The Dragon

Guys I'm abandoning my home for a 4 day trip to the dragon. I know some of you have spent time up there. This has been a productive but hectic year, all I seem to do is work and its time to unleash the 4S on roads other than pot holed riddled Miami streets. So where should I stay? What should I hit on the way? Anything you could offer to make this a memorable trip would be appreciated. I'm leaving the wife and dog home. This trip is for me and the machine only.

Sooooo many roads ... so little time. 1st ... stay at Fontana Village Resort. Dinner in resort restaurant is excellent and you can stagger to your room. http://www.tripadvisor.com/Hotel_Rev..._Carolina.html Use that as ground zero. Roads to hit: Tail of the Dragon (obviously) but do it early morning on a weekday if possible. Make a slow speed run to scope out LEO density (weekday should be zero but you never know). Then have fun. Cherohala Skyway 28 North from Lodge to Deals Gap (Hellbender) 28 South from 74 towards Franklin (Moonshiner) it is 55 mph and my favorite. Blue Ridge Parkway go east towards Asheville (Pick it up at Balsam Gap milepost of 74) BRP East towards Asheville and get off onto NC 215 (North or South both are winners) run down turn around and run up BRP East even more towards Asheville and get off onto NC 276 (North or South both are winners) run down turn around and run up If you are really feeing frisky take 215 all the way down to SC 11. At state line it becomes SC 178 and is a rocking road. If you make this trip, divert to twin falls along the way (hard right at Bob's Place). Do lunch one day at River's End. Excellent chili and other grub as well as craft brews. http://noc.com/places/restaurants/rivers-end-restaurant Words of advice if you are not an experienced mountain driver ... Start thinking about refuel at about 1/2 tank. You wander off too deep without knowing your next refuel and you will spend too much time worrying about gas vs enjoying the roads. Never cross the center line even if you have a clear line of sight. Be careful on downhill runs. You can be carrying a lot of speed and not realize it until you see the curve just went 180 on you. Uphill runs are a little more forgiving. This time of year especially ... watch out for wet leaves/gravel at braking and turn in points. Quite often, there are no guardrails. We play by Darwin rules around these parts.

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Excellent, this is exactly what I needed. I know the dragon gets busy... I've read the surrounding roads are just as good if not better. Thank you.... Any advice on bar/restaurants?

For me, last year went north out of St. Augustine area and blew up to Greenville, SC. That cleared the cob webs from my head and the dust off the car. You know 95 being from Miami! LOL So out of Greenville me and the car plundered back roads just wandering around until getting on highway 64(this kept me away from I-40). Took it west until ... Franklin then north on 23 till 74 and then west again to Almond where you have to take 28 over to Fontana Dam and eventually Deals Gap. For a place to sleep dropped into Gatlinburg after going to Pigeon Forge. The second night was in Maggie Valley. Hot shower and a bed was all that I needed so it wasn't 5⭐️. On the last run out of Deals took 129 south towards Murphy and did the north Georgia 19 to Atlanta, by then was ready to hammer down and make time. So 75 to I-10 where I grabbed a room in Lake City and made it home mid morning day 4. Great time of year but be aware the leave watching folks are up there, google eyeing every view they can. Have a great trip!

Mako thanks... Id prefer to spend less time than on highways. I'm thinking ill do a loop up and back. Don't want to trace the same roads on way back. Unfortunately getting out of our state will be the most boring but I'm going to leave this evening and stop in Gville to see my brother and rest up for early morning leg to NC. 4 days is the plan.... I've got a newish set of AD08Rs to shred, I hope they last.

Oh ... If starting from Greenville and depending on what time of day you leave Gville ... SC 25 north out of Gville to 276 North. 276 North to Ceasars Head State Park (Go to far end parking lot at top and do the overlook). http://www.southcarolinaparks.com/ca...roduction.aspx 276 through Brevard and North through Pisgah Forest(hit the falls about 1/2 way up) http://brevardnc.com/play/waterfalls...tional-forest/ 276 up to BRP. Cross BRP and go down the other side of 276 (Waynesville) Reverse and climb back to BRP Now go towards the west along BRP Option to dive down North/South at next exit 215/178 (or save that for later?) Follow BRP to the end or dive off any exit and run up/down as schedule permits Exit BRP at Balsam Gap onto NC 74 74 will join 28 going north 28 up to Fontana (starts to get fun when the road goes to 2 lanes, try not to be blocked by slow traffic in front of you). Follow signs to Fontana Resort Miller Time.

One other tip - be conscious of off-camber turns. The 996 is WAY more compliant than older 911's, but lifting off the throttle (or worse, lifting and jabbing the brakes) in an off-camber turn can still cause you to suddenly start traveling backward. Have fun. I'm jealous.

Shadetree Ill be in Gainesville, Fl. tonight sorry I shouldn't of abbreviated. So north on i75 through Atlanta after that I'm game for any adventurous routes up into North Carolina. 5CHN3LL I'd like to think the last 6 years of tracking this beast will come in handy up there. I'll be on public roads and doing my best to come home safely with car in and pride in tact. Appreciate it though..

Heh. Not trying to suggest you're a tool and can't drive. I still have to work pretty hard to not caught out on a 50-mile, 8500-foot-elevation-change stretch of mountain road I've driven - very literally - hundreds of times. The same corners are completely different depending on the direction of travel, and the same corner I know I can power through at full throttle going downhill is the same one I have to break early and take ridiculously slow going uphill... the awesome camber shoving the car into the asphalt going downhill really wants to pitch me off the mountain when I'm driving uphill. I can't use PSM on the uphill runs...the car gets so light, so often, that PSM is constantly freaking out. Are you going to shoot some video?

I will then let the GA boys give you advice on routes from that approach. My post #2 still works once you in the general area.

You need to stay away from weekend runs. Too crowded. The funny part is getting stuck behind a Harley. They can hardly make it through. They are rubbing on almost every turn.

Yessir! GoPro is charged and I'll pickup a phone mount somewhere along the way.

<br/>Just sayin, keep your gas tank filled. No food here, just beer.

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No doubt - I was stuck behind a bunch of bikes last weekend for a good 20 miles. Apparently, bikers don't think they need to GTFO of the way when traffic piles up behind 'em. One of the few things that REALLY **** me off is a great stretch of road ruined by a slow-moving douche who is too proud to get out of the way. *cough* Prius *cough*

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Awesome... I took your advice on Fontana village resort, i'm booked.

Take my advice on the roads as well. You want memorable ... buckle up cowboy!

Will do! leaving the office now... thanks for all the advice amigo. Much appreciated.

btdt. Make it a weekday run, especially this time of year. IIRC, there is a gas station not far from the Killboy shop. Have fun, use the throttle judiciously.

watch the web cam, fri thru sun is full of cycles, weekdays are great. I go to Atlanta first, (Sandy Springs)then go up 985 to 23 to Franklin , eat at Cafe Rel , then 64 west to Wayah Rd 1310, to 74 / Go left to 129 robbinsville or right 28 around to Deals gap. Killer trip after you leave franklin. If you are able, at Franklin go 64 east to brevard then 276 north to BRP. Killer route. If you go around Tail to 360 to tellico plains then cherohala to robbinsville, eat at Tellico Grains.

You'd better have a cam (era) of some sort O_Sr

Um uh this place is insane. Staying at Fontana Lodge which is about 9 miles from the start of the dragon it seems. The roads up here are incredible. I'm blown away... Barely any traffic today and the locals have been so kind with point bys haha. Can't wait to start loops ma�ana. Going to be epic if weather is clear. Not many motos today surprisingly just a few cruisers. Got a nice group of mustangs and ricers here. Everyone pumped for what's ahead. Havnt seen a pcar of any variety since I left Miami. I'm sure that'll change tomorrow.

I saw alot of bmw s and rain on the web cam. Looks like alot more rain tonite and tomorrow

This is a trip that is on my list of things to do. One of the businesses near the Tail rents gopro type cameras that not only records video but also shows telemetry like your mph, lateral Gs, etc. This would be cool to have as a souvenir of the trip.

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Yes we're getting a drizzle now. I made 4 passes this morning when it was only damp no standing water or runoff. The Fontana road and pass were fun also. Hoping I have some dry runs tomorrow but a I know front is crossing. Some guys are pretty aggressive for rain. All front engine cars however.

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Yea saw that. Also have killboy shooting pics in a few areas. The last thing you want to do is be distracted up here. I videod my first pass. I'll GoPro a few passes once I find dry road. I've had a a map of the dragon pinned to a bookcase in my office for about 5 years. It was time... and I'm glad I came.

Im looking at the radar and it looks like youre going to be blasted all weekend. Make the best of it . Watch out for the leaves and mud, they slide really bad.

Having just completed a week's worth of drives in the Ozarks, I can offer a few other tips for enjoying these types of roads: 1. Watch for wildlife, especially deer. The less lateral view you have, the less aggressively you run. 2. Assume the worst around every corner and over every crest. Drive in such a manner that you can stop for or avoid whatever might be in the road. 3. You must engage 100% of your attention on your driving. Don't distract yourself with phones, cameras, etc. whilst driving. Filming your own accident, as it happens, is not a proud moment. 4. Doing this kind of driving is mentally tiring. Once you sense your attention wandering even a little bit from the task at hand, it's time to switch from "driving" mode to "sightseer" mode for the rest of the session/day. Frequent breaks are helpful to stave off fatigue. 5. These are public roads. Public roads are not forgiving of errors. Stay well within your limits, the car's limits, and especially the road's and other drivers' limits. 6. Slow in, fast out. You will enjoy the trip a whole lot more when you return incident-free. I look forward to hearing about your trip, it sounds fun!

Was in Eureka Springs this summer too. 23 is one of my favorites. http://www.discovery.com/tv-shows/no...sas-pig-trail/

Just finished 2 more passes. Phew... Fog, rain, leaves, squirrel corpses all made the day challenging but rewarding. The 4S handled it like a champ. I don't particularly enjoy wet roads but I got into a zone and stayed focused. Car is covered with leaves and road grime, as it should be... Looks perfect to me. Still havnt seen another Porsche. Numerous trains of vettes, suburus, 10 or so chargers. Not 911 in sight. I'm thinking next year we gather a RL group to carve it up? L

Its a good plan, but its hard to get even 2 or 3 people togather to go to such a remote , distant place and hit a time when weather conditions are good and driving conditions are good. I tried before.

Last week on the Dragon, Chicago, Tampa, Toronto, Charlotte, Greenville

Made 4 passes today early, no traffic, all alone for the first 3. Hard to put into words how incredible this road is. I took video of 2 passes. On my way back to Florida. Weather taking a turn for the worse. I just stopped south of Atlanta. I75 in rain has to be most dangerous part of the trip. Truckers blowing people off the road. No thanks... My rears took a beating up there. Not much confidence with them in this weather/traffic combo. Shadetree good to see you put together a group for the dragon tail. I finally ran into some 911s this morning. 6 cars, air cooled 964, slant nose cab, a cpl 996s and 997 aero. Nice group from PCA Georgia. I'll be back next season, maybe trailer the car up. Next stay will be Tapoco lodge, excellent food over there. View of river was nice too.

My usual trip is either thanksgiving or around xmas week. Very little traffic and too cold for cycles. Have to plan according to snow, ice, but its the best scenery and cold conditions make the car run great. Sometimes Tapoco or Tellico Plains, they are best for the route. Then to Asheville. Tail is great but theres a whole lot of other roads that are just as fun and alot more scenic. Every one you find is better than the one before.

we get a group together once or twice a year and rent a local cabin. Been doing it for ten plus years now. Makes for a great long weekend.

1st pass Sunday morning. Had the road to myself. Tail of the Dragon 001 - YouTube

It says the video is private.

He said he had it to himself....

Ha my bad... I'll fix when get minute

works for me whether I'm signed in or not. public video...

Nope..."please sign in to view this video"...

I reset to public, hope it works now?

Tail of the Dragon - YouTube

The dragon is fun but too much traffic, there are other roads right in the same area that are just as good with less traffic and there are roads in WV that flat out blow the dragon away with zero traffic..yr mission, find those roads

What I find is that the tail is alittle too tight, most other roads are more straight so you can get more speed. And alot more scenery.

Totally agree. Prefer 3rd gear roads with some 2nd gear corners here and there. Tail is the opposite with our gearing. Spent most my time on perimeter roads that were fantastic and didn't trigger motion sickness the way the tail did. This trip was about driving the dragons tail for first time. Next trip will definitely explore more areas. Having a few more cars and friends along would only make it better. I smoked my rear tires completely by the time I hit Miami. Learned a valuable lesson about tire management on a long drive. The car was hydro planing severely. If I were to spend a week I would've needed an additional set of rears to make it home safely and without drama. I have Yokohama ADO8R which performed well on the smooth wet mountain roads. But i75 was hell with depleted tread. Transitions from asphalt to concrete were nerve wracking. I had to get off the highway in those areas and find alternate roads. Lesson learned. If anyone is interested in making the trek to this area please post dates. I've had few members reach out to me for when I visit again. I know it may not be easy to schedule but worth a shot. Was an epic trip.

Third picture showing extreme camber changes between corners.

Nice pictures and video Hardback, thanks for sharing.