The infamous Tail of the Dragon, Deals Gap
The Tail of the Dragon with it’s 318 curves in 11 miles is world famous motorcycle and sports car road. Designated US 129, the road is bordered by the Great Smoky Mountains and the Cherokee National Forest with no intersecting roads or driveways to hamper your travel.
Team 70’s came in at the north-end and rode through to the south-end. Unfortunately, we had a pickup truck towing a trailer in the last couple miles that slowed us down.
Team 60’s (the young whipper-snappers) came in at the south-end and rode north THEN turned around and came back! On the Deals Gap end there are restaurants, motels, & Tail of the Dragon souvenir shops with patches, pins, cups, t-shirts.
Deals Gap infamous dragon
The head of the dragon
Tail of the Dragon commercialization
The tail of the dragon at its worst
Gary & Dean with the dragon
But I hate to burst anyone’s bubble but Germany, Austria, France, Slovenia has hundreds of roads like this!
Ah, there’s team 70’s! Yay! I did wonder how the traffic was, it could be a slow line behind a truck and trailer. You made me curious; it does have a great history (tailofthedragon.com) starting with a track used by large herds of Buffalo. By following your trip, I’m learning a lot about areas of our country I’ve never been to. Glad that was none of your bikes left on the tail!
Thanks JeanR for the link for the Tail of the Dragon. I usually google EVERYTHING, but hadn’t yet for this. Dean, I’m sure you’ve ridden some of those roads in Europe. Love all the pics!