Help plan my trip to Deal's Gap/Tail of the Dragon

I recently surprised my GF with the idea of heading down to Tail of the Dragon for our birthday's and she was all over it. We are going to start planning things this week and we will either be heading down during the VFRW Fall G2G or the weekend after. I'm looking for things that we should be doing while down there. I expect to run The Dragon a few times and also hit the Cherohala Skyway. If anyone else could chime in with excellent ideas for the weekend vacation, I'd greatly appreciate it since I've not been down that way before. The more ideas the merrier. We haven't decided if we want to make it a 3-day or 4-day venture yet.

Thanks in advance.

 

Blue Ridge Parkway is a must.

Rollin

 

A friend and I go down each May for a MINI Cooper gathering (think 500ish MINIs...) and have a great time. While there are always group drives to go places, we usually take off on our own and hit a few towns each day just to find things to do. Highlands is a really neat town (very high end shopping and restaurants in the middle of the mountains....mountain playground for rich city folks)....but the best part is the road that goes up to the town. Very twisty and follows a waterway with several waterfalls. The town of Cherokee is also interesting and is at the start of the BlueRidge Pkwy. Lots of other neat little places to visit in that area.

We always stay at Fontana Village. They have cabins and a nice lodge with decent rooms that aren't too terribly expensive.

I haven't stayed there (yet) but the Tapoco Lodge just down from the Tapoco dam (i.e. Fugitive Dam) has recently reopened under new ownership and from the pics looks very cool now that it's been redone. It's a bit pricy upscale compared to fontana, but could be a really neat place for a couple on a trip like you describe. The grounds are beautiful and you are basically right at the end of the Dragon with Robinsville just down the road if you want to go into town to get stuff....and the Cherohala Skyway isn't far from there.

Historic Tapoco Lodge | Resort near Robbinsville NC | Home

Have fun!

 

BTW - Here is the MINIs on the Dragon event website....I know you probably don't care about MINI Coopers.....but along the left side there are some good links for info on lodging in the area, things to do, restaurants, descriptions of roads to drive, etc.

MINIs On The Dragon - Home

 

Good info so far. It will give us more information to go over before finalizing things. I don't know what all is going to be possible for us since we have to put on nearly 500 miles to get there and back. A lot of it is going to depend on if we take 3 days for the trip or 4.

 

The gf and I are heading there tomorrow. Staying at the resort for 2 nights then making our way up to the Snake in Shady Valley, TN. After that we're doing the Back of the Dragon from Marion to Tazewell,VA.

I've been to the Dragon several times, we've got 5 days and like you, it's 500 miles from home. Spend a day at the Dragon/Skyway then move on. The Dragon will likely be madness this holiday weekend. Weekdays are nice. There are plenty of bikes around which is cool, but not so many people you can't have a decent run on 129.

The Snake is fun and worth a day visit. Haven't been to the BoTD yet so we'll spend a day there too as we work our way back home.

In your case with 3/4 days, take 4. Trips aren't much fun when you spend more time on the interstate than you do on twisties.

 

I know that three days are possible for us and while we would like to take four days, I don't know if it is going to be feasible. I'm starting a new job in the next few weeks and she is going through training for a promotion. We've been been cleared for "some" time off for the trip but I don't know how much we can get away with.

I'm really not too concerned about The Dragon. I want to ride it at least once to say I've ridden it and slayed The Dragon. My parents brought me back a tshirt a few years ago when they went through it and I've refused to wear it until I've slayed it myself. After we get that out of the way, I want to hit some other roads as well. I've been told that the Cherohola Skyway is much more fun than The Dragon depending on your riding style as it has a lot more sweeping turns and is a tad higher speed road. I will definitely take a look at the Back of the Dragon as well. I've not heard of it called that before but have a feeling I've looked at it several times on the map.

Topping it all off is that this is going to be a first for both of us. While I've taken trips to see friends and whatnot, I've not really gone more than ~200 miles to see them. She has never ridden on a motorcycle prior to meeting me and now loves it. My parents regularly take 5,000 mile trips twice a year on their Harley so I have a good idea of what to expect. I've also slowly been acquiring the factory luggage since I bought the VFR and now have all three pieces. I really dont think that we will have a problem with storage space but suspect that comfort on my end will come into play as I have not had the funds for heli-bars or the BLS peg lowering blocks. The Sargent seat should keep her comfy for a while as she hasn't had any complaints yet.

Regardless of how long we go, where we stay, and where we ride, we know we are going to have a blast and both of us can't wait for this to roll around. I just wish that I had known I was going to start work sooner so that we had more time to plan and save up. That's why I'm here, because I don't have the time to go through and track down all the fun stuff to do. Above all, I want to make sure that she throroughly enjoys this trip as it is her first and I don't want it to be her last.

 

If you are into history/architecture at all make the drive to Asheville and tour the Biltmore estate. Pay the extra for a guided tour or at least the audio tour. It's worth every penny.

 

Great idea. I know there are going to be things we want to do that get us OFF the bike and let us break up the day or two that we have down there. We are going to be on the bike plenty so any other things to do in the area as well is welcome. I just want to make sure they are things that we can only do in the area and not around here.

 

A trip to the Wheels Through Time museum is a good start. You could also consider a day trip to Gatlinburg, TN.

Rollin

 

I've thought about the whole Gatlinburg thing but I don't think it would be up our alley.

 

Your instincts are correct. Avoid Gatlinburg and Sevierville at all costs. Lots of traffic and traffic lights. IMHO don't be tempted to cross over between Gatlinburg and Cherokee on the Newfound Gap Road (Route 441) either. It looks good on a map but the traffic is steady and slow.

The Cherohala is better than the Dragon; longer, wider, quieter and more spectacular. Try to time it for lunch in Tellico Plains at Tellico Grains, too.

The riding almost everywhere in the region is terrific if you avoid the tourist and metro areas.

 

Looks like we've decided that we really aren't going to go down there with a plan other than to have fun. I've stated interest in riding the Dragon and Cherohola Skyway and that's all we are going to shoot for. Thanks to several of you guys for the info. I'd love to hit the BRP but I think that it is a bit far out of the way for us and the time we have schedule for. Perhaps next year or in some future trip we will get to hit it.

We are going to take 4 days and one of the links provided let me track down the cabin we are going to be staying in. We are going to stay at the same place while we are down there for Friday and Saturday nights. Depending on what we decide to do, we have the option to either stay there on Sunday as well and make the long trip back on Monday or we can start venturing back on Sunday and pick up a random hotel somewhere in Kentucky on the way back. Either way, both of us are extremely excited and eagerly anticipating the venture both in the aspect of it being a trip on the bike and our first vacation together. Heck, it is even going to be the first time that we've spent 30 hours straight with each other now that I think of it.