USA TODAY International Edition
N. C.’ s Dragon is the ultimate twisty fall ride
Most any day between March and November at the intersection of N. C. 28 and U. S. 129, you can expect to see several hundred parked motorcycles and sports cars, their owners comparing notes in a parking lot in the middle of nowhere. Only a souvenir shop and a “resort” — a motel/ souvenir shop/ café/ gas station — face each other across US. 129.
From this bluff above the Little Tennessee River, you can gaze north across the rugged valley at soaring peaks in Great Smoky Mountains National Park.
But motorists from California, Quebec — and places in- between and overseas — come because this is the starting point for what hardcore gearheads consider the best ride in North America.
It’s the two- lane stretch of U. S. 129 to the north. Its 318 curves in 11 miles earned it the name Tail of the Dragon.
That asphalt ribbon is visited by 1,000 to 1,200 vehicles a day, according to the N. C. Department of Transportation. And with counties in mountainous western North Carolina increasingly dependent on tourism, the state pays close attention to maintaining area byways. They were in fantastic shape this September. WHAT YOU’LL FIND Riding the Tail of the Dragon isn’t especially daunting. The experience is more high- energy Sunday driving. ( Full disclosure: My marriage came with the understanding I would never own a motorcycle, get tattooed or shave my moustache. Thanks to friends, I rode the Tail of the Dragon on Sept. 12 in the sidecar of a 2007 Russian- built Ural that resembles its World War II ancestors.) What’s the Tail’s appeal? The 318 curves are not mountain switchbacks; these turns, some close to 300- degree pivots, are on a largely flat course.
Besides being in fine condition, the asphalt curves are banked and easier to handle.
The Dragon stretch of U. S. 129 is double- lined as No Passing. ( Passing does occur, but there are pull- offs you can use to let tailgaters get in front of you.)
The posted speed limit is 30 mph. Several bikers/ drivers said citations usually go to “people who are doing something stupid” — speeding and doing stunts.
Trucks are prohibited.
The North Carolina approach to the drive ( 2 miles) is in the Nantahala National Forest; the 11 miles in Tennessee are in Great Smoky Mountains National Park. No public roads intersect with the Tail of the Dragon, and it is free of driveways.
You experience mountainside wilderness, often with a rock wall or hill on one side of the road, a sheer drop on the other. The asphalt sleeve is bordered by hardwood forests. At high noon, you often motor in heavy shade.
The thrill is handling the curves. And watching for oncoming vehicles that barrel into view. THE DRAGON IS BORN This wasn’t always a popular road, says Ron Johnson. He and his wife, Nancy, operate tailofthedragon.com, a comprehensive website for Dragon information.
He says U. S. 129 in the Deals Gap pass seems to have been a river path used by the Cherokee. In colonial times, it was a route for soldiers and settlers to Fort Loudoun, a British outpost in Tennessee. In the 1800s, it was known as the Tallassee Turnpike, and a man who owned the land on both sides of the road operated a toll booth 3 miles west of Deals Gap. During the Civil War, the passage was a hotbed for bushwhackers.
It became a gravel road around 1900, Johnson says, then a paved state road in the late 1920s and a winding federal highway in the 1930s. It was featured in the 1971 movie Two- Lane Blacktop.
Johnson says bikers began discovering this stretch in the 1990s after write- ups in Rider and other magazines. One writer in American Motorcyclist described it as the “best asphalt thrill ride in the East.” The motel/ diner at the intersection of N. C. 28 and U. S. 129 began to prosper.
Johnson says the byway was known simply as the Dragon until he came along. After he retired as a firefighter in West Palm Beach, Fla., he and his wife moved to Robbinsville, N. C., southeast of Deals Gap, in 1991. They’d vacationed in the area since the 1970s. Taking note of the road’s growing appeal to cyclists, they launched tailofthedragon. com in 2000 and filled it with maps, tips and essays.
That was the year Johnson, then 53, learned to ride.
The website spawned merchandise ranging from shirts and caps to stickers and decals and videos, and the Johnsons acquired the “Tail of the Dragon” trademark. Marketing drove visitors. Their original on- site souvenirs shack evolved into the substantial shop across U. S. 129 from the diner. Visitors are encouraged to write their names on the posts and beams of the large wood verandah; Johnson says he orders Sharpies by the bag.
What has changed on the roadway over the years? Johnson says the posted end- to- end speed limit dropped from 55 mph to 40 and then 30. Also, auto tourism has increased from about 20% to half of all visitors, thanks in part to caravans of sports car clubs.
Fans of two- and four- wheel classics often combine a Deals Gap visit with a stop at Wheels Through Time, 90 minutes east, near the Blue Ridge Parkway. MOTORCYCLE EYE CANDY Dale Walksler, a Harley dealer from Illinois, moved his extensive collection of historic motorcycles to Maggie Valley in 2000 to open a 38,000- square- foot museum that now showcases more than 300 historic American bikes.
Wheels Through Time’s displays include a 1905 Yale, the first make to drive coast- to- coast. Also here is a 1909 Pierce that belonged to Steve McQueen.
Many vehicles have been fully restored and are operational, and the owner/ curator is usually on premises. It’s not unusual to hear Walksler crank up the engine on, say, a 1916 Traub, often referred to as the rarest motorcycle in the world. And the skid marks on the floor? Sometimes this curator just gets carried away.