Pantera's at the Dragon???

The Tail of the Dragon is US 129 along the Tennessee, North Carolina border. Along the South and West sides of the Great Smoky Mountain National Park. US 129 has 318 turns in 11 miles.

I have looked at many resorts, and would like some input from anyone interested in this to get a feel for what the people might want in accomodations.
Heres a link to the Dragon
Dragon
Again let me know what you guys think.
Jeff
A PS: There are many HUGE mountains in the area, Clingman's Dome is the tallest in the park topping out at over 7000' in elevation, numerous waterfalls, and the dam that Harrison Ford jumped off of in "The Fugitive" can be seen near the Dragon.

Tell me more, please!

Heck, I live about an hour from there. Best damn road around in my opinion. Let me know when you are going andI will hook up with you guys. Fall would be better for weather and such, but you ain't gonna get much time to look at the pretty leaves, cause the road demands your undevided attention. Also you gotta keep an eye out for motorcycles cause they is always a buzzin around that road like flies on stink. People from all over the world come to the hills to drive that route. And I get it for free.

Count me in. Let me know when and where to meet.

Looks pretty crowded to me. It looks more like freak show then anything.

How fast was the boat going when he lost it? Don't they have boat speed warnign signs?

400# bikers should be prohibited, they block out the light and cause eaqrthquakes besides causing digestive complications to onlookers.

Do you have to make an appointment to drive on this road?

How come they let all those foreign cars congregate together. Shouldn't the Deparment of Domestic Security be notified?

check out http://www.killboy.com/destiny.html for some photos of the dragon.

Doug, it is a public road, not a race course. So yeah, it can be pretty dangerous. Bikers die there all the time. Not so much car and truck folk though. This is a road where you don't have to speed to enjoy. In fact on most of it you couldn't speed even if you wanted to. Hard to find a straght section. But if you like turning your wheel a lot, you will definetly get a work out.

Like the differant web sites preach..got to stay in your own lane, when I was there on Memorial Day weekend it was crowded but people are courteous on this road. I see where the 18 wheelers are being cited a whole lot more for being on this road. Hopefully the talk of banning such vehicles will come to pass. The big rigs have absolutley no reason to use this highway it is just not designed to handle those types of trucks...I know some say that it is a public road, but look at the Blue Ridge Parkway. Any commercial traffic is prohibted from it.
Back to the Dragon, it is such a thrill to drive, the passenger will get to see some incredible sights, but the poor driver will not he or she has to concentrate on driving or a boo boo could very well happen.
My idea is to spend maybe a pass one evening on the Dragon, then the next morning have breakfast together then it will be off for a trip through the Dragon, then make one of the loops around the park. The Cherola Skyway is gorgeous. Climbing to over 5000' with beautiful valley's. When I took that route it was 90 degrees in Robbinsville, then at altitude the temp dropped to around 45 degrees and some wild fog.
Maggie Valley which is a nice little trip. Has a Motorcycle Museum with somewhere around several hundred bikes at any given time. The nice thing is anything that is on display runs. I missed this on my trip but it really sounds like a must see place.( And they routinely start stuff for the patrons)
So many roads that are around this area are so much fun to drive, be it gigantic boulders strewn through a river as you drive by, the Memorial in the park that was visited by Franklin D Roosevelt for it's dedication. Awesome sights to see at the overlook there, you can see for miles. One road which ties into US 129 at Deals Gap I believe is US 28 which runs along the southern border of the park, this road is a little tight at first but turns into a very nice asphalt 2 lane with long straights and severe switchbacks, what a blast.
I need to look at my map but there are at least a dozen waterfalls in the area. Some can be driven to, others a short walk, and some are a very long walk(maybe hike is a better word).
Since a couple of people have said "GO" I will jump at the chance to make this happen. I am going to check the calender and make some phone calls. I will post some dates and locations for the run.
Again any input is welcome.
Jeff

Mark, I mapquested Atlantic City to Robbinsville, NC where I was thinking of making our base. It showed around 745 miles. Im ahead of you on the availibility of parking for truck and trailer rigs. Thats going to be one of the first questions I ask.
Heres some of my to do's for this so far:
Find lodging and make sure they can support our needs. Parking, food, I have left out Tennessee for staying anywhere, because there are so many dry counties there, North carolina is the bet if anyone wants to get any type of alcohol. I'm not much of a drinker, but I will not hold it against anyone who does. I want all to enjoy this.
I have a very nice map showing the details of this area. I will try to scan it for you guys to see, it shows: road make up(dirt, paved or not, and quality of road) elevations and the names of the peaks, distances of roads and estimated travel times on each, bike trails, hiking paths, boat ramps, campgrounds, etc etc.
I also want to make this a arrive on Friday, and leave on Sunday or Monday( your choice of course).
Food, I would like to find a nice place for everyone to sitdown and eat on Saturday night together. I think breakfast at whereever we stay can be a very good thing.
Maybe a long distance award??
Map out our courses for the cats to take, and let everyone see these.
Still trying to brainstorm the communications while there, I have NEXTEL and had very limited reception.
Photos, I would love to stage all the cars that show for a group shot. I saw where one group got to use a bucket truck on loan from one of the local towns for a very nice overhead picture.
I think thats a pretty good start.
Again any input is welcomed.
Jeff

quote:

Since a couple of people have said "GO" I will jump at the chance to make this happen. I am going to check the calender and make some phone calls. I will post some dates and locations for the run.
Again any input is welcome.

Jeff, just remember that if it is too early in the spring or too late in the fall, we may need snow tires at the higher elevations.

A good friend of mine owns a lodge in Suches GA, http://www.highvalleyresort.com/, which he would cut us a "Pantera" deal on. It's about an hour drive (80 miles) from the end of the Dragon , Deal's Gap, and has some EXCELLENT and less driven roads as well.
The place has 6 cabins that can sleep up to 6-8 people( $150/per cabin per night) and 3-2 person bunkhouses( $40/per night).
He has a pretty hot M5 and knows the roads well. He said he could also layout a drive in the Suches GA area if we wanted.

JB

I have found that the weekend after Labor Day is great to schedule these type of small events.

Because the schools are open most of the tourists have gone home and the weather 99 times out of 100 is the best of the year.

I'm not sayin' that I'm going but I sure am thinkin' about it.

It's just about 800 miles and 13-1/2 hours. Why can't I fly in and rent a Bugatti?

Mark, thanks for the infomation. Here is a link to a interactive map from the area.
My intent wasn't
on making this trip until 2008. My wife and I are planning to go next month.

Area Map

I need to get off my butt and join POCA. So I dont cause any conflicts with any other club meets I might interfere with in trying to set this up.
Jeff

Let me know when you plan to do it. I am about 3 easy hours from there and I know I can out drive Dethom in the turns.... WAAA!!!

Kim and I have made plans for visiting the Dragon on Memorial Day weekend this year. We will be arriving on May 22nd and heading home on Monday the 26th. If anyone wants to join us for a imprompt gathering please feel free to join us. The roads and sights of this area are a sure good time. We will be staying in Robbinsville, at the Phillips Motel,Phillips Motel
This shows where Robbinsville is in relation to The Dragon.Robbinsville, North Carolina
The Motel told me they have "several" rooms still availible. At $60 a night it is a steal!
Anyone wanna join us?
Jeff

Heres the link to The Wheels Through Time Museum.
Wheels Through Time
Jeff

I know Mark. We wanted to go but the money for Pocono wasnt really in the works, but next year is a different story. I see so many people are going to Pocono, just hoping someone might want to just hang around the Dragon with us.
Jeff