Gap, located at the North Carolina and Tennessee State Line, is the highest point on the Dragon at 1962 feet above sea level. It was named for one of the early families who settled here and opened a trading post deep in the forest.
We’ve had to deal with bears and wild boars in the road, trees down, and tractor-trailers taking- up both lanes in the curves. It is not a road for the squeamish, but if you’re looking for a lot of excitement don’t miss this one. It is on many enthusiasts bucket list.
We ride/drive the Dragon at least
twice a week. It’s better than any roller coaster we have ever been on. Our favorite sections are the Hump, the Chicanes, and the Esses just before Cattail Straight. Be ready to scrape some metal or squeal your tires in some of these wild curves. Traffic is usually very light early in the mornings and late in the afternoons.
We’ve been driving and riding
the Tail of the Dragon since 1975. At first it was in the family car and then in our 1976 Corvette. Now we have graduated to motorcycles and a new Mustang GT. We have always loved the road, finding it a hoot in whatever we happen to be driving. During the summer we see a wide variety of hot rods and antique cars that venture over from nearby Pigeon Forge.
The Tail of the Dragon gained popularity after our website
TailoftheDragon.com went on-line in 2000. This site, run by Ron and Nancy
Johnson North Carolina, offers
of Robbinsville, T-shirts,
souvenirs, photos, maps, and safety advice.
To those coming from the North
Carolina side, the Dragon begins at Fugitive Bridge with a view of the Cheoah Dam where Harrison Ford jumped in the movie The Fugitive. It ends 14 miles across the mountain at the Tabcat Creek Bridge in Tennessee. From Fugitive Dam
US129 climbs through The Slide, a steep series of “S” curves where one would not want to meet one of the tractor-trailers that comes this way at times. The road then levels and straightens until a series of curves approaching our Tail of the Dragon store, one of the main hangouts for visitors. Next comes Deals Gap and the Tennessee State Line. For the next eleven miles most people just remember curve after curve after curve and surviving the run of their lives. After riding many other twisties, we always come home to the Dragon and rate it the best of them all.
In addition to the 1993 The
Fugitive, three other movies have been filmed along this road. Thunder Road, the 1958 Robert Mitchum film about backwoods moonshining, had scenes on the Dragon.
Part of the 1971 cult classic Two- Lane Blacktop was filmed on the Dragon. There are scenes of the state line sign, some of the curves, the old Esso Gas Station, Macs Motel and Café, and the original single lane bridge at Tapoco Dam.
Part of In Dreams (1998) with
Annette Bening was filmed at Tapoco Dam and Calderwood Dam.
The Tail of the Dragon may have a checkered history, but today it is becoming “the destination”
for
hundreds of thousands of riders and drivers looking to tame the beast. There is the Two Wheel Inn which has a motorcycle garage next to each room and the Ironhorse Motorcycle Resort for motorcycles only. Car drivers have a range of places to stay from the inexpensive Microtel Robbinsville or Fontana Village to the classy Tapoco Lodge or Snowbird Mt Lodge.
WEBSITES OF INTEREST
TailoftheDragon.com Killboy.com (for your Dragon photos)
TwoWheelInn.com IronhorseNC.com MicrotelRobbinsville.com FontanaVillage.com SnowbirdLodge.com TapocoLodge.com
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48