MGB: tail of the dragon trip next week

ok, so next week is my big trip, here is my original post form a few months back, http://www.mgexperience.net/phorum/read.php?1,817021
anyone got any updates on what i should see or so while i am up there?

Cherokee of course for losing a few $$'s. There is the Road to No where that is sort of neat and Clingmans Dome. Nice trip up the mopuntain and then a walk to the viewing area. Also in Maggie Valley, I just went there, is a great BBQ rest. It is hooked up with a biker lodge on the main highway not far from Cherokee.

When you do Tail of the Dragon you can get over to the Cherohala Skyway very nice ride. Brings you back to almost where you start.
Also see Fontana Village and the dam. Really cool dam.

I just got back from doing the whole Blue Ridge Parkway and the Shenendoa Valley trip on my motorcycle. 1500 miles and a wonderful ride. I hope to retire next year this time and live up that way for 6 or months year. It is great weather and the mountan roads are the best.

Any word if the law is still heavy on the tail?

ClayJ Wrote:

Everything that has already been stated, plus you can get lost and have a good drive and time. You can not miss!

there is a biker motel on the NC side of the tail with a web site with daily smoky bear updates. i found it on the first try on a web search. i live in sevier county (sevierville, pigoen forge, gatlinburg, 'slopes, dollywood, west end of the highway over to cherokee from TN...lots of twisties, etc.) send me a pm and i'll give you my cell phone number. if you have trouble up here i'd be glad to help you out...hopefully my offer to do so will get "murphy's law" to leave you alone. there are a couple of other guys around...mostly in knox county that would, i'm sure, offer likewise.

Foothill parkwya is shorter but more scenic and not as dangerous. Just observe speed limits and watch out of two wheelers crossing centerline. and cops

I believe there is a Tail of the Dragon MGB run on youtube. And I think it is Kim D MGB Experience long time member.

The run over to Fontana Dam is a nice ride and worth the views when you get there. You can drive across the dam (or at least could last time I was there). Make for a good photo op.

There's a good restaurant on the Cherohala Parkway just as you're pulling in to Tellico Plains, Tennessee on the right along the river. Can't recall the name. The shortcut/ride from US 129 over to Cherahola through the Joyce Kilmer forest is worth doing this time of year. Watch out for deer.

Yes if you make to the Dragon, you'll find good mountian roads are a dime a dozen in this neck of the woods, doing some of the Blue Ridge Parkway is a must, just for it's scenic vistas. The Dragon is probably the most talked about road in the Appalachian mountains, but there are many, many Dragon type roads in this vicinity, so just grab a map and go explore. I've been to the Dragon many years ago, but for me, I have to pass by a couple of dozen Dragons to get ot the dragon, so now I passify my time exploring the mountian roads closer to me.

If I was coming form Florida and coming up I-95, I think I would be tempted to picking I-26 and heading up west from there, ending up picking up the Appalachian mountains there, and you'll find to get to the dragon this way is almost as good as the Dragon.

Only "Dragon" tip I have - if you have a passenger, make sure he/she is wearing good shoes! Mary broke the toe strap on a pair of sandals from bracing herself around the corners! :)

As to the police - you really can't go fast enough in a car for it to be a problem - they may get you for dangerous driving(!), but you will not be speeding! Most of the time, you can't get out of 2nd gear!

It is a fun drive!

Shinsen774 Wrote:

Becareful There's CATAMOUNTS in them hills.
Take 109 out of Sylvia past Western Carolina heading toward Cashiers is fun if nobody's in the way. I use to take the Bugeye up that way and play when I was in school.

28723 who the heck are we
we're the CATAMOUNTS and
we're from CULLOWHEE!!!

Have fun on the dragon!

http://www.tailofthedragon.com/

US 276 from Cedar Mtn, NC to SC-11 below Ceasars Head. Not as scenic as up in Tennessee, but some good curvy road and hills.

JackMG Wrote:

Brings back memories. I grew up in Knoxville and when I was in college I would go there once a month just for stress relief after an exam or deadline. Back then the speed limit was 55 mph and there was little enforcement. There are a lot of other good roads in East Tennessee that were also really fun. The Dragon was just starting to get a big name for two wheelers in those days. (This was around 90-93). Back then the gas station at the top of the road kept the fastest motorcycle time records on a bulliten board!! (Is that where the lodge is now?) My best friend and I were really into pro-rally racing at the time. We even developed pace notes for the dragon and some other gravel logging roads in the area. They made a big differance in your confidence going into a corner. At least you knew where the really nasty corners were. I drove a 1972 MGB GT for lots of the runs. Then I got a 72 Mazda RX-2 that had around 180HP and weighed about 2200lbs. I'm glad I didn't kill myself or hurt someone else. We even wore our race helmets on some of the runs. It seems so irresponsible now in hindsight.

Speedracer Wrote:

watch for the bikes, some of those guys are nuts and a danger to others.

I drive mountian roads in my MG, pretty much like I rode dirt bike in tight woods sections, I go at a pretty good clip thru a corner, stay on my side of the road, and slow down when the road straightens up. I go for ba at about 60-70% most of the time, never go balls to the wall in the moutian roads and that normally fast enough to keep my buddies behind me. Mary Jane will tell me every once in ahwile that I'm going to fast, and my response is always the same, "darling you have no idea what fast is, becuase this isn't it" :)

Don't forget to have breakfast at "Joey's" Pancake House in Maggie Valley.
They have real butter, but you have to take your own real maple syrup.
Pancakes are the best especially the whole wheat ones.
they get crowded so get there early.
My wife and I go there evwery time we are up there. We camp at Big Creek Campground. It's great.