Known as the ride of your life. 11 miles and 318 curves. It is the world’s foremost motorcycling and sports car touring road. It is not a road for site-seeing. I would say it is better than any roller coaster ride that I have been on. This is a very special and unique highway. There is no intersecting roads, no houses with driveways and no businesses. Each and every curve is different. There is very little elevation change. And many of the curves are banked like a race track.The drive is gorgeous, but you are so caught up in the driving experience, it is hard to catch much of what is going on around you other than the adrenalin rush of driving.
The Dragon begins on the North Carolina side at Fugitive Bridge with a view of the Cheoah Dam where Harrison Ford jumped from the movie The Fugitive. It was also in the 1971 movie Two Lane Blacktop with James Taylor. I saw James Taylor filming Two Lane Blacktop when I was in college in Oklahoma. Part of the movie was shot at a small old gas station near my school. (Small World!) Next comes Deals Gap and the Tennessee State line where the real action begins. I just remember the curve after curve after curve. I was much braver on the way back putting the pedal to the metal, I crossed the yellow line a few time, but we lived to tell about it!
Professional photographers were setup on curves taking pictures of every motorcycle and car coming through. It was like getting your picture taken while riding a roller coaster. Even our Subaru Outback got some camera time.
I have heard about the road but have never driven on it. Either of my MX5s would have been fun on that road.