Most MINI owners know about the Dragon, actually the Tail of the Dragon, but just up the mountains to the NE are the Snake, the Back of the Dragon and the Claw of Dragon. Going up to that area Wednesday and Thursday to check things out.

And yes those living in Florida, keep drooling about the great roads there are all along the Appalachians.

The Tail of the Dragon is one fantastic road for a MINI but I have plotted out a trip with well over 100 miles of twisties and the Claw has miles and miles more.

 

I'll be waiting for a report. What towns are the Snake, Claw, and Back of the dragon near?

 

The Snake goes from Bristol to Mountain City (NE corner of Tennessee) and the BOTD is from Marion to Tazewell (SW corner of Virginia). The COTD is the area surrounding the BOTD and includes both SW Virginia and SE West Virginia.

As the crow flies the Snake is about 30 miles from the BOTD, but then who wants to fly when you can drive a MINI from one place to the other with more than a few detours.

 

Thanks for the quick response. We spent time in July in Highlands NC, escaping the florida heat and drove the Cherohala Skyway which was great fun. Next summer the Dragon and the others you've mentioned may be on tap.

Thanks again.

 

Good roads around Highlands and Cashiers. Anytime you have a 1000' vertical drop, you will have some great roads. Not too many water falls or rapids in Florida from I10 south.

 

Anyone who travels to the Dragon should also run the Cherohala Skyway and visit Wheels Through Time in Maggie Valley.

 

I'm hopefully moving the Asheville in about 2 months. In my many visits over the last few months I've driven several parts of the BRP in rental cars. Can't wait to have the mini down there and enjoy all those roads!

 

A MINI would know that it died and went to heaven moving from about 14 miles from Ellis Island to Asheville.

 

I think anything or anyone would.

 

Had some great roads on Day 1 and some duds. Although I checked the box for avoiding dirt roads, did have two. Drove the first, about 3 miles, but skipped the second. After exiting a main divided highway took some back roads and within 1 mile of turning off, had a smile from ear to ear, wow.

Got to Marion Va around 3:00 and headed out on the Back of the Dragon, BOTD, after checking into the motel. Depending on what side of the mountains there were some wet roads and of course had some non MINI civies. The BOTD is longer, 32 miles vs 11, than the Tail of Dragon, has allot more elevation changes due to the mountains. Allot of tight corners, switchbacks (some with good elevation change) and one switchback that if the landscaping was a little different would have thought I was over in the Alps. There are some long stretches with no intersecting roads while in some places you have houses and farms.

Doing part the Claw this morning and then trying some country short cuts with what appear to be great twisties on the way down to the Snake.

Anybody heading down to the TOTD from lets say northern Virginia or to that point the NE, it is a very good area for a MINI stopover. I will be back.

 

The BOTD is about an hour away from the Snake and as I did the TOTD a couple weeks ago an unprofessional comparison is as follows:

Tale of the Dragon (TOTD): The Tail spans two States, approximately .6 miles in North Carolina from the Deals Gap Motorcycle Motel to the Tennessee line and then 11 miles in Tennessee. The TOTD does not have mountains involved but there are some vertical elevation changes. Several of the hairpins are banked due to these vertical elevation change. There are no house or farms on the TOTD and there are no crossroads. There are other banked areas but not to the degree that I found on the BOTD. There are numerous paved pull-off areas along the route. The road is well paved, well marked and has a 35 MPH speed limit.

Back of the Dragon (BOTD): The locals like to say the BOTD is 32 miles long. Well that is the distance from Marion to Tazewell but there are allot of "country roads" not twisties in that distance. The twisties are at three mountains that you cross while on the road. There are basically two runs of 5 miles and one of 4 miles. There are several very tight switchbacks where you come to almost a stop due to the steep incline and the corner. The mountain sections are well paved, well marked and many areas are nicely banked leading into the turns, something the Snake does not really have and the TOTD although banked I did not find to the same degree that the BOTD has. The curves start as soon as you leave Marion and the posted speed limit is 35. It increases to 45 for short section and then there are no speed signs posted in many areas. From what can be found on the State webpage, secondary roads have a speed limit of 55 if not posted but a residential area, that the BOTD has several of is 25 if not marked. There are several sections of limited crossroads and there are also several areas of homes and farms. Pull-offs are limited and are not paved.

The Snake: As with the BOTD the locals like to say the road is 33 miles long but similar to the BOTD, the twisties are basically confined to two mountains with runs of approximately 5 and 7 miles. The most western section is comprised of several miles of some really poor roads. The Snake has a very sharp/short hairpin. The road signage is not as good as either the BOTD or the TOTD. The posted speed limit is 35 in the twisties with some 45 areas between the two good runs. Similar to the BOTD, there are several areas with limited crossroads and there are also several areas of homes and farms. Pull-offs are very limited and not paved.

All three have large trees, cliffs and rock walls along with sobering make-shift memorials to those that started out to have fun but ended up never coming home.

 

r53coop, thanks for the report. They'll be on my 2018 itinerary.

 

It would be worth it to get a room in Marion or Tazewell and be at one end of the BOTD and within easy reach of the many roads that make up the Claw. IMO it would take more than a couple of days to hit all those roads. Absolutely beautiful area and the people at the BOTD Welcome Center are really nice. Some nice merchandise too.

 

 

Like to get some input from the Georgia crowd as there must be some great roads NE of Atlanta in the Helen/Dahlonega area. And from a friend, there are some great roads north of Mount Airy, North Carolina, that many locals call Mayberry as that is where Andy Griffith grew up.

Years ago there was a movie called "The Swimmer." Guy's life was coming to an end and he decided to take a dip in a successive line of swimming pools in the posh area he used to live in before he lost all his money and mind. Makes me think about spending a couple of weeks driving the roads of the Appalachians from Georgia up through Virginia. Just so many twisties.

 

I'm jelly. What are the road numbers by chance of The Snake and Back of the Dragon? Last year we did the Skyway, the Dragon, and I think it was Moonshiners Road(?) and had an absolute blast.

 

http://backofthedragon.com

 

The BOTD is VA 16 and the Snake is US 421

 

There are great roads the opposite direction too, towards Nashville. I took a roadtrip in Oct. '16 with two other MINIacs. Drove from Tampa, FL to Rome, GA, then from Rome to Nashville. From Nashville we headed for the Natchez Trace Parkway, down to Natchez, MS. After Natchez, our next stop was NoLa.

Beersheba Springs, TN was a particularly beautiful area with outstanding roads. All told, we only drove interstate in & out of the major cities. Otherwise it was twisties and two-lane backroads all the way.

 

When i was down there last time, I found a lot of hidden side roads that could be extensions of the dragon. Lots of curves down there all over the place.

One cool road I came across was not near there but further north route 77 Kentucky, it like a mini dragon with a cave you drive through.

 

Florida resident here. Bibs work good for the drooling. Not much available to help with the green with envy part though.

 

Yes, MINIs and Mountains just go together. Unless you have driven roads as we have here, most likely will never know what the MINI can do. Never thought averaging 45 MPH would feel so good.

 

The cliffs in on 77 reminded me of the dragon water falls.

 

Ooof. I gotta go check this out. SOON.

 

Yes, I was just driving down south and discovered that road.