| Author | Message | ||
     Blakeaspencer |
This weekend me, my dad, and 2 other bikes are trailering to the tail of the Dragon area. Are there any roads or places that anyone suggests we stop at. We will be there from Thursday to Monday at robinsville North Carolina | ||
| Blakeaspencer |
And we also are going to do some fishing. So if yall have any fun fishing stops we would appreciate it. | ||
| Hughlysses |
Check this site for comprehensive info on local roads: Www.tailofthedragon.com | ||
| Macbuell |
I highly recommend the Dragon - Cherohala Skyway loop. That was my favorite part of my trip, by far. | ||
| Natexlh1000 |
The whole area is awesome. You really can't go wrong. I recall the time I went, I then headed south to bridal veil falls. That was a pretty pleasant ride and the falls are cool too. They have an underpass to drive through it. | ||
| Reepicheep |
The Cherohala Skyway is really *the* ride to make while you are there. It has to be one of the best rides on the planet. The tail of the dragon is a fun spectacle to people watch, and is a fun road, but its not often it's actually that good a ride. Either some cruiser or RV is in front of you wobbling through every turn, or it's open enough and you are waiting for some squid (in a car or sliding behind a lowsided bike) to be left of center around the next turn. And the speed limit is actually pretty low on a lot of it, and it is heavily patrolled. And those speed limits aren't unreasonable, nearly every corner on 129 is a blind corner. For those of us that don't outride our sightline, which is even wiser than normal on deals gap than it is anywhere else, it's a pretty slow road. I've done the dragon before, and I'll do it again, just know what it is and go take a decent ride and peoplewatch. But oh, that Cherohala Skyway loop. Great turns, great views, lots of pull off's, great sightlines through nearly every turn... Riding just doesn't get much better. | ||
| Tootal |
I love the dragon too but once you hit the fork at Deal's Gap Resort you can keep on 129 or go left onto 28. 28 is a favorite ride for me, much less traffic and really nice road. If coming from the North you can ride the dragon, go left at Deal's Gap Resort and take 28 all the way to 143 or Sweetwater Rd. Take it back to 129/143 and turn right and then turn left to stay on 143 or the Cherohala Skyway. It's a long ride but really good! But as everyone says, it's all good! | ||
| Etennuly |
Go ahead ride the main attraction, big name stuff first. Most fun thing to do is to head out in a direction. Read your maps the night before to pick a direction, but leave out specifics. So many things that are awesome to see or be part of are not on maps, or they are over looked. I love to ride on until I am good and lost then make several attempts to find my way. When it gets late, or I find too many dead ends, or I just feel like it, I then turn on the GPS or get out the maps. I have found so many cool places that otherwise would have never been explored. | ||
| Sifo |
We tend to stay in Robbinsville when we head down there. It's central to all kinds of good riding. The Cherohala west to Tellico Plains is great. Grab a bite to eat at the Tellico Plains bakery! I enjoy taking 360 north. You will have passed it just to the east of Tellico Plains. If you have some time to kill before lunch, there's a turnoff for a waterfall a bit before Tellico Plains marked on the Cherohala. It's a few miles down the road to the south. Nice falls! 360 north from the Cherohala will eventually get you to 411. It's a big highway, you can't miss it. Take a right, and right again in a few miles on 72. 72 will take you down to 129 north of the dragon. 129 all the way back to Robbinsville. Or add some more mileage by turning left on 28 at the south end of the Dragon. Where ever you stay will likely have maps available to point you toward fun. Those maps actually do a good job. If you want more adventure, explore on your own. It's a great area! | ||
| 86129squids |
+1, hwy 28. AKA the Hellbender, it'll take you out to Fontana Dam, where they filmed the movie "The Fugitive"... You can make a run to N. GA, even Suches and check out TWoS. When you head across the Cherohala and get to Tellico Plains, don't miss the Tellico Grains Bakery- EXCELLENT grub, plus wood-fired pizza! Closed on Sunday/Monday, IIRC. The local Maryville HD dealership is impressive, with live music on Saturdays. And, there's a killer bakery/sandwich shop here in Maryville, Foothills Milling Company Bakery. They have a high-end restaurant too- go sit at the bar between 5-6 and let Matt take care of ya. Figure out the ride loop out of Tellico Plains to make it to Reliance TN. Also, Hiwassee Dam. I'll think of other stuff later, honeydo's callin'.  | ||
| Tootal |
I have found so many cool places that otherwise would have never been explored. True dat! I found Santeetlah Rd. to Joyce Kilmer that way. Somewhere in there we found a dead end with a trail to an old lookout point. Not a soul around! Good thing, at that point there was a tree up there in really bad need of watering!  | ||
| Pwnzor |
+++1 on Tellico Grains. I sent a bunch of Miata drivers over there on Friday. | ||
| Sifo |
+1, hwy 28. AKA the Hellbender, it'll take you out to Fontana Dam, where they filmed the movie "The Fugitive"... You CRAZY! The movie makes it clear, that dam is just outside of Chicago! Makes me laugh every time I see it. Getting to Suches and back from Robbinsville is very doable. I've done it, including low siding on Wolf Pen Gap, pulling the bike back up the drop off with the help of a couple of locals, some roadside repairs, as stop in a small town to purchase tools, some parking lot repairs, as stop at a bike dealership for better repairs, and back before dark. I think I finalized some repairs at the hotel after dinner that night. I don't recommend the low side! | ||
| 86129squids |
+1, Joyce Kilmer Memorial Forest. AFAIK the last remaining stand of old-growth forest in Appalachia, great if you wanna hike. On the Cherohala, TN side not far from Tellico Plains, is Bald River Falls. A pretty, narrow 2 lane road runs right next to the river, and after a while you end up looking right at the falls, next to the road! Hikeable too, great for a picnic. When you want to get back to the Cherohala, there's a side road, crappy pavement, but it takes you back to the Cherohala a lot quicker. "Turkey Creek Rd." FWIW, downtown Knoxville has a lot going on now- an awesome farmers market on Saturdays, great restaurants on Market Square (Stock and Barrel, The Oliver Royale), and a live studio radio station, WDVX. All the roads in Western NC are awesome. | ||
| 86129squids |
And, the Blue Ridge Parkway. Give that a day trip, don't fudge the speed limit...  | ||
| 86129squids |
Oooh fishing! The lady at Tellico Grains Bakery who took my $$$ said the trout fishing up around Bald River Falls was great... if you go further up the road, they have a trout hatchery! LOTS of fishing, but I'm not familiar. The Hiwassee River will have good fish too. | ||
| Sifo |
Bald River Falls! That's the one I was trying to remember the name of in my above post. Clearly marked on the Cherohala. Well worth the side trip, especially if it's been raining. | ||
| Buellish |
Leave it to Brad to remember he asked about fishing. Brad,I sent you a PM a couple of days ago and haven't heard back. | ||
| Reepicheep |
There is an interesting gravel road that parallels a lot of the Cherohola also. Lots of campers pulled off it in a lot of places, and a long road for lower speeds, but it's interesting. | ||
| Josequinones |
http://tailofthedragontours.com/wp/the-road-to-now here-bryson-city/ | ||
| 86129squids |
Reep, IIRC that's Citico road. I've got a couple of friends who run a D/S outfitter shop here in Friendsville, they know ALL the local dirt roads! In South Knoxville, there's Ijams nature center- some seriously nice hiking, world-class mountain biking (they just got a new gravity park!), and zipline funnin'. If you make it through Newport TN on TN70, it'll take you past Bobarosa on the river- a pretty cool biker bar/hangout, then you can keep going to Hot Springs, NC- I've never stopped to soak in the hot springs there, but someday I will... Back to W. NC: From Cherokee NC running south, you can make a loop back to 129- lots of great roads, small towns, and somewhere along the way there's the Iron Horse Inn, a biker B&B. I'm ready myself for a good day trip on two wheels, once this dang heat lets up a bit! | ||
| Blakeaspencer |
We just did the dragon down and back. That's possibly the most fun I've had on my uly, my friends on electra glides were scrapping often. Great fun. We also went to fontana dam, superbly beautiful. I met a new uly rider gave him some pointers and went on. 28 was a bunch of fun too. Now my headlight keeps blowing so I have to fix that sometime. | ||
| Hughlysses |
Glad you're enjoying it. Electrical issue- Look for bad/loose ground wire or bad voltage regulator. | ||
| 86129squids |
DON'T miss Tellico Grains bakery- hit it tomorrow if you can! Or, Foothills Milling Company bakery, or, heck, the marina at TN72, Tellico Marina. Be safe, rubber side down! |
