Tail of the dragon

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Headed to the tail of the dragon for the rest of the week and weekend, will anybody else be there?

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Awesome!! Enjoy!! I hope it's not too crowded to where you can become "Racer X" for a little while. I live in CA and that is one of the places I would like to visit.

Have Fun!!
 
We go every year, my mother in law lives out there

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Here is a turn from the dragon

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Wow way cool. In So Cal we have Ortega Highway...real curvy roads going up or down the mountains. Way cool but now too crowded. I am jealous!!! Nice pic
 
I've been going every year since 2003 and will continue to do so till the day I die! I've organized the run and its grown from 3 people to 25 people recently. Its on the bucket list for anyone who enjoys driving a car or bike, period! Not only the Dragon, but the other roads that all connect to the Dragon directly like Moonshiners aka route 28 and The Cherahola Skyway route 165 in N.C. and 143 in Tenn. Running it at night time could seem a little crazy but here's the thing, you can see anything coming at you, so you can "live a little" or be Racer X as mentioned earlier! That said, common sense is the order of the day out there as the Dragon can bite your ass at any given time!!!

I go the 2nd weekend in Oct and even started a thread for it here, no bites and that's a first for me in the years I've brought up the run to a forum but that's ok, maybe next year, although the place we stay, The Dragon Pitt Inn, has openings the weekend we're going to be there, just sayin'.

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Tail of the Dragon. Never heard of it. Drove the much vaunted Pacific Coast Highway about a month ago. It was cool damp and overcast. Nevertheless there was rental Mustang convertible after rental Mustang convertible speeding down the highway with frozen-smile passengers with determined-to-have-fun smiles plastered on their faces.

I have since found out that the clear weather in the area is May and September. The fog is beautiful---in a closed vehicle.
 
peterhurcos said:
Tail of the Dragon. Never heard of it. Drove the much vaunted Pacific Coast Highway about a month ago. It was cool damp and overcast. Nevertheless there was rental Mustang convertible after rental Mustang convertible speeding down the highway with frozen-smile passengers with determined-to-have-fun smiles plastered on their faces.

I have since found out that the clear weather in the area is May and September. The fog is beautiful---in a closed vehicle.
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www.tailofthedragon.com

318 turns in 11 miles, all smooth and banked, no side roads and few turnoffs, that's it and NO homes or anything, just forest.

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I just did it a few weeks back during the Hot Rod Power Tour. We took a 67 Chevelle that is set up for drag racing. It was not ideal, but fun either way. I'd love to take my Mustang on it someday.
 
every year with zdayz! gtr totalled this year

10363533_10150426447069969_1110580183617133389_n_zps01f9838f.jpg
 
HD.Detailing said:
every year with zdayz! gtr totalled this year

10363533_10150426447069969_1110580183617133389_n_zps01f9838f.jpg
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That sucks and I hope the driver/passenger were ok! I guess this is as good as any time to remind ANYONE looking to go down there and "have fun" that the Dragon CAN and DOES bite back and hard! No matter how much electronic wizardry you've got, how much grip, sticky tires, etc.....one thing remains true out there:

RESPECT PHYSICS!

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Drove Pacific Coast Highway many, many years ago. Just North of SF all the way to SD. Nothing quite like it. Even stopped to stay at the Lodge, play Pebble Beach 2 times and have some California Cabernet.

Tail of the Dragon I will drive it in my 911 before I die. Read about this road in C&D, R&T, MT. Just spectacular.
 
jmsc said:
Drove Pacific Coast Highway many, many years ago. Just North of SF all the way to SD. Nothing quite like it. Even stopped to stay at the Lodge, play Pebble Beach 2 times and have some California Cabernet.

Tail of the Dragon I will drive it in my 911 before I die. Read about this road in C&D, R&T, MT. Just spectacular.
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No matter what year 911 you have The Dragon is calling your name w/o a doubt! Pics and video do the road NO justice, trust me!! If your lucky enough to go out there Mon-Thur chances are you'll encounter NO traffic and if you are, well, its simply the most fun you'll have on 4 wheels, period!!! Are you pretty comfortable with your car and the road after doing a pass or two, no problem, push a little more for an additional burst of fun and keep this bit of advice on your mind, "easy in, hard out!". Doing the Dragon at night is where it all comes together, especially if you've got a lead car that's a little faster/more experienced because you can cheat and use his headlights and tailights to tell you where the road is turning and when to brake, makes it that much better.

Driving the Cherahola Skyway is a completely different experience altogether. Long, sweeping turns, decreasing radius turns and major elevation changes make this road a new challenge after the Dragon. You can really, really get up to speed but becareful as some of the turns come up fast and sometimes you start thinking the turn has straightened out but then keeps bending, if not careful you can really mess up out there, so tires and brakes are of the most importance but that goes w/o saying!!!

Moonshiners aka route 28 is right next to Deal's Gap and goes all the way through S.C. and GA and is a combo of the Dragon and Skyway at times. Its also the road you take to get to the Fontana Dam, the largest dam E of the Mississippi river, a must see for anyone going to the area. Further down Moonshiner is a waterfall you can actually drive under, its pretty cool! One thing about Moonshiners, follow the signs for 28 south because you do come up to a divided highway at one point and you'll make a left when going S and just follow it down a bit and there will be a sign telling you to turn right to get back onto Moonshiners.

The Devil's Triangle...I suggest getting some experience on the other roads before going out here! This road has some side roads, soft, deep shoulders, loose gravel and 3 uphill hhairpins that require 1st gear to get up, seriously!!! This is if you run it counter clockwise which is how we were told how to run it and I'm glad we listened! The turns are a mind scrambler, like nothing any of the other 3 roads have to offer for sure. There are pairs and 3's of switchbacks in a row and those keep you on your toes! I have only driven this road last year and it was during the day and although a vet out there not sure if I'd want to drive it at night unless I had a full set of WRC rallye light set up. Oh yeah, there are NO city lights out there, any of the roads, so when its dark its truely PITCH BLACK!!!

Do I get into this...yeah, you could say that!

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Klasse Act said:
That sucks and I hope the driver/passenger were ok! I guess this is as good as any time to remind ANYONE looking to go down there and "have fun" that the Dragon CAN and DOES bite back and hard! No matter how much electronic wizardry you've got, how much grip, sticky tires, etc.....one thing remains true out there:

RESPECT PHYSICS!

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Click to expand...

the week our event was there was especially dangerous because it actually snowed in the upper elevations and 30 degrees cooler few miles down the road.

In this particular case the road was dry and one of the 318 blind curves there was a wet spot where it hadn't dried yet.. and... was 3 other crashes not as sevier but unusual with our Z/G/GTR event.

The driver and passenger survived, one was life helicoptered for emergency surgery but both are expected to recover. flipped and went off the mountain... kudos for Nissans design to actually survive this.
 
I'm glad both the driver and passenger made a full recovery! In my years of going down there, since 2003, the road has only been closed twice for airlift but I've never actually seen an accident, thankfully!

I've heard more people have died on the Skyway than the Dragon. That said, I've read about the people that have passed away on the Dragon and a constant remains....heart attacks!

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Klasse Act said:
I'm glad both the driver and passenger made a full recovery! In my years of going down there, since 2003, the road has only been closed twice for airlift but I've never actually seen an accident, thankfully!

I've heard more people have died on the Skyway than the Dragon. That said, I've read about the people that have passed away on the Dragon and a constant remains....heart attacks!

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I can understand that, every year we hit it at midnight on our way into robbinsville, always wakes me up after the long drive and I feel my chest tighten up
 
4th of July weekend was crash free as far as i know, I have seen a few major accidents in the few years i have been going. My mother in law lives in Robbinsville, so we go visit often. Wasn't as busy as usual but still a ton of fun. The bikes were the biggest group out there this time around, last time we were there the Porsche club of America was in town and they were running up and down for the week. I have seen a few vettes, but not in large numbers like Porsche, Ferrari's or the Lambo's.

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