Ride on the wild side
The Tail of the Dragon by Ronald E. Johnson The Tail of the Dragon, also known as Deals Gap or just the Dragon, is considered by many as one of the world’s premier motorcycling and sports car roads. Anyone looking for an exciting piece of asphalt will enjoy this stretch of U.S. 129 at the Tennessee/North Carolina state line, especially during the fall. The road, paved in the 1920s, was only lightly traveled for decades, primarily by locals and lost tourists. In 1992, the road was mentioned in Rider Magazine and word was out. The Dragon is truly a unique road. In 14 miles, there are only two intersections. There are no buildings other than the Crossroads of Time and our Tail of the Dragon store. There are 318 curves in the 11 miles located on the Tennessee side. Most
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of the roadway is bounded by United States Forest Service property and the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Deals Gap, located at the North Carolina and Tennessee State Line, is the highest point on the Dragon at 1,962 feet above sea level.
| Tennessee Mountain Traveler-Fall 2013
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.