Most liked posts in thread: Anybody ever hear of "Back of the Dragon"?

Interesting find! Never heard of it, but I do like the slogan.

Maybe if the "Tail" was designated a tourism zone, they might finally block trucks from going down it in BOTH directions.

I do wonder about the 32 miles. The most unique thing to me about the Dragon in TN/NC is the fact that there are no driveways or intersecting roads, period. If this 32 mile stretch has that feature, I will find my way there for sure at some point.:cornut:

 

I was on some really nice twisties in VA last week, outside of Bedford and noticed that in VA, the speed limit on these roads was 55. One of them was the old "hair pin" type, right up the side of the mountain, with no guard rails. I was told, by locals, that new roads have been build now and the twisty ones are rarely used.

 

Yup that is the best part of the Dragon and the Foothills Parkway.

Oh and TN is not smart enough to block trucks from entering the Dragon from the TN side. :mad2::mad2::mad2:
They will someday when someone has a crazy accident with a truck and has the money and a good lawyer and sues TN for allowing trucks on that section of road.

 

That's why you just lift off the gas. Possibly, down shift a gear. And if you have the detector rigged right... only you will see the lights.

 

Heard of it but have not been there yet, sounds good.

 

Interesting. I couldn't find anything about car events, but one of the sponsors is a Porsche dealer. Seems they started in 2001.
Back of the Dragon now a tourism zone in Tazewell » Local News » Bluefield Daily Telegraph, Bluefield, WV

 

Look at their map it looks like there are 2 good sections of limited access road. Both ends closer to the towns have a lot of roads coming in and a section in the middle has some more.

Remember no radar detectors allowed in VA.

 

:lol::lol::lol: I run my V1 every year without any issues. :devil::devil::devil:

FYI they can't detect them. :ihih:

 

hmm - i think i found a road to travel on the way to the start of this year's BRPT

 

Yes, Back of the Dragon, starts just pass Hungry Mothers State Park near Marion, VA. I have driven it several times. Beautiful and a fun drive if you have the right machine. Need the great balance of power and handling. Mini works great on this road.

 

We did that road last year on the way to the north end of the Blue Ridge Parkway Tour. As other have said, access isn't very limited so you can't go "full-dragon" for all of their 33 miles but it is a good set of twisteys.

Another decent little road (again, not limited access) is VA-56 from Vesuvius over the parkway... you can go all the way to Patrick Henry parkway but we usually turn around and go back before then.

 

Just remember that there is more than one way to be caught, some are very low tech. Family friend who was the County Sheriff told me if they radar your car and you brake, that's probable cause to stop you to look for a detector. Also, if when they radar you, they see lights come inside, that too is cause to stop you.

 

Yup, yup. Was recently there:

http://meetu.ps/2GmF67

 

Kinda of an old thread, but I'll chime in with my opinions on BACK of the Dragon. Our club, Hampton Roads club MINI had a run through there last year. It crosses three mountain ranges. Those are good, but the sections in between those ranges are a bit boring. Like Dave eluded to, there are side streets and driveways to deal with. The 32 mile claim, while true, is a bit disingenuous. The fun parts maybe make up 18-20sime miles of it. Still, not quite as hairpiny as teh Dragon is but there are a few "damn near stop" turns. There are a good number of sweepers, many of which are blind, as you'd expect.

I'd do it again when I get a chance, but I doubt I'd make a special trek across the state for it. I'd honestly drive a bit further and hit Foothills or Cherohala.