KingMotley

Took my vette down to the dragon's tail, and I can say it was definitely the most fun you can have in a car while still being dressed.

Rad22

TotD is fun. The Snake is MORE fun. Try it.

http://www.421thesnake.com

KingMotley

It's already part of the plan for my return trip.

///ADMAN

There's only one DRAGON - and it has to be experienced OUTSIDE a cage.

gixxerbill

lol agreed but don't forget a road that eats the dragon and the snake and that is hwy 1 north of San Francisco all the way to Eureka. 155+ miles. thousands of turns with the most breathtaking scenery in the whole country.

PUGPROUD

On my bucket list !

arcticblast

Haven't done the TOD since I picked up my 60th 427 Vert at the Museum last year. It is definitely a blast. A must do for anyone with a Vette and a pulse.

Jack Be Quick Racing

Tail of the Dragon!



My first trip was this year - loved it. Ran the tail 4+ times and then did the other drives around the area. A great drive.

Just have to watch out for out-of-control Harleys looking to slide into the side of your car like falling cows running through a muddy pasture..... Not sure which is more scary, a sport bike coming around the corner doing 70 or a 800 pound Harley doing 40 with sparks flying everywhere.





Definitely on the list for a C7 road trip when I get mine. A lot of friendly folks out there with all manner of car and bike...and trucks.

KingMotley

Well I just got back from my return trip, and did the snake on the way back. Didn't like it nearly as much as tail of the dragon, however, a snow storm just passed through the same day and there was snow and ice all over the snake as we went through it. That may have played part in it, but I just didn't see the same tight turns as on the dragon's tail. It did seem quite a bit longer, and there was one area that you weave back and forth down one mountain side and then back and forth back up another mountain that I was wishing the road was a bit cleaner that I could push it a lot harder than I felt safe doing so. If I am back in the area, I'll definitely find a way back though.

Don't want to rewrite this, so here is my post from another thread:
I just came back from doing "the snake" run in my C7, with *OMG* snow on the road. I just did "the dragon's tail" a couple weeks earlier during multiple "area flood warnings". Both were fun. Just drove back from North Carolina back to Illinois the day after storm Hercules. No problems at all.

On they way down to NC, I had a massive storm follow me almost the entire way. Many cars off the road, many roads closed, but my C7 with good tires on it had no problems at all. With the storm passing through, there was even a downed tree in the middle of the road on the dragon's tail that multiple police trucks were in the process of clearing. They had chopped off all the branches, and hollowed out a lanes worth down to an inch or two, so that I was able to drive over that portion of it and finish the dragon's tail. At an overlook, I stopped to take a couple pictures, and a black C6 passed by going the other way.

On the way back, I did "the snake" (US route 421), a 4x4 thought they would chase me and try and keep up. Bad for them. Try as they might, they kept falling further and further behind until I hit one rather bad turn with snow and ice and the car slid a couple inches before regaining traction. The 4x4 didn't fair quite as well, slid off the road and took them a few minutes to work themselves out of the ditch and back onto the road again. Granted, if my car went off the road it likely would have been a much bigger issue, but then again, I didn't slide off the road like they did either. I laughed and told them perhaps they needed a better winter car like a C7.

Neither of these two routes are what I would consider anything "normal". Hard turns everywhere, switchbacks, and doing 50-70 MPH around turns between 60 and 180 degrees is far beyond what you are likely to experience during a normal daily drive. I didn't really push the car on either route very hard. On the dragon's tail, I didn't hit more than 0.85g's on any turn (wet road and wearing winter tires), or more than 0.70g's on any turn (snow and ice on many turns). The turns with apparent snow and ice still there, I didn't even try to take at any appreciable speed. I'm sure the car could have done much better, but I didn't feel like pushing my luck, nor sliding off the road like the 4x4 above did.

@Jack be Quick: I did stop and saw the statue in your post, but it was on the NC side (so it was after I did the run), and it was still early morning and the whole parking lot was chained off (apparently they didn't expect any motorcycles to come through during storm day?) so I didn't snap any pictures.

Dave80C3

I run the Tail of the Dragon many times a year, only 75 miles from the house.

Actually the most scary are the cars that want to use 3/4 of the road to take a curve. Especially when you going the other way on a bike and they are using more than half of your lane.

The next most scary are the idiots who pass in a blind curve.

I refuse to ride or run the dragon on a Friday, Saturday, Sunday or Monday. Way to many idiots who cant drive or ride. Way to many trying to ride or drive above their skill level.

That said it is fun to scrape the floorboards on my Harley riding the dragon.

Racerdj

It is on my bucket list.

skank

Agreed, but don't forget a road that is even more beautiful with thousands of turns and even more spectacular is Hwy 1 South of car crazy Monterey peninsula and Carmel-Big Sur all the way to Cambria. The most incredible driving roads I've ever been on though, are around Jackson Hole, Wyoming. One road that is just South West of Jackson is Hwy 34 from Freedom, Wyoming to Soda Springs, Idaho. That road is the single best cruising road I have ever been on. Huge high speed sweepers out on the incredible Tin Cup mountain pass scenery with perfect baby butt smooth road surface where you sometimes don't see another car for 50 miles. Unbelievable world class sports car roadway.
http://www.canyonchasers.net/maps/results.php?id=21

PUGPROUD

Years ago on my first trip to California I rented a Mustang to cruise down Highway 1...a spectaculr road. Though I was moving along at a fast clip one morning I could not loose a Mini Cooper on my tail. When we eventually got to a light the Mini Cooper pulled along side of me and gave me a thumbs up. It was Steve McQueen ! I learned later that he and James Garner both lived on the same block, both had Mini Coopers and both constantly raised hell in the neighborhood racing each other. My touch with greatness seems like only yesterday.

dvandentop

Great thread on different roads to try.

Vetteman Jack

Some day I hope to get to drive my car on the Dragon. Definitely on my wish list.

Vetinvett

We live 10 miles from the dragon and ridden and driven many times. As far as a road course beware..it's no fun approaching a blind switchback and meet up with a 40 foot motor home towing a 24 foot pontoon boat..Ican give you many more examples. It's great to do the tail but be aware...lots and lots of folks on it that shouldn't be.

The roads around it are incredible, Cheraholla highway has some great scenery, lots of places to pass, long distance visabilityy and long fast turns. Enjoy!

JoesC5

There is a noticeable difference being in a cage vs levitating outside of one.

Vetinvett

Photoshop or taken by roadside camera?

c54u

It's real...no photoshop here. This still was taken from a video. It's on youtube. Motorcyle guy too busy waving to camera on curve and then rides straight into the car.

Eppieguy

And the Corvette owner is a member of CF and reported the same. It was in fact really real.