The Tail of the Dragon
 

so whats up guys
how many of you have taken your miata out to the tail of the dragon
im thinking about going up there once it gets a little warmer

I used to live 45 minutes from there, many summers were spent up there every other weekend. It's a blast, just be careful. Don't push your limits on the first run, keep your pace and nobody else's. And for everyone's sake, STAY IN YOUR LANE. This is the biggest reason people get hurt up there.

It's a public road.
Stay in your lane.
The Tellico PD won't cut you any slack.
The crappy "resort" has become super unfriendly towards cars.
You will see a lot of dumb stuff; try to not contribute.

You should look up all of the TVA dams in the area and make a tour around that. Also, the Cherohala Skyway is way less of a cluster fuck.

I went with a friend back in November, It was barren. We saw maybe 4 bikes, and maybe 6 cars. no line cutting, but also no PD either. But it was nice to be able to run the whole thing at our own pace.

yeah ive been watching some videos of it and it looks crazy
especially when there are other cars on the road
i only live a few hours away from there so i probably will only spend one day there
are the cops usually bad out there?

Don't run on Sunday. The road was wide open in April however walked away with a ticket for 63 in a 30. Cop clocked me in the middle of a turn so I never saw him.

ouch thanks for the tip
is there a certain time of year you would recommend
im thinking about dragging my friends out with me, they drive a genesis coupe r spec and a 2012 mustang, should be fun to see which car feels the best in corners

You don't have to take them up there to know the answer. The Miata for sure.
It's a blast but watch out for cops and dumbasses.

It is a great place to go with a few friends. I once met some friends who were road tripping across country; luckily I am in Atlanta and it is not too far.

I feel like it's over-rated. There's plenty of great roads in that area and the I've heard the dragon is loaded with cops due to its popularity.

I plan on going down to that area in the next year or 2 but like jamesr242 said.. there are plenty of other roads in the area.

To me its similar to mulholland highway in CA. I drove roads near mulholland and they were empty and perfect canyon roads.... This winter I took my rental on mulholland and found it to be a more crowded-overhyped exact copy of neighboring roads. You find more cars and cops on that road than the surrounding.

well im gonna be taking a trip to the mountains anyway around spring/summer so maybe ill take a very long scenic route, explore random roads and see what happens

Come down the last weekend of July for MATG. I like to pre-run going NC--->TN myself and look for any police presence. If none are seen then swing around and go balls out for the return trip because you know you won't be surprised. Look out for an older white Explorer in the turnouts, it's a police vehicle. Pay close attention to the sport bikes giving you signals and STAY IN YOUR OWN LANE. Don't bother going to the resort just hit Killboy's store/shack across the street instead.

Used to live near there and visit often with my r53 mini. Pretty darn good road but crowded and full of cops at certain times. Definitely pre-run looking for 5-0 before you decide to turn up the heat. I'd recommend against running this thing at 10/10ths as other drivers/riders can be idiots. Keep a little on reserve and have fun.