Deal's Gap, US Route 129, "The Dragon"

[Cam]

Lori and I took a little drive up to Great Smoky Mountains NP for some camping. We camped one night, but didn't do any sightseeing in the park because Levi is not allowed on trails. Plus, I'm an idiot and forgot the cameras. We drove around the perimeter the next day, just to enjoy the beautiful scenery. We planned on camping that night in a different campground south of the park. I knew of Deal's Gap and "The Dragon" thanks to Kellen's trip there and subsequent trip report he wrote a few years back. I didn't really know where it was, nor was I intending to drive on it this trip.

Lori suggested a route around the park and I agreed, as our atlas indicated the route was "scenic." Later, Lori was driving and I was checking out our route on the map. I saw "Deal's Gap" on the map and thought it sounded familiar. I quickly remembered what it was and told Lori about it. She asked me if I wanted to drive. She's so nice to me. I declined, however, as I'm confident in her driving, plus I would probably make her car sick.

Yep, it's pretty twisty. I find it interesting that there are several photographers along the route that seem to make a living from US129. I found us on a couple different photo sites. The photos are kind of lame, actually. Simple snaps that anyone could take with their phone, IMO. I think some of us could get in on that market.

That said, I didn't see the big deal in that route specifically. There are other roads nearby that are just as good and longer. We turned east on Route 28, which runs just south of the National Park, and it was pretty awesome too. We followed it until the 64, then followed it until the 178. All crazy twisty stuff for 130 miles! Cool week-end get-away for motorcycle and car enthusiasts within a day's drive.

[Sad, little man]

Yeah, I have very little interest in visiting that road. Heavily congested with all manor of cars and motorcycles... 35mph speed limit for the entire road... Heavily patrolled by police... Why is that supposed to be fun to drive again?

There are thousands of roads between me and the tail of the dragon that are twisty, have a limit higher than 35mph, and aren't choked with traffic.

[Rare White Ape]

Reminds me of the Old Pacific Highway north of Sydney. It's about 100km of really good twisties immediately out of the metro area. Used to be the main thoroughfare out of town (and a good source of fatalities) until the unrelentingly concrete 3-lane expressway ploughed a vast swathe through the countryside.

Now the OPH is a nice leafy scenic drive with a 60kmh speed limit that winds it's way under and around the new highway.

It's close proximity to Sydney means that newb riders are attracted to it like moths to a flame, and being new riders, a large number of them are prone to mishaps of some form or another, and it follows that a lot of them crash. There is a section of road not far from there called Lemming Corner. Have a guess why. It's even signposted.

Crashes attract police attention, but police attention cannot stop crashes, so accident stats stay high and police attention turns into government attention, because Something Must Be Done. It used to be an 80-zone. Now all that means is that people get booked for 40 over instead of 20.

But the newbies still go there and they still crash their shitheap learner bikes. Which is cool. If they all crash in the same sort of area it leaves the roads further afield for riders who aren't afraid to go more than two hours from home, where the traffic is light and they can ride like mad cunts to their heart's content without fear of police or being speared off their bike by a learner who panicked mid-corner and lost the front.

It also reminds me of Mulholland Drive in LA. We've all seen the motorcycle crash compilation video from that one, haven't we?

[IMOA]

Old pac is only about 30km fwiw. What you've described is exactly why yesterday when I went for a drive I got fuel at the south end of old pac then drove up the freeway, before hopping off on the north end and going for a great drive on fantastic roads that aren't full of police and numpties. The equivalent in melbourne is black spur and brisbane I guess it's nebo? All great roads but fundamentally ruined by too much love from car and bike enthusiasts.

[Rare White Ape]

Mt Nebo and Mt Glorious are on the same loop, so yeah. I avoid them.

These days I have taken more to doing trips a couple of hours away or multi-day rides to get the good stuff. I can get from Qld to Sydney using the Pacific or New England highways for only about an hour in total if I really want to.

[Cam]

It didn't seem "choked" with traffic to me, but we were there at 2:30 on a Friday. I'm sure it would be busier on Saturday or Sunday. Also, I never saw a cop. We only saw cops in the towns we passed through.

Speaking of towns, we passed through Gatlinburg and Pigeon Forge, Tennessee. Dollywood is in Pigeon Forge. Redneck tourist central! Surreal.

[speedpimp]

Did you pay Dollywood a visit? Give it a try and you might enjoy yourself.

[Cam]

I prefer less camp and more camping. I'll pass, thanks.

[Mirage]

Lori and I took a little drive up to Great Smoky Mountains NP for some camping. We camped one night, but didn't do any sightseeing in the park because Levi is not allowed on trails. Plus, I'm an idiot and forgot the cameras. We drove around the perimeter the next day, just to enjoy the beautiful scenery. We planned on camping that night in a different campground south of the park. I knew of Deal's Gap and "The Dragon" thanks to Kellen's trip there and subsequent trip report he wrote a few years back. I didn't really know where it was, nor was I intending to drive on it this trip.

Lori suggested a route around the park and I agreed, as our atlas indicated the route was "scenic." Later, Lori was driving and I was checking out our route on the map. I saw "Deal's Gap" on the map and thought it sounded familiar. I quickly remembered what it was and told Lori about it. She asked me if I wanted to drive. She's so nice to me. I declined, however, as I'm confident in her driving, plus I would probably make her car sick.

Yep, it's pretty twisty. I find it interesting that there are several photographers along the route that seem to make a living from US129. I found us on a couple different photo sites. The photos are kind of lame, actually. Simple snaps that anyone could take with their phone, IMO. I think some of us could get in on that market.

That said, I didn't see the big deal in that route specifically. There are other roads nearby that are just as good and longer. We turned east on Route 28, which runs just south of the National Park, and it was pretty awesome too. We followed it until the 64, then followed it until the 178. All crazy twisty stuff for 130 miles! Cool week-end get-away for motorcycle and car enthusiasts within a day's drive.

Pretty much every highway that crosses the SC-NC-GA state lines in the mountains is twisty and epic in there own little ways. I drove the dragon back in '02 and while I had a good time I wasn't blown away, I can string a bunch of roads together with less traffic and have just as many turns and sightseeing opportunities and be closer to home. If you drove down US 178 far enough (which is one of my favorite roads) you probably passed right by our house, I can be in the twisty bits in less than 30 minutes. My stomping grounds include US 176, US276, US178 to NC215, SC 130/NC281, SC/NC107, US28 and use SC11, US64 and the Blue Ridge Parkway to link them all together. While these are also epic driving roads, they are also gateways to amazing state parks, national forests, state forests and state heritage preserves, I love waterfall hunting and can point you to a ton of them you can see off of these highways (easy walks and hard hikes)

[George]

It didn't seem "choked" with traffic to me, but we were there at 2:30 on a Friday. I'm sure it would be busier on Saturday or Sunday. Also, I never saw a cop. We only saw cops in the towns we passed through.

Speaking of towns, we passed through Gatlinburg and Pigeon Forge, Tennessee. Dollywood is in Pigeon Forge. Redneck tourist central! Surreal.

I spent a few days on business in Pigeon Forge several years ago, next to the sprawling metropolis of Gatlinburg.

Something I saw there that I've never forgotten: a black bear with his head inside a large trash can at a roadside picnic area and a family of four with two young children sitting a few tables away. I could only imagine they were already there when the bear wandered by and wondered if they should make a run for their car or just sit very still and quiet.