June 28 Tuesday
We left Robbinsville heading west on 129 along the scenic route marked on our AAA map.
The Tail of the Dragon part of the route started as we crossed the border into
Tennessee at Deals Gap, but we were oblivious to it at that time.
There were bill boards at Deals Gap, but I paid them no particular note as they were marketed to motorcyclists.
The Tail of the Dragon and then the Foothills Parkway were just beautiful cruising. Not high speed for sure. Just right for the VW, mostly 3rd gear, although we did have to shift a bit. One of the things we noticed is that there were photographers along the Tail of the Dragon taking pictures of the motorcyclists and everybody else that went by and posting them for sale on the internet. We went by at least 3 of them. Here are links to websites with pics of us on Tail of the Dragon.
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| Highway parallels the Little Tennessee River somewhere west of Robinsville |
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| Dam and power plant on the Little Tennessee River |
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| Another dam a bit further down the river |
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| Highway 129 climbing up to NC border with TN |
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Tennessee border with NC on Hwy 129 – Deals Gap is name of town near here and the beginning of the Tail of the Dragon. |
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Rock along side of highway 129 east of
Foothills Parkwayjunction |
Sorry that there are no pictures of the Tail of the Dragon highway except for the links. I had to pay too much attention to the road for my usual pictures out the window while driving. A short ways after entering TN, we turned off US129 to follow the
Foothills Parkwayon southwest side of
Great Smoky Mountains National Park.
**************put scan of tail of dragoon map
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| At junction with 129 |
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Typical “parkway” style road with no shoulders. |
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| Great Smoky Mountains Park living up to its name. |
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| Aptly named turnout |
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| Look Rock -- people used to go out onthe rock and it's straight down over the edge. Now there is a viewing spot just above it with nice concrete wall to stay behind. |
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The view from Look Rock
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The Foothills Parkway took us to US321 TN73 and on to Pigeon Forge, TN, which is home to DollyWood (Dolly Parton’s theme park) and just outside the western entrance of
Great Smoky Mountains National Park.
The highway through Pigeon Forge is 6 lanes wide and lined with businesses catering to the tourists visiting Dollyville.
One has to marvel at what Dolly Parton developed and the boon/boom it’s been for local commerce.
We did not stop, but just drove up to the gates of Dollyville which are like
Disneyland with dozens of lanes for cars to enter.
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| Feels just like LA. |
We returned to the main highway and on to
Great Smoky Mountains National Park via
Gatlinburg, TN except there is a bypass into the Park which we took.
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| Little Pigeon River is quite scenic on way into Park. |
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| And unfortunately it seems to be quite polluted. |
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| US441 bisects Great Smoky Mountains National Park as it travels 30 miles from Gatlinburg, TN to the Park's southern border. Along the way it crosses the crest of the Appalachians. |
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| The clouds cleared to allow view of the Chimney Tops. |
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| 60 inches of rain per year. Imagine. |
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| Walter Camp Prong |
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| Going up the highway toward the TN/NC border. |
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| Appalachian Trail – I walked 100 yards or so and came back to the car. |
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| Along the road to Clingman’s Dome. Doesn’t look too promising for any views today. |
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It’s ½ mile hike and 330 feet up to the Obserevation Tower at 6643’ summit of Clingman’s Dome. Limited visitblity today. |
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| Raspberry blossom along the trail back down from Clingman’s Dome. |
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A bit cloudy on the way back down to main highway from Clingman’s Dome. |
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| Mushroom about 2” tall along a short trail at turnout along US hwy 441 through Great Smoky Mountains National Park. |
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Trail led to nice little creek. Remember – 60” of rain per year! |
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I had read about elk in NC, but never expected to see one. I couldn’t get picture with head up, and he kept his head down as he browsed into the forest behind the edge of the meadow. |
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Southern end of the 400 and something mile
Blue Ridge Parkway. |
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| No shoulders and no services along the Parkway. |
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| Ridges for a long ways into the distance. |
We drove off the Blue Ridge Parkway to find a place for the night and stopped in
Maggie Valley at the Abbey Inn.
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| Nice place. Friendly owners. Notice the yuccas in the foreground in front of the sign. Yuccas belong in the desert in my mind, so this was a surprise. |
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View from Robbers Roost restaurant near the Abbey Inn. Imagine those green hills in fall colors. We saw lots of postcards. We ate dinner and then breakfast here --10% off with room key from Abbey Inn. :) |
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| Aren’t they cute? This is porch at Robbers Roost Restaurant with goats and motorcycle – this neck of the woods is biker friendly for sure. |
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The restaurant owner didn’t think the goats' work on her sunflowers was so great. |
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| Nope, we didn't try any of these local delicacies. |
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