level. Some stretches, not so gradually only to be followed by steep 'swtchback' curves. The first test comes at .2 miles in at what is known as Crud Corner, a hairpin back to the left and slightly down. Following a relatively straight path with a few minor curves for the next two miles, the Tail Of The Dragon then slaps you with a series of curves known as Sunset Corner. Short and almost hairpin, these two turns are separated by by a straight that is far less than .1 of a mile.

The 400 feet change of altitude over the next mile is accompanied by a series of bends, turns, and twisties that have helped make this section of the Tail Of The Dragon the most dangerous over the years. Going back to the year 2000 there have been eight fatalities along this stretch.

After leveling out at just over 1400 feet the road tosses back and forth for nearly one mile before you come upon Parson's Curve. The apex of Parson's Curve is at the bottom of the valley where Parson's Branch Creek crosses 129 and flows down the mountain. You'll go into the hairpin starting to your right and out of the apex you come back facing the direction you went in, and if this isn't enough to make you sweat, you're also at the beginning of a steep one and a half mile climb to regain that 400 foot drop over the last mile and a half.

At five and a half miles in from the beginning you'll be at just under 1900 feet high, at Brake Or Bust Bend, and starting a descent to just about sea level over the next six and a half miles. The road will pitch you left and right over the next three and a half miles more than it does on any other stretch of the dragon's asphalt scales.

The remaining two miles will seem like a breeze because the curves seem like relative bends, with the exception of the switchback known as The Whip which checks in at the ten mile marker. After the whip, it is a 1200' drop over one mile run to the Tabcat Bridge.

Pat yourself on the back, because you have just made one of the most infamous bike runs in the world.

After the Tail Of The Dragon has dropped off and you're past Tabcat Bridge, U.S. 129 snuggles right up against Chillhowee Lake. There are picnic tables along the road if you need to stretch your legs and ponder the possibility of turning around and start riding the Tail Of The Dragon again.

If your lucky, you'll see some Drag Racing boats tuning up out on the calm and smooth as glass waters of the lake. If not, the scenery is still gorgeous.

If you've decided that you want to meander back to Gatlinburg, you won't be disappointed by the trip back. Jump back on 129 and continue along the lake for another three miles or so. To your right there will be two roads, you can either travel the entire length of the Parkway or take Happy Valley Rd. for the first ten miles. Your choice. The Parkway is a federally maintained road that is comfortable with plenty of scenic pull offs where Happy Valley Road is a locally maintained road that leads into a small community nestled in the outer folds of the Great Smokies National Park.

Either way, the two roads meet at about 2000 feet above sea level and you'll take the parkway until it intersects with Tennessee 73, twenty miles later. If you turn right onto 73 and head east, you'll come into Townsend where you can grab a quick bite to eat, or you could just breeze right on through. Stop or no stop you need to go beyond town about a mile and turn right at the entrance to the park. If you don't you'll be sorry.

Once you get to a choice to either turn right or left, make your choice a left. Twenty miles of some of the prettiest scenery and vistas the park has to offer and then you're back to U.S. 441 where a left will dump you back into Gatlinburg.

Go find you a nice, thick, juicy victory steak. You did well.

This stretch of road is by no means a walk down Primrose Lane. Below you'll find what I think are important tips to help make the trip a pleasurable and fun experience.

.....yeah. One of the more, shall we say...interesting? ...hazards you may run up against on the Tail Of The Dragon is a truck. Not just a truck, but a TRUCK. It seems that 129 provides a logical short-cut to get to I-40....on the maps. A lot of truckers end up trying to make the eleven mile trip not knowing what they're in for and end up like this guy, all because dispatchers look at a map and say,"Hey....129 looks like it'll get you to I-40 pretty quick."

Problem is, not all trucks end up stuck like this guy, and most end up filling both lanes along the tail.

BEWARE!

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