Tail Of The Dragon, Wheels Through Time Trip Planning
Cruiser
Joined: May 2019
Posts: 204
Likes: 173
From: tennessee
Two great rides while youre in the area.
209 from Lake Junaluska to Hot Springs. It has a name but I can never remember it.
And the Foothills Parkway from Wears Valley to 129 just below the Dragon. Only 33 miles, but incredible views. Run it from Wears Valley for the best scenery.
209 from Lake Junaluska to Hot Springs. It has a name but I can never remember it.
And the Foothills Parkway from Wears Valley to 129 just below the Dragon. Only 33 miles, but incredible views. Run it from Wears Valley for the best scenery.
Seasoned HDF Member
Joined: Jan 2011
Posts: 157,417
Likes: 56,984
From: Michigan 15 Minutes East Of Hell
Ill add another thought. I recently had a bike stollen. So Im a little cautious now.. ok so Im weird cautious now. No way in heck Im leaving my bike out in front of a hotel/motel. Several houses I looked at had car ports on private property or even a garage. Ill also share its really tough to hide AirTags and gps trackers on Harleys unless youve got a fairing or saddlebags. First both need to sorta point to the sky, second they cant work with metal over them.
So while I did it it aint ideal, at minimum get yourself a couple of good wheel locks that have built in alarms and push notifications through Bluetooth to your phone. Dont care who Im with or what event I cant ever go to again I will NEVER leave my bike unless I can physically see it while parked and I will stay within 50 feet so the Bluetooth notification works.
rode for 30 years never had a bike stollen and it was stolen in broad daylight in a low crime area at a family type brewery with 30-50 people sitting right infront of where it was stollen and nobody saw a thing. Do what you want but Ive got a tone of time and money wrapped up in my bikes and I intend to never have one stollen again.
So while I did it it aint ideal, at minimum get yourself a couple of good wheel locks that have built in alarms and push notifications through Bluetooth to your phone. Dont care who Im with or what event I cant ever go to again I will NEVER leave my bike unless I can physically see it while parked and I will stay within 50 feet so the Bluetooth notification works.
rode for 30 years never had a bike stollen and it was stolen in broad daylight in a low crime area at a family type brewery with 30-50 people sitting right infront of where it was stollen and nobody saw a thing. Do what you want but Ive got a tone of time and money wrapped up in my bikes and I intend to never have one stollen again.
Stellar HDF Member
Joined: Mar 2007
Posts: 3,175
Likes: 683
From: Forest Hill, Md
We always do The Rattler south from Hot Springs. Usually make Hot Springs a lunch stop on our way to the Maggie Valley area. This past May we just stayed for 5 days in a cabin in Hot Springs. Nice little town with great destinations in every direction.
Road Warrior
Joined: Apr 2016
Posts: 1,528
Likes: 933
From: Long Island
Also stayed in Robbinsville at the Iron Horse. You can spend a week down there with plenty of beautiful roads. Blue Ridge parkway is a must on down. Harpers Ferry is a nice lunch stop and as mentioned Floyd Hotel in Va.
Tourer
Joined: Mar 2015
Posts: 366
Likes: 59
From: Houston, TX
Just got back from the Tail of the Dragon and Maggie Valley Labor Day weekend. Stayed one night at Deals Gap Resort at the base of the Dragon and rented a house in Maggie Valley for the rest of the trip. I saw many motels in Maggie Valley that I would not have any concerns with staying at. There is excellent riding all over the area.
I used this site to plan my rides. http://www.maggievalleyrides.com
It was my first time in the area and was a huge help in my planning. Best of luck on your trip!
I used this site to plan my rides. http://www.maggievalleyrides.com
It was my first time in the area and was a huge help in my planning. Best of luck on your trip!
Thread Starter
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Stellar HDF Member
Joined: Feb 2012
Posts: 3,293
Likes: 3,518
From: PA
Just wanted to update the thread...We are leaning towards an AirBNB cabin rental somewhere in Maggie Valley. I have been finding some really nice places and the prices are great. I didn't realize that Maggie Valley is 1.5 hours from the dragon but I am sure the ride is great.
So from those of you that have been in the area, besides all the rides and the Museum,, what are some other must see, do or eat places down there?
This will be the first trip to that area for myself and all my friends that are going.
We are looking at the second week of Sept since this is the week we all usually go to OCMD bike week anyway and we are done with that Bike week for a while....
So from those of you that have been in the area, besides all the rides and the Museum,, what are some other must see, do or eat places down there?
This will be the first trip to that area for myself and all my friends that are going.
We are looking at the second week of Sept since this is the week we all usually go to OCMD bike week anyway and we are done with that Bike week for a while....
Last edited by Scudda; Oct 12, 2023 at 02:26 PM.
Supporter
Joined: Jan 2022
Posts: 565
Likes: 471
From: Sapulpa, OKlahoma
Since we were in our travel trailer we didn't eat out a lot but here are a few of the places we went:
If you like Harley-Davidson apparel shops:
If you like waterfalls:
If you like hiking most of the popular hiking trails inside the park get very crowded so we avoided them. However, there are several trailheads on Little River Gorge Road between Townsend, TN and Gatlinburg, TN that don't weren't as crowded.
- In Pigeon Forge, if you like dinner shows our favorites were the Dolly Parton Stampede and Hatfield and McCoys Dinner Show.
- At Deal's Gap Motorcycle Resort they have a restaurant that serves a pretty good breakfast and lunch.
- In Cherokee, NC we had the dinner buffet at Granny's Kitchen and Indian Tacos at Paul's Family Restaurant.
- In Walhala, SC, at the end of Moonshiner 28, we stopped at Mountain Mocha ice cream shop.
If you like Harley-Davidson apparel shops:
- Cherohala Harley-Davidson in Telico Plains, TN at the west end of the Cherohala Skyway
- Cherokee Harley-Davidson in Cherokee, NC at the west end of the Blue Ridge Parkway and south end of Newfound Gap Road
- US-129 Dragon Harley-Davidson in Tallassee, TN just few minutes west of Foothills Parkway on US-129
- Rocky Top Harley-Davidson in Pigeon Forge, TN.
If you like waterfalls:
- Bridal Veil Falls on Moonshiner 28 near Highlands, NC. Interesting small waterfall on the side of the road that you can walk behind. (You used to be able to drive/ride behind it)
- Dry Falls on Moonshiner 28 near Highlands, NC. Beautiful waterfall that you can walk behind, It's a short hike and lots of steps from the paid parking area. There's also an accessible viewing area near the parking lot.
- There's another waterfall just outside of Tellico Plains, TN off of the Cherohala Skyway. It was a very nice short drive off of the Skyway. I don't recall the name right now but I'll edit my post to add it later.
If you like hiking most of the popular hiking trails inside the park get very crowded so we avoided them. However, there are several trailheads on Little River Gorge Road between Townsend, TN and Gatlinburg, TN that don't weren't as crowded.
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Tourer
Joined: Jan 2014
Posts: 282
Likes: 62
From: Wilson, NC
We had a group of 5 of us that just went up there about 3 weeks ago. We rode 1200 miles in 4 days and stopped by wheels through time also. We like the curves so we hit the devils whip, the rattler, diamondback, and tail of the dragon. Stayed in cherokee right across from casino so we walked over every night for dinner and/or a card game or 2. Weather this time of year was perfect. 50's in morning and 70's for highs. Usually we go last weekend in Oct after the leaves change but by then more traffic is out looking and mornings can see frost. Theres plenty for food and places to stay in Maggie valley. The cherhola skyway was back open but we didn't ride down that way from tail of the dragon. Instead we went north up 129 into Marysville and stopped at smokey mountain harley, that place in huge. I'm sure you've seen some loops you might want to ride suggested here or elsewhere. I have the calimoto app on our phones and you can map out those routes in it and tell it what kind of roads you want to ride such as twisty, curvy or fastest route. At night we'd sit down and map out next days ride. App worked great and took us on some very back roads normal gps would not.
