Hello all, I'm planning my summer trip and this year I am planning to head East. Goal is to leave on a Wednesday at lunch time from Iowa, make it to deals gap on Thursday late afternoon, and camp somewhere in that area. Any recommendations for a good camp ground around tail of the dragon?

From there I am going to take off early Friday morning and ride Blue Ridge parkway north on Friday/Saturday. Will two full days be enough to ride the whole thing? Is there a good halfway point I could camp at Friday night? I am then planning on hoteling it Saturday night somewhere around Charlottsville, VA.

From Charlottesville I am going to book it up to Boston to see a buddy and spend the night Sunday night (while trying to avoid Baltimore, NYC, Philly), and then leave Boston Monday morning and ride up into Maine. From there I don't have much of a plan and this is where I would like some input. Whats the best riding to do Monday/Tuesday in the NE? I would like to see Vermont and New Hampshire along with Maine, then start working my way back through New York and doing some good riding on Tuesday.

I have to be back to Iowa by Thursday Night, so Wednesday and Thursday will be spend just high tailing it back home. I would like to stay somewhere in SW NY or NW PA Tuesday night as that will leave me around 1000 miles to do between Wednesday and Thursday.

I'm doing this trip solo as I told my wife I want to do one solo trip before we have kids. Here's a pic of a rough idea of the route I want to take. Is 3,600 miles to ambitious to do in 8 days and still enjoy my self? I don't want to not have time to stop and enjoy the views, but typically if I'm by my self I can stop get a picture, and be back rolling in 5 minutes.

 

For a one week trip IMO you'll be stretched very thin.

JMO...pick one of the two regions and spend time there....and if it were me, I'd pick the Smokys any day of the week for a week-long trip vs Maine.

Regardless, Blue Ridge gets boring after awhile...and the speed limit is 45 and strictly enforced so you're not going to make great time/mileage on it.

I liked this campground- they also have little cabins: http://www.kickstandlodge.com/

Many like this place: http://ironhorsenc.com/

Many dry counties down that way but the roads are awesome. The Dragon is ok, but IMO not the best road down that way to ride.

 

Agree with F150HD

Come to NC/TN mountains and **** on the northeast. Oops, don't want to alienate the northeast brethren. NC, TN and GA mountains rock!!!

 

 

The southern half of the Parkway is the absolutely the best.

 

The dragon is a fun technical road..... but MANY other great roads to ride, also!

 

Pretty aggressive schedule there. Be sure to ride Skyline Drive. It's 110 miles - Front Royal, VA to Afton, VA where it turns into the BRP.

In NC/TN ride the Cherohala Skyway instead of the Dragon. Really nice ride and you won't have to compete with the crowd on the Dragon.

Enjoy the trip!

 

Plus you may want to stop in some of the local museums like Wheels thru Time in Maggie Valley, and others, seems tight based on your miles !

 

BRP- have done lower and upper. Shenandoah is cool but its a toss up on where you plan to spend most of your time. WV is great riding too.

Some maps to check out: https://tailofthedragonmaps.com/


Do a deep south tour, eat some boiled peanuts. Roadside stand at least every 20 miles

 

check out hunts lodge in tellico plains tn. great place to stay and then hit cherhola skyway over to the dragon[better than dragon imho]. we rode part of skyway and BRP a couple years ago and got whammied by a hurricane , it was so foggy that seeing the front of your bike was challenging . we met a lot of great people both local and travelers that it was still a good ride. 8 days youll be pushing it. look at i think 55 in ohio i rememeber looking at my own license plate a couple times. twisty. best of luck