The twisty mountain roads were calling, so when I found out that my Bunk-a-Biker hosts in California last summer were on their own cross-country trip this year and heading east, I jumped on the “excuse” to ride out to the Smokey Mountains to meet them! If Larry and Shannon couldn’t make it all the way out to my town so I could return their hosting hospitality, the least I could do was to take them sightseeing through some of the best riding in our state. As luck would have it, Dave, my new long-distance riding buddy met through CVMA, was free and decided to make the four to five-hour trip out west with me. Though the weather forecast threatened the whole trip, we lucked out and mostly only experienced rain once we were back at the lodge with the bikes parked for the night.
The Iron Horse Motorcycle Lodge and Resort is located on a secluded 39-acre tract of land surrounded by the Smokey Mountains. The expansion and improvements to this scenic, specialized lodging over the decade that had passed since I last stayed here were incredible. In addition to tent camping and lodge rooms, there are now cabins, covered wagons, bunkhouses, RV camping, and even a whole house you can rent out.
Evenings were spent around the Iron Horse firepit talking bikes and rides.
Breakfast every morning included a stop at the map table to review the day’s route. Dave has ridden this area more than I have, so he took lead for rides, making sure to incorporate as many of Larry and Shannon’s bucket-list items as possible. With Iron Horse right off NC-28, the twisties started at the lodge entrance and led to Fontana Dam and numerous named routes.
Nicknaming a road, or a series of roads that make up a route, is a way for bikers to easily reference a course that is particularly fun to ride because it is so technical and/or scenic. The Smokey Mountains, and surrounding area, are chock full of famous named routes like Moonshiner 28 (aka Hellbender 28), Diamondback, Rattler, and probably the most legendary of all – The Tail of the Dragon. The eastern terminus of “The Dragon,” the intersection of NC-28 and US-129 in NC, has a carnival feel to it with gift shops, hotel, dragon sculptures, a tree of shame (a tree adorned with motorcycle parts left on the route), and motorcycles of all makes and models accompanied by excited and nervous riders representing the full spectrum of riding experience.
With 318 curves in 11 miles through the Smokey Mountains, there are professional photographers (Killboy.com and 129Photos.com) stationed throughout the iconic Tail of the Dragon to capture the experience. That’s Larry and Shannon on the orange bike behind me in the 129Photos.com pic.
Connecting the Tail of the Dragon to the Gatlinburg/Pigeon Forge area, the southern section of the Foothills Parkway provides breathtaking views of the Smokey Mountains to the east, and the Tennessee Valley to the west. Although the parkway is still under construction, the 50-mile section between Chilhowee and Wears Valley, TN was started in 1966, with the last segment completed in 2018. Behind me in the pic is Dave by his red Honda and Larry & Shannon behind their orange Harley.
View of the Smokey Mountains from a scenic overlook on Foothills Parkway.
Newfound Gap Road (US-441) runs right through the Great Smokey Mountains National Park with amazing views of the Little Pigeon and Oconaluftee Rivers, access to Clingman’s Dome, travel over Newfound Gap (5,046 ft), and even a legit 360-degree corkscrew turn!
Newfound Gap Road terminates at the Oconaluftee Visitor Center adjacent to the Cherokee Indian Reservation and an entrance to the Blue Ridge Parkway. We were fortunate to see a few elk in the field near the Mountain Farm Museum, including this cow (female elk) and calf right on the side of the road. A National Park Service volunteer was trailing behind them to block traffic when she decided to walk right down the center of the road 😊
Iron Horse put on a great firework show for Independence Day weekend. It was the perfect ending to a big riding day.
Along the 103-mile Moonshiner 28 (from the Tail of the Dragon in NC through Georgia to Walhalla, SC), there are numerous scenic overlooks and waterfalls tucked into the twisty curvature of the road. Larry, Shannon, me, and Dave stopped at Dry Falls for a little break. True to its name, you can walk behind the falls and remain relatively dry while cooling down. The same was true for Bridal Veil Falls, just a couple miles up the road, but its flow was much less forceful.
After the falls, Larry and Shannon headed up to Maggie Valley for a visit to the Wheels Through Time Motorcycle Museum while Dave and I headed west to ride Wayah Road. I had driven this road in my truck (and posted about my connection to it HERE), and vowed to come back and ride it on my motorcycle- so I did! Little did I know that not only is this is a lesser-known biker favorite run, but also part of the Mountain Waters Scenic Byway. We stopped at Lakes End Café and Grill on Nantahala Lake along the 28-mile Wayah Road (NC-1310 connecting US-74 to US-64 through the Nantahala Forest) to take in the beautiful views over lunch. My trout sandwich was delicious!
We finished off the day by riding part of the Cherohala Skyway, a wonderfully twisty 43-mile National Scenic Byway that runs from Robbinsville, NC to Tellico Plains, TN. By this time, we were feeling the heat and over a hundred miles of intense riding, so we stopped off at Pineapple Whip in Robbinsville before getting back to Iron Horse Lodge to soak our feet in the creek – and scramble out of it when a brown water snake slithered next to my leg 😮
The next morning it was time to say good-bye to Larry and Shannon and make our way east after an incredible weekend of riding. It really is astonishing that a biker couch-surfing-like website can result in friendships that span time and geography! Dave and I finished out the nearly 250-mile day under dry, hot skies. I smiled as I glanced at the 1,100 miles trip reading on my odometer before shutting off the bike’s engine, safely home in my garage. I walked into my house content and already planning my next ride 😊
FitHippie Adventures 
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