The Deals Gap Motorcycle Resort at the US-129/NC-28 junction on the state line — gas, store, the Tree of Shame, and the south end of the Dragon. The addressable start.
Welcome to Deals Gap — and to the Tail of the Dragon, the most famous eleven miles of road in the eastern United States. I'm Ranger Quinn, and I'll be riding shotgun the whole way to keep you safe and pointed right. Also along for the ride is Ranger Boone Merrick, who's got a satchel of tales about this gap — and it has earned every one of them.
You're at the Deals Gap Motorcycle Resort, right on the Tennessee–North Carolina line: gas, a store, a bite, and out front that grim, wonderful tree hung with wrecked motorcycle parts. Boone will tell you about that shortly.
Now, the rules of the Dragon, because they matter more here than anywhere. Ahead of you lie the famous three hundred and eighteen curves in eleven miles — no straights, no driveways, no cross streets, just relentless corners. The speed limit is thirty miles an hour the entire way, and it is heavily enforced, Tennessee and North Carolina both, radar and unmarked cars. And the one commandment everybody preaches: never, ever cross the double-yellow line. Crossing the centerline in a blind curve, into someone coming the other way, is how this road hurts people. Stay in your lane, use the pull-offs to let faster folks by, and drive your own ride.
So take a breath. When you're ready, pull out and point north — Tennessee-bound — and let the Dragon uncoil in front of you. Boone, will jump in, when you start down the dragon.
Photo: William Klos from Mason, US · CC BY 2.0
