US-129 · Deals Gap · USA

Tail of the Dragon

Eleven miles of US-129 with a bend every few seconds, on the edge of the Great Smoky Mountains. Here it is called corner by corner, the way a co-driver would.

StartFinishHairpin

18.5 kmLength

176Pace-note calls

21Hairpins

87Tight corners (1–2)

↑240 ↓460Climb and drop, m

≈630 mHighest point

Counts are from Turini’s pace-note engine on this route. Heights come from terrain data and can differ from signposted figures by a few tens of metres.

Where is the Tail of the Dragon?

On US-129 at Deals Gap, on the border between North Carolina and Tennessee. The route on this page starts at Deals Gap and runs north-west into Tennessee.

Why the Tail of the Dragon is famous

It is billed as 318 curves in 11 miles, and it is a pilgrimage road for motorcyclists and sports-car drivers. Photographers set up at the corners on busy days.

It doesn’t climb much. What makes it hard is that the corners never stop: a long, unbroken chain of tight bends with hardly a straight between them, which is exactly where pace notes help.

Tail of the Dragon curves

Over 18.5 km Turini calls 21 hairpins and 155 corners graded 1 to 6. That is 176 calls in all, one every 105 metres on average. Grade 1 is the tightest, 6 is nearly straight (how to read pace notes).

HP21

136

251

327

416

513

612

Elevation profile

From 564 m at the start to 342 m at the finish, with a highest point of about 630 m. Red marks are the hairpins.

700 m300 m

0 km9.3 km18.5 km

Tail of the Dragon pace notes, first few km

The first 25 calls, exactly as Turini reads them, with the distance from the start.

5 mHairpin left

240 mLeft 2

365 mRight 4

475 mRight 1 long

560 mLeft 2 opens

710 mLeft 6 over crest

790 mLeft 4 long

950 mRight 2

1.05 kmRight 4

1.10 kmLeft 1

1.16 kmRight 3

1.21 kmLeft 3

1.26 kmRight 2

1.46 kmRight 4

1.50 kmHairpin left

1.68 kmRight 3

1.81 kmLeft 3

1.88 kmRight 6

2.13 kmRight 5

2.23 kmRight 2

2.32 kmLeft 1

2.48 kmRight 5

2.59 kmRight 5

2.70 kmRight 3

2.77 kmLeft 2

That takes you to 2.77 km. 151 more calls follow over the remaining 15.7 km.

Before you go

The speed limit is low and enforced, and the road is narrow with little run-off. Oncoming traffic, often motorcycles, cuts corners, so keep to your side.

Weekends in spring, summer and autumn are the busiest.

How to drive the Tail of the Dragon with Turini

Set the route before you leave and Turini saves its notes on the phone, so it works with the screen off and no signal. On the road it reads each call about 4.5 seconds before the corner, timed to your speed, and you never touch the phone. It also works through Android Auto. If pace notes are new to you, start in Simple mode (Easy, Medium, Hard) and switch to the 1–6 scale once it feels natural.

Always drive within the law, the conditions and what you can see. Turini tells you what the map says; the road is what counts.

More roads

Stelvio PassItaly15.7 km · 165 calls · 47 hairpins

Col de TuriniFrance12.6 km · 153 calls · 19 hairpins

Evo TriangleWales20.1 km · 91 calls

All famous roads · How to read pace notes

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