Tail of the Dragon / Deals Gap

Swank Force One wrote:

Keith Tanner wrote: I've been. It's fun, but not the greatest road on earth. Too well engineered! I prefer the rowdier stuff we have around here. You can get through it pretty quickly late at night with a bunch of rally lights hung off the front of your Miata though.

The Dragon doesn't have E36 M3 on the road up and down Grand Mesa where you are...

Like I said, rowdier Offcamber, bumps, stuff - you have to work for it. And if you screw up, the freefall gives you time to think about what you've done.

Powar wrote: Try not to leave parts on that tree.

A friend of mine's wife left this on the tree. She put his body in the cemetery in Hagerstown. Please be careful on that road.

In reply to Keith Tanner:

The Dragon flows well... it's technical but cohesive. There's no real rhyme or pattern to your roads. They don't flow as well. Rowdy is a good word you're right.

I want to take another crack at them in a sledgehammer like the mx6. Those roads beg for a brute, the dragon a scalpel to flick around.

If you've only driven over the Grand Mesa, you've missed the good ones. The ones that need a small car with suspension that can dance while dealing with...well, with whatever. Their rhythm is dictated by the mountains, so you're always having to do what geology has laid out for you. Sledgehammer isn't the right tool. Just like the area near the Dragon, you need to get off the big roads and on to the little ones. 65 over the Mesa is just big sweepers. It's how you get to the good roads!

It's been over a decade since I drove the Dragon, but I remember it being very heavily cambered and well engineered. The road did most of the driving. I can see why motorcyclists like it. I also remember coming around a corner and finding a semi in my lane. That was exciting.

I've been on the Dragon a couple times and some of the other roads in the area. Fun, but crowded on the weekend. My first time was at night in my C4 Vette....

Did the Cherohala on a dry winter day with no traffic. Scenic, but the speed limit is 40. Road isn't too interesting at that pace. I was driving much, much faster. Not recommended (worse when driving a Saturn), I was at bad spot in life.

I lived an hour away for four years and used to know it like the back of my hand. Lately I've been wondering why I moved away...

Knurled wrote: Jerry, gonna have to talk to you about some of the more fun roads that are much more closer to you than TN.

I'm listening...

Also, be careful of the GPS route between Pigeon Forge and ToTD. Just got home, that's a story for tomorrow...

Jerry wrote: Also, be careful of the GPS route between Pigeon Forge and ToTD. Just got home, that's a story for tomorrow...

Curious to here that story. Honeymooning in Gatlinburg and will be making a trip (or 2!) to the gap that week.

Many times.

My favorite was outrunning an NSX in a 3.3L powered Subaru XT6.

THAT was a good day!

DO NOT THINK YOU WILL BE SPEEDING. THEY HAVE TURNED IT INTO RADAR ALLEY

that is all.

Went last year when the FR-S had just 500 miles. I did the cherohala skyway as well. If I lived ANYWHERE near there i'd find ANY reason to get down either of those roads. I'm planning a trip back for this summer . Bonus: girlfriend likes it for the scenery.

Did it several times in my Audi Coupe GT. Made the wife puke the one time she rode along. I did it at night once; that was a blast. I found the best time for traffic was Sunday morning. It's most fun in a momentum car vs something with power, IMO.

In reply to Flight Service:

Yes. We stopped at the rest area by the river to set up the GoPro's & a cop pulled a truck over there. Down the road there were two more side by side, then at a crazy hairpin that I remember chirping the traction control last time another was parked facing us!

I'm curious if it's because of the S2000 accident last week. Accidents - stepped up patrols.

Flight Service wrote: DO NOT THINK YOU WILL BE SPEEDING. THEY HAVE TURNED IT INTO RADAR ALLEY that is all.

So for those of us from Ohio, it'll feel just like home

BABE rally runs it every year. As others have said, its interesting but always overcrowded.

On our way there we take some real unknown backroads including one our brit rally organizer has dubbed the Ass of the Antelope. Its similar to the dragon, but all dirt and no traffic, much hoonage abounds.

In 08 we were on it with a $250 mustang GT (not the epitome of handling is what Im trying to say) and chasing a spitfire. Went way too hot into a turn which I though was another gentle 90 and it was a hairpin 180. I learned a lot about throttle on over steer that day and gained a new appreciation for how to drive a mustang (with the gas pedal thank you very much)

I have thought about taking the bike, but the V-Star 950 has a lean angle of around 2.7 degrees before you scrape, so i'd have to bring a few spare floorboards!

Still had fun...

Spoolpigeon wrote:

Jerry wrote: Also, be careful of the GPS route between Pigeon Forge and ToTD. Just got home, that's a story for tomorrow...

Curious to here that story. Honeymooning in Gatlinburg and will be making a trip (or 2!) to the gap that week.

Be sure the directions say to follow Rt 321/73 Foothills Parkway. If they take you through the Smokies park and reference Cades Cove Rd, DON'T!

I thought my GPS was just using a scenic route through the park, pretty nice view. Then we ended up going through Cades Cove, which surprised me but I thought maybe there was a back way. GPS directions even said to follow it 13 miles then turn left on Rt 129 (The Dragon). Then we ended up on a gravel road. Hm ok, getting sketchy but maybe it's a service road?

Till we got to the sign at a one-lane wooden bridge that said "Warning, high clearance vehicles only, use caution, no emergency vehicle access" and pretty much you're going to die if you keep going in your lowered Scion xB. berkeley. We ended up back-tracking through the park and back to 321 the other direction, and made it.

I've read those GPS horror stories and laughed, and actually stopped before I drove into a river, or even through impassable roads. But I could see some people getting into trouble a little at a time.

JThw8 wrote: Its similar to the dragon, but all dirt and no traffic, much hoonage abounds.

Quick, Robin! To the Bat-Topographical Road Map That Lists Road Type!

Robin? Oh, right, I'm not Batman.

(so what's with all the cool stuff in the basement?)

Jerry wrote: Till we got to the sign at a one-lane wooden bridge that said "Warning, high clearance vehicles only, use caution, no emergency vehicle access" and pretty much you're going to die if you keep going in your lowered Scion xB. berkeley. We ended up back-tracking through the park and back to 321 the other direction, and made it. I've read those GPS horror stories and laughed, and actually stopped before I drove into a river, or even through impassable roads. But I could see some people getting into trouble a little at a time.

My Garmin (affectionately known as HAL or Holly, as in Red Dwarf) will frequently direct me to the most potholed middle-of-nowhere series of left on this/right on that/left on this/... path to get somewhere when there could be a direct route on main roads that may take .1mi longer but is 15 minutes faster. Garmin's software doesn't seem to take stop signs into account.

Anyway, there's a lot of dirt roads in Michigan...

Jerry wrote: Be sure the directions say to follow Rt 321/73 Foothills Parkway. If they take you through the Smokies park and reference Cades Cove Rd, DON'T!

I like Cades Cove. It can make even someone like me seem like a halfway decent photographer.

Oh I love Cade's Cove myself. Had been there once maybe 10-15 yrs ago, and was pleasantly surprised it was going to be part of the adventure and scenic route. Till the bridge of doom.

Been on the Dragon many times, only a few are worth mentioning, it is a great road, but there are so many great roads around the area I rarely go there to get my fix. Glad it was a fun trip. I think it's much more fun with friends.

Going there this weekend for the Deals Gap Rotary Rally

Knurled wrote: My Garmin (affectionately known as HAL or Holly, as in Red Dwarf)

Smeg me! Thats a great name for the GPS!!!