THE TAIL OF THE DRAGON & CHEROHALA SKYWAY: Two of the BEST roads in the USA
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- Опубликовано: 20 окт 2021
- A spectacular journey from Tennessee to North Carolina in the USA on the Tail of the Dragon and Cherohala Skyway with a motorcycle.
Have you ever dreamt about being a dragon slayer? About conquering endless curves, just you and your vehicle? Here is where your dreams become reality. Ride with me from Tennesse to North Carolina at the southwest boundary of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park on two of America's most famous roads: The Tail of the Dragon and the Cherohala Skyway.
Here is my itinerary for navigating through the Tail of the Dragon and Cherohala Skyway:
- From Townsend in Tennessee, take the so called Foothill Parkway. I was traveling the southern most 17 miles of Foothill Parkway, running from US 321 to US 129 at the Chilhowee Lake, where the Dragon would start.
- Stop at Chilhowee Lake. The lake provides part of the boundary between the Great Smoky Mountains National Park and the Cherokee National Forest. This shallow 10-mile or 16 kilometer long water reservoir is more river-like, following a narrow, twisted route.
- Start your journey on the Tail of the Dragon: The Dragon (also known as The Tail of the Dragon) begins at Tabcat Creek Bridge in Tennessee and ends in North Carolina at the intersection of NC 28 and US 129. IT has 318 curves in 11 miles or 18 kilometers and is one of the most popular roads for motorcycle riders in the United States of America. The twisting road through the dense forest has several pull-offs to stop, watch the riders, and the surrounding Great Smoky Mountains.
- Make a rest or stay over night at Deals Gap. The famous Deals Gap Motorcycle Resort is also called the home of "The Dragon" and for sure the destination to stop for lunch or even a night if you try to tame the dragon with your motorcycle.
- Cross from Tennessee into North Caroline by following the curves of the dragon.
- At the end of the dragon continue on Highway 129 along Cheoh Lake all the way to Cheoh Dam.
- Turn off right at Joyce Kilmer Road. This road winds along beautiful Lake Santeetlah, which is one of most unspoiled lakes you'll find in the North Carolina mountains, and is often even called one of the most beautiful in the whole country.
- Hit Highway 143, the Cherohala Skyway. The Cherohala Skyway in Graham County is a 42-mile or 67 kilometer long winding National Scenic Byway and definitely one of the most scenic drives in the Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina. The road crosses through the Cherokee and Nantahala National Forests - this is where the name comes from. “Chero-hala."
// A roadtrip that dreams are made of: join my journey through the United States of America. From Los Angeles in California on the westcoast to Miami in Florida on the eastcoast.
9,000 kilometers,
13 states,
28 days,
1 motorcycle
// NEW EPISODE OUT EVERY THURSDAY 19.30 CET
// Time of the journey: May-June 2021
// Welcome to the journey! I am Lea Rieck, a journalist and author and I want to take you with me on a motorcycle overlanding adventure to all the wild and beautiful places in the world!
// I circumnavigated the world solo from 2016-2017 and now I am going to all other places I have not seen yet. On the channel: my motorcycle trip around africa/ the first stage of the journey through westafrica, my motorcycle ride from Germany to North Cape "Expedition North" and the best places to do a roadtrip to in Europe. Cureently on the channel: CROSS-COUNTRY USA
// Riding a Yamaha Ténéré 700. Bought the motorcycle myself from the press fleet of Yamaha USA (thank you Yamaha USA for making this possible. Ténérés were short on stock at all dealers I required one at)
Watch the review of my european Yamaha Ténéré 700 here:
• YAMAHA TÉNÉRÉ 700: The...
//Equipment & Gear:
- Touratech Companero Summer Jacket & Pants (given to me by Touratech after my old suit got stolen on the ship from westafrica)
- BMW GS Gloves (self bought)
- Alpinestar Toucan Boots (self bought)
- Klim Krios Pro Helmet (self bought)
- Leatt Neckbrace (given to me by Leatt as my self-bought neckbrace was still in Africa)
- BMW Cooling Vest
Watch the review for my helmets here:
• BEST MOTORCYCLE HELMET...
//Filmed with:
Drone: DJI Mavic 2 Zoom
Camera: Sony Alpha A7 rIII
2 x Go Pro Hero 8
DJI OSMO Pocket
Iphone 12
Tripod: Manfrotto BeFree
Tripod Iphone: Joby GorillaPod
Editing Program: Final Cut Pro X
//Follow me on:
/ lea_rieck
/ got2go.de
www.learieck.de/
#tailofthedragon #cherohalaskyway #got2go #learieck
I’ve done both. Cherahola Skyway is my favorite ride . It’s simply beautiful and so peaceful.
Same here 👍
It’s like the BlueRidge Parkway but without most of the traffic. I love this area and am so glad I live here!
I was only able to ride those roads 1 time. Thanks for the views. now I need to go back. Beautiful
Hallo, es freut mich sehr das bei dir trotz Zecken wieder weiter geht. alles Gute weiterhin ☺Bleib Gesund.
Danke, lieber Mathias!
My favorite ride of all time in the USA is Bear tooth pass, its 59 miles long nothing but switch backs and part of the ride is about 10,000 foot elevation above the glaciers. you find the road at the northeast entrance or exit of Yellowstone national park heading to Red Lodge Montana
I did that one on my worldtrip and as well enjoyed it a lot! A beautiful ride!!!
Apparently this person does not know that the Beartooth Highway, South of Red Lodge, MT is the most famous highway of all. News commentators have talked about this ride for years before the Tail of The Dragon ever was mentioned. I live close to this and it is beautiful and the switchbacks are not for the faint of heart. I have also ridden the Tail and it's not as much fun as the Beartooth. You can actually go much faster on this one. Plus the altitude climb from 5568 ft to 10947 ft at the top(which is above timber line) is priceless. Have fun and ride safe which ever one you ride!!
I rode Beartooth once several years ago. It was early June, and an unexpected storm started closing mountain passes, leaving that as our only way East. I'd love to go back when it's warmer than 33 degrees F, at least the sleet wasn't freezing on the ground.
I'm going to have to check it out when I head West
@@bedlamite42 You can expect any kind of weather on top of the Beartooth Highway during the summer. The top is over 10,000' in elevation. I have never been warm on that ride no matter what time of year I go over it. You have to understand you are above timberline at the top, which means no tree's grow there and the wind usually howls like a big dog!!! LOL!!!
You rode the famous sections of road, but the roads are like this pretty much everywhere. Living in this area has been a wonderful blessing, I have found so many little "mini dragons" and truly stunning roads with rivers falling over rocks right by the road for miles, and it's not famous at all it's just a random road. There's all kinds of gravel maintenance roads that wind up the side of a mountain and bring you up to the top where you can see everything.
I lived in Greenville SC and road every weekend for 2 years. I was just scratching the surface! Truly and amazing place to live as a rider.
The drive from Anderson, SC on hwy 28 through Highlands, NC is every bit as cool as the Dragon itself. Maybe better, because it's not swarming with tourists. I have driven it many times. This whole area is ripe with mountain roads that offer beauty and challenges.
STAR Mountain is a good little windy road that's in Tellico Plains
This is on my ride Bucket List. Great Job
I've ridden the Dragon once and the Cherohala several times. I found the Dragon actually a little more relaxing because there were times I could go straight in between curves. The Cherohala it seems is one curve after another, but they're both beautiful and worth the trip. Truly, though the Cherohala is more scenic because of the open areas where you get a better view the mountains. My most memorable ride of the Cherohala was when my GPS I used years ago called Pocket Looks kept telling me to turn right, and I looked over the side of the mountain and said, "I don't think so," and couldn't wait to get to the end of the ride and turn that thing off. LOL
One of my motorcycle dream! The dragon and the cherohala Skyway... Love it!
💃🏻👌🏻
I'm from Mississippi and have ridden Bear tooth pass (beautiful), the Dragon and Cherahola Skyway. All are great in their own way, but overall I take the Skyway every time especially in spring or fall. Love the videos, thanks!
I adore your travels, you are a very beatyful and brave woman
Thank you!
Cherohala is one of my favorite roads. Thanks for the nice aerial views.
The Skyway is amazing, and you can drive (or ride) it at something more than a crawl.
As someone who has done both multiple times (I'm Scottish and live in Scotland) the Skyway is way better than the Dragon. Your assessment of the Dragon is spot on!
I agree 100% about the Skyway being a much better ride than the TOTD. Not as many idiots. These clowns wouldn't last but a few kilometers here in the mountains of Thailand, which makes the Dragon look like the Autobahn.
@@PremPS1000LE The fast, ridiculously twisty stuff in the United States and Canada is all on the western side of the North American continent. Appalachians are foothills compared to the Sierra Nevadas, Cascades and Rockies in both height and duration. Their popularity has more to do with the limited resources of the region and an overabundance of people elevating a section of road to legend status, than the Dragon being best riding in the US. Far, far from it.
Tim im from New Scotland and planning to do this trip. Also and more importantly to get back to the home of my people Arisag Scotland.What would you recommend for a bike run over their. ths Sandy
Hi Lea...This video is to be relax centre.THANK YOU. 👏🏼🦌👍🦌👏🏼🦌👍
Thank you for watching!
Did them both this year…..the wife and I started in CT on my 650 vstrom and took skyline dr and blue ridge all the way down…..a must for any rider….so beautiful
I live 10 minutes from the Dragon here in Maryville.
Still love it every chance I get to run it.
Lovely route, stunning views. Thank you for this, very inspiring.
Like your vids a LOT!
Greets from the Netherlands 🌷, T.
Thank you so much!
Love the adventure thanks for taking us along
So much awesome footage! Thanks for posting it.
I have not been there in several years thanks for the video the sky way is really awesome when the clouds roll through it’s like a thick fog can not see anything,hello from Georgia
Really beautiful dragon trail. Stunning greenery.
wow beautiful place
Truely a scenic route. Thanks for showing.
This video was very well done! I thoroughly enjoyed it. I look forward to viewing your future rides!
Great video! You definitely captured the essence of the Dragon and Skyway! Your drone footage on the Skyway was fantastic.
You did excellent job of describing experience. I have ridden both several times and enjoy both each time.
Esa ruta ya la puse en mi lista, exelente videos 👍
Thanks for the ride!
Good to see you fully Recovered 👍
Beautiful ride thanks for sharing !🙏
This has been the best presentation of the ride I have seen...Thank You !...
Had many similar rides in the Taunus. Rudesheim to Bad Schwalback was a great one. Shorter but great ride.
Thank u for the great video!
VERY well done!! Loved it, thank you!
Amazing road!
Lea, as always its such a pleasure to ride along with you as you showcase some of my countries beautiful roads.
Thank you for the ride
Magnificent!
Awesome, truly awesome Lea, well done!! 👍👍
The Skyway looks awesome!
It is 😍
What a wonderful ride
Just what i needed 👍
💃🏻 always great to ride!
I was running these roads way before they were famous. Back in the '80s.
Truly excellent narration and filmography! I make the trip to the Dragon every year with my group, and it's so nice to see all of the familiar places!
Welcome back!
This spring, I rode many of your routes from your trip!
Thanks
Great video, thanks for sharing. Thank you!
That was awesome. Magnificent views. I love that you carry a drone with you to get those sky high views! Great job.
Thank you so much!
Nice video! One of my favorite rides !
Nicely done ! Ride safe !
Awesome put together….
I've ridin every one of those roads multiple times and it never gets old ... I will be back next year ... good video
I'm headed there for the first this June! Can't wait! Thanks for sharing!!
Very nice, inspiring video! Thank you!
Your Ozark and Appalachia videos are so beautiful.
As an Aussie who did many similar rides, through the hills of Victoria and NSW, going to america to see these beautiful forests you captured is in my goals for certain!
The Dragon and Cherohala Skyway are on my bucket list of rides to do. You've inspired me, Lea, to take my 50-year-old Honda motorcycle on some epic journeys next summer!
That you should do for sure! You will not regret it !!!
Lea, you nailed it again. Great views from your motorcycle and from your drone. I have ridden the Cherohala Skyway and I agree that it is a beautiful ride.
Your aerial views of the road and the mountains really tell the story of this amazing road. As usual, the music is perfect.
Thank you so much - and very happy that you liked this one too!!!
Outstanding video Lea! The drone shots were amazing! One of your best. Thanks! 😎
Thank you so much!
Wonderful photos, beautiful roads, incredible views and your fantastic narration. Lea thank you very much for allowing us to travel with you.
Thank you for joining!’
Lea, another great video! The videography, narration, and length are always spot on! Well done. Looking forward to next week already.
Thank you so much! Great that you are traveling with me!
Amazing shots and I love to ride
Thank you Lea, I really appreciate your videos. The aerial footage adds quite a bit to the splendor of your location and the surrounding geography. Your camera work, editing, sound, titles, music, and ride descriptions are top quality.
You are one, if not the best videographer on RUclips doing motorcycle travel. Keep up the good work, and best wishes on your future journeys...
Lea, beautiful drone footage of the Appalachian mountains! Glad you had a nice ride in East Tennessee and western North Carolina. Thanks for presenting your perspective of our home riding area.
I really did - hope I can return next time I am in the USA, I feel like I missed out on so many places… 🤗
Hope you are good over there in LA!
Great rides. I stopped at that same drive in and had a burger.
Absolutely Loved this! Thank you so much for sharing! I cant wait to get back to the Cherohala & the Dragon.
Thank you very much for such a wonderful review of our state, and the dragon. It is really nice to see someone from somewhere that the motorcycle culture is so much more engrained than the U.S. and what they think of the things we take for granted. Again thank you so much, that was beautiful.
I live down the road from the loop. Love it.
Such a lovely vlogs from a lovely woman,, greetings from Iraqi biker ❤
Awesome Video!!! Thanks
It's definitely on my list..
Great video !!
First trip to Deals gap . Home based at Townsend for the weekend.Excellent presentation Lea.
I have done both a lot of times but.last year did the Trans American trial also known as the TAT and came threw there on my ADV bike and still had a blast it is a fun ride and lot.of nice People along the way
Really enjoyed your content.. I was just there in early summer and loved the riding there…
Wonderful pictures... as usual. Thank you for allowing us to travel with you.
Thank you for joining the ride!
😍😍😍😍✌️✌️lota of love and best wishes✌️✌️✌️😍
🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻
@@Got2Go 😉
Did something similar in an F-Type this past spring in one day. Did a lap that started and ended in Franklin, NC. Skyway out and Dragon back, including Moonshiners and Hellbender. Stopped at so many places on a lark. Perfect weather. That whole area from The Dragon to Devil's Triangle down south is incredible. What makes it even more special is talking to all the people out there about their cars or bikes and their experiences.
Fantastic video. I'm a professional photographer and took many stills, but nothing like what you have produced here. I appreciate it on many levels. Great work.
I really enjoyed this video. Thank you for taking us along.
I live in the area, and have ridden the Dragon and the Cherohala several times. I’m glad you enjoyed the ride.
Great video. I just rode both on my Goldwing. The skyway was much more enjoyable and less stressful to me. Love the drone shots.
I really want to ride this area. It is so beautiful. Your drone footage is very well done.
Thank you ☺️
I really enjoyed this road trip with you, your riding, pictures, drone footage and audio was great. I have slayed this dragon twice, riding from Canada and now I have a new bike and helmet, I need to go back for the stickers! I agree, it is a must do but so many, curvy twisty roads that area, the Snake was one of my favorites! Best to do that Tail of the Dragon mid week when the sporties and all the 4 wheel traffic are not there. Ill be back for sure, your video has fueled my passion!
Beautiful footage and comentary Lea! Well done (again) 😊👍
Welcome to my homeland. I hope you enjoy your ride.
I spent my young life in the hills of the Blue Ridge.
I had a nice Audi S4 years ago that I wanted to take down to the tail, but never made it. I don’t think my truck would be as much fun as a sports car or motorcycle. Thanks for taking us along
I did not imagine North Carolina this beautiful.
Me neither! 😍
The Skyway is breathing but the Dragon is a hoot. We’ve done both on our sportscar. Thank you for your videos. Your use of the drone is impressive and ads a third dimension to your videos. Thank you!
Just catching up , brilliantly done thanks great vid
More for the scenery along the way ,also the destination and the people you meet along the way! Sure enjoy your channel🙂
.
Beautiful video!! Thank you for posting it! I live here in Florida and I'm looking forward to making this ride!
Nice. That's my back yard. Love it.
spectacular footage. nice video
heading up there in 4 days with my miata, cant wait!
I just love the Cherohola Skyway and The Dragon. We stay at the Tail of the Dragon Inn sometimes. What a beautiful area. Thank you for the excellent video!
North Carolina looked just Beautiful. I can easily imagine myself living there.
Great video stunning views amazing biker roads
I was just there in September. I stayed in Robinsville and rode the Dragon twice, Cherohala once, and the Blueridge Parkway from Cherokee to Asheville once. Fantastic riding out there. Hopefully I'll get to Europe some day and ride there as well.
All video best
I love that part of Tn. I live near Memphis and honestly, you didn't miss much by not coming through here with the exception of good BBQ. The Cherohala Skyway is my favorite ride out that way.
Amazing video n great hard work keep it up
Thank you so much!
Lea, thanks for another beautiful video and I wish you a happy journey!
Thank you so much!