Tail of the Dragon- Deal's Gap TN

[FormerTeacher]

Hey all,
Anybody have any advice on the area? I will be traveling down from WI the first week in June and staying in Gatlinburg. If I can find a way to get the R6 down (Riding is not an option from WI due to the short stay and 12 hours straight through on the bike would be killer) I would love to ride the gap, just looking for any tips, suggestions or places to take my neices to see while in the area.

[dontknowwhy]

IDK about deals gap, but my GF lives in Sevierville (other side of Pigeon Forge from Gburg). I can tell you the places to hit up there, if you want.

[FormerTeacher]

That would be good, right now we are deciding if we want to stay in Pigeon Forge or, Gatlinburg..... we are meeting my sister who is from Florida and that area is about half way in between

[Murf425]

Tips for Deals Gap:
1. Make sure you have your license. I haven't been there in a few years, but I've been told that they check your endorsement before they let you go.
2. As un-fun as it sounds, obey the speed limit; now that the road's popularity has gotten out, the cops LOVE to camp it. As tight as the corners are, though, it's still [IMO] fun when you keep it legal.

[cbr600_kitty]

Tips for Deals Gap:
1. Make sure you have your license. I haven't been there in a few years, but I've been told that they check your endorsement before they let you go.
2. As un-fun as it sounds, obey the speed limit; now that the road's popularity has gotten out, the cops LOVE to camp it. As tight as the corners are, though, it's still [IMO] fun when you keep it legal.

This^^^^. Friends have gone there....they'll tow your **** in a heartbeat if you don't behave.

[FormerTeacher]

Good to know... do you have to check in somewhere before you ride it? seems a bit odd for a state road.....

[Murf425]

Keeping in mind that it's been 6 years since I was there:

You can ride right on through like it's a public road. But the whole point of going there is getting timed on it and seeing what you can do. To do that, you have to check in and the head and get set up with a timer chip and everything.

Oh, one more tip...buy a used set of dicked up plastics for your bike, and install them before you go. That way, when you have to add a part to the "Tree of Shame", you can go home and put your nice fairing back on.

[usmcSMASH]

The Dragon is alot of fun..The first time Me and my dad went on a road trip there on our bikes when i was 18.. Great time just be careful.. We stayed at an indian Reservation hotel around there somewhere. Im heading there again soon!

[FormerTeacher]

I am really hoping not to add any parts to the tree of shame, I will be there with my young daughter and neices they don't need to see me banged up or hurt. *fingers Crossed*

[dontknowwhy]

That would be good, right now we are deciding if we want to stay in Pigeon Forge or, Gatlinburg..... we are meeting my sister who is from Florida and that area is about half way in between

If you stay in PF, you will (get to/ have to) drive about 5 miles up to Gburg, which I thought was really fun in a rented mustang my last trip. PF has a very large outlet mall to shop in with all the cool stores and then some (Under Armour, Nike, Polo, Brooks Brothers, Banana Republic, J Crew, etc) and there are lots of 'family fun areas' with putt putt, go carts, etc. There is also a police musuem, but I think it's closed down since it's never open when I go by. Oh, PF also has a Wonder Works and The Christmas Place if you want to vist either of those (CP is kind of cool for about 30 seconds, then it gets old, but had to throw it our there since the GF works there).

If you stay in GB, you will do a lot of walking, which is best because everything is so close together. There's a ripley's aquarium and most of the town has a cool, faux German village look to it. It seems like the town is always crowded, so I don't go up there much, but there are some nice, fancier places to eat and cool tourist shops. Both towns offer helicopter tours and GB has some trails to hike.

Also, in PF, once you get in Sevierville (you probably won't even notice since the city line is a bridge in the middle of the strip), there's nothing really worth seeing past the Wal-Mart, unless you want to go to a movie, but thats several miles down. Oh, and if you are going the week of a 'car show', it will take you an hour to go one mile, so don't plan on going anywhere on the main road.