Tail of the Dragon Lodging

[Redbone]

Tom (The Beekeeper) and I are hitting up the Tail of the Dragon this year in the days preceding this June's Thunder in the Valley and as the title suggests we are looking for recommended places to stay on north end of the Dragon. We don't need anything real fancy just something where we can park a vehicle and trailer and is close enough for short rides to the Dragon, Bootleggers Hwy (28) and maybe Cherohala Skyway. We'll be there starting June 23 and 24 (leaving early am on 25th).
Also, would like to invite anyone that would like to join us for a couple days of Vmax thunder on the Dragon!unk:

 

[customizedcreationz]

I might be hitting the tail on my way home in a few weeks. If I see something I ll lwt you know.

Todd

 

[Bill Kratzenberg]

Tom (The Beekeeper) and I are hitting up the Tail of the Dragon this year in the days preceding this June's Thunder in the Valley and as the title suggests we are looking for recommended places to stay on north end of the Dragon. We don't need anything real fancy just something where we can park a vehicle and trailer and is close enough for short rides to the Dragon, Bootleggers Hwy (28) and maybe Cherohala Skyway. We'll be there starting June 23 and 24 (leaving early am on 25th).
Also, would like to invite anyone that would like to join us for a couple days of Vmax thunder on the Dragon!unk:

that's been on my bucket list for a long time now Brian,
Not sure I can swing it right after thunder though. :hmmm:

 

[donnelly317]

HIGHLY Recommend the Two Wheel Inn Robbinsville NC!!!! you cant get a better place. Very friendly!!! family owned. You have your own garage with every room that can fit 2 bikes in there even micro fibers in the garages!!! she has a bunch of coupons at the front desk for local resturants and they have a hose to wash your bike whenever you want!!! geared towards bikers only 10-15 minutes away from the dragon. Don't go anywhere else. oh and did I say cheap also??? $70 a night. That's where I met Shane "Grimmie" he goes there all the time I would go there in a heart beat. Sit outside and drink and bullshit have a good time!


http://www.twowheelinn.com/

 

[jfeagins]

that's been on my bucket list for a long time now Brian,
Not sure I can swing it right after thunder though. :hmmm:

I believe Brian is talking about doing the Tail before going to Thunder.



I really enjoy that moonshiner hwy 28 run, and the Cherohala Skyway and back. We usually base out of Maggie Valley when we are in that area, but between MV and Robinsville, there are so many motels that are biker friendly, it'd be hard to list them all here. The Two Wheel Inn comes highly recommended among them.

If you go far enough south on the Moonshiner hwy, near Walhalla, SC as I recall, there's a really neat place to pull off the hwy and park under a cliff which has a waterfall coming over the top and cascading down in front of where the road pulls through. Great photo op there.

 

[Bill Kratzenberg]

I believe Brian is talking about doing the Tail before going to Thunder.

oh damn then I definitely cant make those dates work for me, going to be in Wyoming 6/22-6/25, should have looked at my calendar first...

 

[Redbone]

that's been on my bucket list for a long time now Brian,
Not sure I can swing it right after thunder though. :hmmm:

I believe Brian is talking about doing the Tail before going to Thunder.

gringo Jimeo, la respuesta correcta! (translation may need mucho work, se' senior?)
Yes Bill we are trying to fit the Dragon then onto Thunder into one long week of drivn'-N-ridin'. This will be our theme song!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aJDH76zY2IE

 

[jfeagins]

gringo Jimeo, la respuesta correcta! (translation may need mucho work, se' senior?)
.

Oh oh, I got is part.....I se' senior - every morning when I look in the mirror as I'm shaving. And I seldom, if ever go to Gringo's. I prefer Taco Bell. Don't you mean "correctamoondo"? (still working on my Spanish)

 

[Redbone]

Oh oh, I got is part.....I se' senior - every morning when I look in the mirror as I'm shaving. And I seldom, if ever go to Gringo's. I prefer Taco Bell. Don't you mean "correctamoondo"? (still working on my Spanish)

Did you mean this? :thumbs up:

 

[jfeagins]

Did you mean this? :thumbs up:
View attachment 41582

al la correcto! But I thought it was a Spanish word, rather than Fonzspeak.

 

[Rollie]

I would also recommend Iron Horse Motorcycle Lodge & Resort . About 30 minutes south of the Dragon , just off the Moonshiner Hwy. 28 , in Stecoah , N.C. 828-479-3864 - [email protected]

Great ride to and from the Dragon. I like it even better than the Dragon as it's not as crowded and you can really move on it . It's a great warmer-upper for you, the bikes brakes & tires and friends who you may not have ridden with yet. It also gives you a chance to unwind after a day on the Dragon , which can be quite frustrating when crowded or wet.

 

[Chopcor]

^ +1 on the Ironhorse Motorcycle Lodge!! Excellent place, camping or cabins, reasonable and fantastic biker owners. We stayed there last year, and plan to again this year in Aug. As an added plus, the ride north on 28 to the Tail is a great stretch of road, maybe as said, even better than the Tail. If you do go to the Ironhorse, see if they are serving prime rib for dinner, it was one of the best I've ever had!! unk:

 

[Dr.n2o]

I don't mean to sound like an ignoramus but where exactly is the dragon ???? I'd love to check it out on a map

 

[DMAN999]

I don't mean to sound like an ignoramus but where exactly is the dragon ???? I'd love to check it out on a map

Tail of the Dragon is US Route 129 from NC to Tennesee.
http://www.tailofthedragon.com/
Here's a .pdf Map of the area:
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/55030067/Tail-of-the-Dragon-map_2012.pdf

 

[Redbone]

Thanks for the responses, looks like we'll be drivin' a little further south but it looks like we would be in the heart of many twisty road options!

 

[donnelly317]

Thanks for the responses, looks like we'll be drivin' a little further south but it looks like we would be in the heart of many twisty road options!

Where you staying???? Two wheel inn???

Sent from my SCH-I535 using Tapatalk

 

[Redbone]

Discussions still need to be finalized with Tom, but after researching and with all the feedback from this thread I think we will be able to come up with a good selection.
My initial thoughts were that we stay on the north end of all the great roads so we can ride more and drive a vehicle less. We will have more than enough of car time so every mile we can ride the bikes will be good. The suggestion of riding to the Dragon to "warm up" or to relax afterwards is a good one. After looking on Google maps at the northern portion of 129 along the waterway into the Dragon is a curvy road and on generally on par with Michigan's curvy roads so it will be good to ride vs. driving.
Here is a sample 165 mile/ 4 hr 17 min route: https://www.google.com/maps?saddr=TN-72+E&daddr=Georgia+Rd+to:State+Rd+1310%2FWayah+Rd+to:State+Hwy+115%2FUS-129+N%2FCalderwood+Hwy&hl=en&ll=35.534741,-84.039574&spn=0.239431,0.528374&sll=35.563573,-84.090986&sspn=0.00748,0.016512&geocode=FY20HgIdocf8-g%3BFdKjGAIdvJAH-w%3BFTs7GgId9xsD-w%3BFS-0HgIdX8j8-g&t=h&mra=mi&mrsp=3&sz=17&z=12

 

[The Beekeeper]

We'll be staying at the Dragon Pit Inn on June 23rd and 24th, looks like Brian has some awsome routes planned for us! any members/friends in the area looking to ride with us are more than welcome...........Tom.

 

[Redbone]

Excellent Tom! I worked on another route during the 1st half of the Michigan BB game and made a big loop of 211 miles which includes a long Hwy 28 (Bootleggers Hwy) section and another long one on the Cherohala Skyway. The map says 5 hours 31 minutes long so we'll want to start early so we can stop and enjoy some of the sights along the way! Let me know what you think about this route: https://www.google.com/maps/ms?msid...ll=35.381213,-83.829117&spn=0.479776,1.056747
Any one that has been here before let us know about the feasibility of these routes, anything to look for/ not to miss, etc. and thank-you for all your input so far. It is going to be a long wait now that the trip is shaping up and has a little more definition as far as where were staying and some over the top roads to ride on!

---> What say you Bill Kratz, work out the time off yet?:biglaugh: