Need help to plan a trip to Tail of the dragon. | Page 2 | GTAMotorcycle.com

Need help to plan a trip to Tail of the dragon.

...also, if you're new to the area, remember: it is illegal to cross the double yellow line down there. As well, warning other motorists of the presence of police in the area (flashing highbeams, tapping your helmet) is considered obstruction of justice.

Also something to remember: the locals are armed. While there, we saw a guy driving around in a miata with a shotgun in the passenger seat (with which he chased a wild boar into the woods) and others with handguns tucked into their pants.
 
The BBQ place at Punkin Center (4 - 5 mi north of the overlook - junction 129 and 72) is great ... when it's open. I haven't been able to figure out what their regular hours are, if they have any.

The restaurant at Deals Gap is OK for a greasy spoon.

Fontana Village (28 about 10 mi south/east of Deals Gap) has a good restaurant but it's more expensive. Tapoco Lodge (Bottom of hill on 129 south of the gap) is good.

There are a few restaurants in Robbinsville. The Mexican restaurant is good. There's a big new wooden building on the south end of Robbinsville, forgot the name of it but it's hard to miss, which had just opened when I was down there last. They did not have their process sorted out, and it showed, but perhaps it's better now.

Katz is the first place you get to on the west side of the Cherohala Skyway (Tellico Plains TN). We always stop there.

The Stecoah Diner (on 28 about 15 mi out of Deals Gap) is a good little place.
 
Don't think he said to book in advance - just to stay in one spot while down there:)

Also with a trailer in tow, it might be easier to just stay in one place.

Oops my bad, I didn't catch the trailer thing. That's a different trip.
 
I always stay in Maryville, TN. Small little town that has enough restaurant and bars for the night. Close enough to the action and reasonably priced motel prices.
 
I get really tired of having every meal at a restaurant.

I liked renting a cabin in the Fontana Village because we ended up buying groceries and had home cooked breakfast and dinner most days. Lunch we stopped for while out on the road.
 
I used to do this trip, to the Smoky's, every year when I lived in Ontario. Now I live down here and ride these roads all the time.

Lots of good routes down here. 220 and 219 are good places to start. I'm not a fan of the BRP as I found it boring. I like to roll through small towns so I stay off the BRP except for the last stretch of it between Waynesville and Cherokee.

I would recommend staying in two places - Maggie Valley and Robbinsville. This way you can hit roads on both sides without having a long haul back to home base. Two Wheel Inn is my favorite in Robbinsville and there are a ton of options in MV.

There's no entertainment at night. But at most places you will either have a firepit or other riders will pull their chairs together and shoot the sh*t. You'll meet a lot of cool people this way from all over the states.

Lynn's place in Robbinsville is a good small town diner. They just opened a "steakhouse" right on the Two Wheel Inn property. I only ate there once but it was pretty good. The Hub is decent as well so you have lots of options.

Shanekingsley nails most of the best roads on his thread. My favorites are 215, 441 between Gatlinburg and Cherokee but always lots of tourist traffic, 28 (Moonshiner Run), 60 and Wolfpen Gap (part of the Georgia triangle), the switchbacks on 19 are close to home and always put a smile on my face, etc.
 
We dont have space on our bike for our 5 days tour. We dont want to buy saddle bag or top rack. But we already have trailer since we sometimes do trackdays.

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Just saw this now...

I would boogie down to Maggie Valley for a night or two then stay in Robbinsville. Two Wheel Inn is cheap (around $65 or so) and VERY clean. Can't comment on any other place since it's the only place I've stayed at in the area.
 
"A Holiday Motel" in Maggie Valley is a good spot. Basic rooms with everything you need and people there are very friendly. Owners are riders so just go to the office and they'll give you a map of the area and tell you the best places to go to. Garden hose with buckets, rags, soap to wash your bike as well.
 
If you want to do the best roads in the western part of North Carolina, Deals Gap may be too far south to hit everything. You'd be less than an hour from Georgia. The flip side is you'd be within reasonable distance of doing a day trip to Six Gap North Georgia. It really depends on how long you'll be staying in North Carolina or Tennessee and what roads you wanted to do. Since you're bringing your bikes by trailer, that limits what you can do. If you were riding down from Canada, you could hit the best roads as you came down and as you returned home.

I think the best location is Gatlinburg, Tennessee. Lots of motels and cabins. It's kind of in the middle of all the action if you wanted to check out roads in North Carolina and Tennessee. From Gatlinburg, it's about 2 hours south to Deals Gap, NC, about 3 hours east to Little Switzerland, NC, and about 2 hours northwest to Oliver Springs / Oak Ridge, TN. Before deciding on Gatlinburg, check with the hotels and motels if the town has recovered from the fires last November.

A little farther north from Gatlinburg is Pigeon Forge, TN if you want luxury comfort and access to every restaurant chain and shopping malls. Pigeon Forge is like a red neck version of Las Vegas without the gambling. Very touristy. Perfect if you need to buy supplies.

If you want to stay in a cabin, make sure you confirm there's easy access to the cabin. Many of these cabins are located in the middle of nowhere. Pitch dark at night. Gravel driveways. Steep hills. No cell phone service.

As mentioned by Hardwrkr13, Maggie Valley is a good spot for hitting all the nice roads in the western part of North Carolina though it's a little far to do Tennessee and TN-116. If you wanted to do Six Gap North Georgia, Franklin, NC a little further south is a good spot as well. From Franklin, NC you can get on NC-28 all the way to Deals Gap.
 
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I had some time off last September so a riding buddy and I went south.
Day 1- Toronto to Front Royal VA. We kept mostly to the 2 lane highways, but a few stretches on the interstates.
Day 2 - Skyline Drive
Day 3 - Blue Ridge Parkway from Waynesboro to Little Switzerland. Including the Diamondback run.
Day 4 - The Rattler to Cherokee NC
Day 5 - The Dragon
Day 6 - The Parkway to Knoxville.
Day 7 - Some Kentucky backroads to Bardstown KY
Day 8 and 9 - Bardstown Bourbon Festival
Day 10 - back home via I-75 (under construction of course).

The first day going down was a semi iron butt day, but we only rode about 6 hours per day the rest of the time leaving time for stretch break and points of interest.
 
All great ideas so far and here's another option.
Trailer to Wytheville VA
Black Bear Harley will let you store you tuck / trailer there.
Lots of cheap motels in the area and a Shoneys if you into buffet style diner and breakfast.
Now ride to Maggie Valley and stay at A Holiday Motel.
By interstate you can be there in about 3 hours.
or take a nice mountain ride and it will take most of the day.
see below

https://goo.gl/maps/ducqvn5NaB22

I stay away from Pigeon Forge and Gatlin...too much dam traffic.
When you need to return to trailer you could BRP...That will take most of the day or interstate in 3 hours.
Maps of all the great roads all over the place.
 
If you are trailering the bike, I would recommend staying in Townsend. I did a similar trip in September 2015. It is warm enough to stay at the campground comfortably (recommend the KOA), and it's a lovely place. It cuts down the travel time from Toronto by about 1-2 hours compared to other options for accommodation near Deals Gap. It can be used as a base for day trips:

Day 1 - Foothills Pkwy + Deals Gap + Cherohala Skyway and back.
Day 2 - Blue Ridge Parkway from Ashville to the west end and 441 back.
Day 3 - 441 + Fontana Village + Deals Gap + Foothills Pkwy.

Also, near Townsend is Cades Cove, an abandoned village turned musem. It is regarded as one of the must see attractions in the Great Smoky Mountains national Park, though crowds can take away from the experience.

While there are a few restaurants in town (which we did use for breakfast), we preferred to spend the evenings at the camp fire, BBQ, beers, stories, you got the picture...
 
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1,069 kms in 3.5 days in tennessee/north carolina. Thanks for all the input
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I get really tired of having every meal at a restaurant.

I liked renting a cabin in the Fontana Village because we ended up buying groceries and had home cooked breakfast and dinner most days. Lunch we stopped for while out on the road.

agree with that....I like to find hotels that have a bbq area
nothing better after a great day riding than to sip a few beers
and grill up your own dinner
 
Sweet! How was the FZ-09 on the Dragon?


1,069 kms in 3.5 days in tennessee/north carolina. Thanks for all the input
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