June 4 - Day 4 - The Tail of the Dragon & Cherohala Skyway

We all gathered in Dillsboro again this morning.  As it was threatening rain, we headed straight to Deals Gap to tackle the Tail of the Dragon before the pavement became too wet to ride the beast.

View of Fontana Lake from NC 28.

After a quick stop at the Deals Gap Motorcycle Resort,

Tree of Shame at Deal's Gap

we made or first run of the day on The Dragon (US 129).  We stopped at the overlook at Calderwood Dam Road, then made the run back to Deal's Gap.

After a short stop, we headed for Robbinsville, NC via US 129, where we stopped for lunch.  We were soon on the road again, this time headed for the Cherohala Skyway.

Shute Cove from The Cherohala

Lloyd at Shute Cove.

We followed the Cherohala all the way to Tellico Plains, TN.  From there, we navigated up TN 360 to Chilhowee Lake where we followed TN 72 across the northern shore, back to US 29.  As the Dragon now stood between us and home, we were forced to make one more run across its 318 curves to pickup NC 28 and the Great Smoky Mountains Expressway back to Sylva.

We travelled 263 miles across some of the finest motorcycle roads in the U.S. and the rain held off until we we almost back to Sylva.  Another great day.  Click here for a map of the route.