One of the iconic drives of the south is known as the Tail of the Dragon, which starts just outside of Robbinsville, NC. To say it is merely an 11 mile section of US highway 129 would be to totally misrepresent what it is. With 318 turns in just eleven miles of ups and downs, hairpins, and switchbacks on a narrow two lane piece of asphalt, it has drawn motorists and motorcycles from all over the world to experience it. It is one of the most famous, and potentially dangerous roads in America in spite of its 30 mph speed limit. During the busiest times of year there may be 10 to 15 crashes per day on this road. So far this year alone there have been 103 reported crashes on the Tail of the Dragon, which is why I have waited until school is in session, and will lead a tour in the middle of the week instead of on a weekend day, so that traffic should be at its lowest. In addition, by waiting until October, we have a strong possibility of seeing some nice fall colors on the way up and back.

I am doing things a bit different on this tour, which will require a bit of flexibility on your part. It will have two possible dates, although we will only go once. In the event of rain on the first date we will go to a backup date a week later. If it rains both dates we will cancel and look for another date later on. In addition, due to limited services available for meals and rest breaks this tour will be limited to 15 cars.

We will begin this tour from Starbucks located at 435 Peachtree Parkway (Hwy 141) at 9:00 a.m. Wednesday October 5, or Wednesday October 12, and you should plan on this being an all day event. This is near the intersection of Hwy 141 with Ronald Reagan Blvd. We will drive north by Dahlonega, Vogel State Park, and Blairsville, so some fun roads right here in Georgia on the way up. We will continue north past Murphy, NC to Robbinsville, NC. Then we will drive to the start of the Tail of the Dragon, drive it northbound, turn around and drive it back southbound, and return to Robbinsville, NC. You are free to choose your route home from there, or to find accommodations in the mountains and wait until another day to come home.

Registration is now open at clubregistration.net and will remain open until the tour fills. I will allow any registrations beyond 15 to go onto a wait list in case of cancellations. Cost for this tour will be $10, and refunds will be available up until the day prior to the tour actually going, so you are covered if you cannot go the second date and the first date is rained out.

Please note that we will not be trying to set any records for speed on the Tail of the Dragon - this is a tour to see the road that others have talked about for years. It will still be fun, just not a speed run.