Deals Gap (el. ) is a

mountain pass A mountain pass is a navigable route through a mountain range or over a ridge. Since mountain ranges can present formidable barriers to travel, passes have played a key role in trade, war, and both Human migration, human and animal migration t ...

along the

North Carolina North Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, South Carolina to the south, Georgia (U.S. stat ...

–

Tennessee Tennessee (, ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders Kentucky to the north, Virginia to the northeast, North Carolina t ...

state line, bordering the

Great Smoky Mountains National Park Great Smoky Mountains National Park is a List of national parks of the United States, national park of the United States in the southeastern United States, southeast, with parts in North Carolina and Tennessee. The park straddles the ridgeline o ...

and near the

Little Tennessee River The Little Tennessee River (known locally as the Little T) is a tributary of the Tennessee River that flows through the Blue Ridge Mountains from Georgia, into North Carolina, and then into Tennessee, in the southeastern United States. It dra ...

. At south of the gap is the

unincorporated community An unincorporated area is a parcel of land that is not governed by a local general-purpose municipal corporation. (At p. 178.) They may be governed or serviced by an encompassing unit (such as a county) or another branch of the state (such as th ...

that shares the same name, located at the intersection of US 129 and NC 28. The area is popular with

motorcycle A motorcycle (motorbike, bike; uni (if one-wheeled); trike (if three-wheeled); quad (if four-wheeled)) is a lightweight private 1-to-2 passenger personal motor vehicle Steering, steered by a Motorcycle handlebar, handlebar from a saddle-style ...

and

sports car A sports car is a type of automobile that is designed with an emphasis on dynamic performance, such as Automobile handling, handling, acceleration, top speed, the thrill of driving, and Auto racing, racing capability. Sports cars originated in ...

enthusiasts, who cross the gap into Tennessee to drive along the "Tail of the Dragon", famous for its 318 curves in .

The Dragon

Deals Gap is a popular and internationally famous destination for

and

enthusiasts, as it is along a stretch of two-lane road known since 1981 as "Tail of the Dragon", often shortened to simply "The Dragon". The stretch of the Dragon in Tennessee is said to have 318 curves. Some of the Dragon's sharpest curves have names like Copperhead Corner, Hog Pen Bend, Wheelie Hell, Shade Tree Corner, Mud Corner, Sunset Corner, Gravity Cavity, Beginner's End, and Brake or Bust Bend. The road earned its name from its curves being said to resemble a dragon. The stretch bears the street name "Tapoco Road" in North Carolina and "Calderwood Highway" in Tennessee and is signed entirely by US 129 (hidden SR 115). Since part of the road is also the southwestern border of the

, there is no development along the stretch, resulting in no danger of vehicles pulling out in front of those in the right of way. It mostly travels through a forested area and there are a few scenic overlooks and pull-off points along the route. The

speed limit Speed limits on road traffic, as used in most countries, set the legal maximum speed at which vehicles may travel on a given stretch of road. Speed limits are generally indicated on a traffic sign reflecting the maximum permitted speed, express ...

on the Dragon was before 1992; it was reduced to in 2005. The presence of law enforcement on the Tennessee portion has dramatically increased since 2007. During the summer months, the

Blount County Rescue Squad The Blount County Rescue Squad, located in Alcoa, Tennessee, is a private, not-for-profit organization tasked with responding to various emergencies in Blount County, Tennessee, Blount County, Tennessee. Part of the Tennessee Association of Resc ...

maintains a presence on The Dragon on the weekends to assist

Rural/Metro Rural Metro Fire, founded in 1948, is an American private fire department that provides fire protection and emergency medical services to individual homeowners and commercial businesses in unincorporated locations throughout the United States, pr ...

with emergency calls stemming from the frequent motorcycle accidents that occur there, as Rural/Metro dispatches from nearby

Maryville, Tennessee Maryville is a city in and the county seat of Blount County, Tennessee. Its population was 31,907 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. History The Great Indian Warpath (which was used to build the route U.S. Route 411, US-411) was long ...

, and emergency response times may be in excess of an hour. Approximately 37

traffic fatalities A traffic collision, also known as a motor vehicle collision, or car crash, occurs when a vehicle collides with another vehicle, pedestrian, animal, road debris, or other moving or stationary obstruction, such as a tree, pole or building. Tra ...

were recorded on this stretch of road from 2000 to 2017. In December 2021,

YouTuber A YouTuber is a content creator and social media influencer who uploads or creates videos on the online video-sharing website YouTube, typically posting to their personal YouTube channel. The term was first used in the English language in 2006 ...

CGP Grey CGP Grey is an American educational entertainment, educational YouTuber, podcaster, and Online streamer, live streamer based in the United Kingdom who creates explanatory videos on subjects including politics, geography, economics, sociology, h ...

drove a

Tesla Model 3 The Tesla Model 3 is a Battery electric vehicle, battery electric powered Mid-size car, mid-size sedan with a fastback body style built by Tesla, Inc., introduced in 2017. The vehicle is marketed as being more affordable to more people than pr ...

equipped with the latest beta version of

Tesla Autopilot Tesla Autopilot is an advanced driver-assistance system (ADAS) developed by Tesla, Inc. that provides partial vehicle automation, corresponding to Level 2 automation as defined by SAE International. All Tesla vehicles produced after April 2019 ...

through Deals Gap. The autopilot successfully navigated the route without human intervention.

References

External links

Google Earth view

Deals Gap
at the

Open Directory Project DMOZ or DMoz (stylized dmoz in its logo; from ''directory.mozilla.org'', an earlier domain name) was a multilingual open-content directory of World Wide Web links. The site and community who maintained it were also known as the Open Directory P ...

Chasing the Tail of the Dragon
Reference point article on 2014 Tail of the Dragon (TOD) at Deals Gap, North Carolina {{authority control Unincorporated communities in North Carolina Unincorporated communities in Swain County, North Carolina Motorcycling subculture in the United States Communities of the Great Smoky Mountains U.S. Route 129

The Dragon

See also

References

External links