Blue Ridge Parkway
Road Warrior
Joined: Jan 2007
Posts: 1,296
Likes: 2
From: canada
I'll be in Fontana this weekend. Leaving the Great White North Friday night, will roll in Saturday am, unload the bikes, and get rolling. Staying for a few days, so I'll be hitting all the usual roads (been there lots of times). Look for the tattoo'd gorilla freak on the blue Ultra with Ontario plates. I guess that doesn't say much - my hands are tattoo'd down to the fingertips; that might give it away.
See y'all down there.
Cannon
See y'all down there.
Cannon
Tourer
Joined: Aug 2008
Posts: 483
Likes: 5
From: Way U.P. North
<<SNIP>>
http://maps.google.com/maps?f=d&sour...92639&t=p&z=11
Let me know if that is more or less accurate to your description or if you'd add anything...
http://maps.google.com/maps?f=d&sour...92639&t=p&z=11
Let me know if that is more or less accurate to your description or if you'd add anything...
http://http://maps.google.com/maps?f...92639&t=p&z=11
When you cross the bridge going east from Fontana Village be sure and take the side road in to the base of Fontana Dam. BTW there's no particular reason to stop at Fontana Village unless your staying there.
search DealsGap.com and tailofthedragon.com
Road Captain
Joined: Feb 2008
Posts: 554
Likes: 4
From: Oxford, Mississippi
Soos, I'm sure you will enjoy your trip if you allow about 3 days for the BRP. Lexington, VA was a very nice overnight stop for us in '07. We will be at the Smoky Falls Lodge in MV on the July 4th weekend. Be sure to try Smoky Falls' BBQ ribs and homemade deserts during the week you'll be in MV. Good luck.
Road Captain
Joined: Jul 2007
Posts: 658
Likes: 1
From: Chesapeake, VA
Since you're gonna be in the area a while........Go north of Asheville on the BRP about 30 miles. Find SR-80 & take it down off the mountain. It'll take you east of Black Mountain. You can ride it back up to the BRP, or take 70 back towards Asheville. Either way, tell us how many times you pass your own tail light on SR-80.........8^)
Unless it has changed since October last year, this is real close to one of the closed sections of the Parkway.Check yer email, I FINALLY sent you that file for the Zumo...
Seasoned HDF Member
Joined: Mar 2009
Posts: 24,732
Likes: 9,241
From: Snow Hill, NC
Take the back roads...ask the locals.... Deals gap and the parkway are nice but take the advice you see here about other roads like 109 from Maggie valley to Hot springs, SR80 from the parkway to Marion..321, 421 and 221... around Boone....foothills parkway, Chrohala Pkwy, Telico plains TN....Deals gap and the parkway are nice once but i found a lot of nicer roads to ride...Buy a NC atlas look at the smallest back roads you can find....Shady valley TN is nice too....Don't let the advertisments lead you to the tourist traps and get off the beaten path....Pisgah Inn at the top of Pisgah Mountains has a restaurant tha tserves excellent food...Hwy 276 i think is close and goes either way to Brevard or Waynesville....Bogarts in Waynesville serve very good food too....Hey that's just me talking... take other peolpe's advice too...I went several times with old timers that have been riding the hill on bikes for over 20 years....One of the guys i ride with has a 04 Goldwing with over 150000 miles on it and a 1/3 of it is in the hills. He is 64 and can outride just about anybody on any bike i have seen including crotch rockets...Amazes me. Have a blast... We are going for an overnight trip as soon as i can rebuild the funds.....Wife spent 2 weeks oceanfront 3 weeks ago....BROKE...
1st Gear
Joined: May 2009
Posts: 5
Likes: 0
From: SW Va
Wife and I jumped on BRP at Afton MT just off I-64 returning to SWVA last June on the way home from Virginia HOG Ralley in NOVA on a June friday evening. Takes consideralble more time, so plan for that, and WATCH OUT for deer. We saw bwtn 75 and 100 from Afton MT to Roanoke.
Advanced
Joined: Mar 2009
Posts: 78
Likes: 0
From: Mobtown
Definitely some good advice here. My experience is that Skyline Drive is worse than the Blue Ridge Pkwy for mounties. Also, think about taking a spin around Gettysburg. It's very biker friendly as has some great riding (look into Michaux State Forest, Rt 233, etc.). Also, do yourself a favor and buy yourself a Delorme map/atlas of any state you plan on exploring, especially, NC and TN. Those maps have ALL the back roads including forest service roads and even trails. I live by those maps and they've proven invaluable. Way more important than GPS, in my opinion.
Happy riding!
Happy riding!
Road Master
Joined: Apr 2008
Posts: 836
Likes: 4
From: NC / SC between the Mtns and the Ocean
Sorry for the delay getting back. Your route looks good, just add this.
http://http://maps.google.com/maps?f=d&source=s_d&saddr=777+Casino+Drive,+Cherok ee,+NC+28719+(Harrah%27s+Cherokee)&daddr=TN-73+to:35.435498,-83.81916+to:777+Casino+Drive,+Cherokee,+NC+28719+( Harrah%27s+Cherokee)&geocode=FY0vHQId9tUI-yFO9zZ5AFlTbg%3BFfBCIAIdXk4D-w%3B%3B&hl=en&gl=us&mra=dme&mrcr=0,1&mrsp=2&sz=12& via=1&dirflg=h&sll=35.424588,-83.72612&sspn=0.20367,0.44632&ie=UTF8&ll=35.556809 ,-83.62381&spn=0.40667,0.892639&t=p&z=11
When you cross the bridge going east from Fontana Village be sure and take the side road in to the base of Fontana Dam. BTW there's no particular reason to stop at Fontana Village unless your staying there.
search DealsGap.com and tailofthedragon.com
http://http://maps.google.com/maps?f=d&source=s_d&saddr=777+Casino+Drive,+Cherok ee,+NC+28719+(Harrah%27s+Cherokee)&daddr=TN-73+to:35.435498,-83.81916+to:777+Casino+Drive,+Cherokee,+NC+28719+( Harrah%27s+Cherokee)&geocode=FY0vHQId9tUI-yFO9zZ5AFlTbg%3BFfBCIAIdXk4D-w%3B%3B&hl=en&gl=us&mra=dme&mrcr=0,1&mrsp=2&sz=12& via=1&dirflg=h&sll=35.424588,-83.72612&sspn=0.20367,0.44632&ie=UTF8&ll=35.556809 ,-83.62381&spn=0.40667,0.892639&t=p&z=11
When you cross the bridge going east from Fontana Village be sure and take the side road in to the base of Fontana Dam. BTW there's no particular reason to stop at Fontana Village unless your staying there.
search DealsGap.com and tailofthedragon.com
That's cool. Well, I wasn't really stopping at Fontana Village in that hypothetical route, like I was saying in my post, in order to get the map tool to make a complete circle, you had to drag and drop the route somewhere to get the roads you wanted, and pick a mid point somewhere to be able to get on the right road, and still be able to loop back to the starting point, so FV just happened to be a place I could drop point B and get the route back to Cherokee...
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Thread Starter
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Grand HDF Member
Joined: Sep 2005
Posts: 4,890
Likes: 73
From: MA
Hey guys,for those of you who may be tracking this thread and the great info that has been posted here, I am adding some more info that I got from HDF member sugarbear1 that he PM'd me.
Hi soos, I live 5 minutes from the BRP. Here is the latest conditions of the road:
Parkway Opens One-Lane Traffic through Craggy Gardens Area on May 15th
05/13/2009
Blue Ridge Parkway officials have announced the Craggy Gardens Area will be open to alternating one-lane traffic beginning this Friday, May 15, 2009. The Parkway detour between US 70 at Milepost 382.5 and NC Route 226 at Milepost 330.9/Gillespie Gap will be discontinued. Retaining wall reconstruction will continue until the estimated completion in mid-June when this section of Parkway will be fully opened for two-lane visitor traffic. The Craggy Gardens Visitor Center is also scheduled to open this Friday for the remainder of the 2009 visitor season. All visitors, in particular motorcyclists and bicyclists, should travel through the area with extreme caution because of loose gravel and rough pavement conditions existing along the entire route. Mitchell County Chamber officials say they hope this is the beginning of a wonderful season for our community.
Enjoy your trip! As some have said, take a few side roads off the Parkway.
Cheers!! sugarbear1
1996 BadBoy
2007 Street Bob
2008 Heritage Classic
Hi soos, I live 5 minutes from the BRP. Here is the latest conditions of the road:
Parkway Opens One-Lane Traffic through Craggy Gardens Area on May 15th
05/13/2009
Blue Ridge Parkway officials have announced the Craggy Gardens Area will be open to alternating one-lane traffic beginning this Friday, May 15, 2009. The Parkway detour between US 70 at Milepost 382.5 and NC Route 226 at Milepost 330.9/Gillespie Gap will be discontinued. Retaining wall reconstruction will continue until the estimated completion in mid-June when this section of Parkway will be fully opened for two-lane visitor traffic. The Craggy Gardens Visitor Center is also scheduled to open this Friday for the remainder of the 2009 visitor season. All visitors, in particular motorcyclists and bicyclists, should travel through the area with extreme caution because of loose gravel and rough pavement conditions existing along the entire route. Mitchell County Chamber officials say they hope this is the beginning of a wonderful season for our community.
Enjoy your trip! As some have said, take a few side roads off the Parkway.
Cheers!! sugarbear1
1996 BadBoy
2007 Street Bob
2008 Heritage Classic
Tourer
Joined: Aug 2008
Posts: 483
Likes: 5
From: Way U.P. North
That's cool. Well, I wasn't really stopping at Fontana Village in that hypothetical route, like I was saying in my post, in order to get the map tool to make a complete circle, you had to drag and drop the route somewhere to get the roads you wanted, and pick a mid point somewhere to be able to get on the right road, and still be able to loop back to the starting point, so FV just happened to be a place I could drop point B and get the route back to Cherokee...
I screwed up that link, try again... Cherohala
Last edited by Razorback; May 21, 2009 at 04:04 AM. Reason: pure stupidity