Tail of the Dragon

The Tail of the Dragon is the 11-mile stretch of U.S. 129 at Deals Gap near Tapoco, where the highway runs between North Carolina and Tennessee through a remote corner of the Great Smoky Mountains. North Carolina's highway-safety office calls it a scenic and winding stretch and puts its appeal plainly: “the attraction is the tightly winding road itself.” Its remote setting and lack of intersections are much of its draw, and both states' highway patrols have run joint safety and enforcement campaigns along it.