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@confused66 indicated they were planning a trip in the next couple of months and asked for route recommendations in western North Carolina and north Georgia. I took the time to pull some recommendations together and thought I would share with the group. I created a route that starts in Franklin, NC and hits the following:
Wayah Road
Forest Service Road 711 (Road to Nowhere)
US129 from Robbinsville to Tennessee which includes the Tail of the Dragon
Cherohala Skyway
Fontana Dam Road
Blood Mountain (US 19)
Richard B. Russell Scenic Parkway (GA 180)
GA60 to Suches
Wolf Pen Gap (GA 180)
I've struggled to post the Google Maps files but here are the waypoints that you can drop in. I've driven these roads in groups and alone and while I can find them and know them, I'm not the expert. Please feel free to post recommendations and corrections.
Waypoints:
Franklin, NC
Nantahala Lake Scenic Overlook (on Forest Service Road 711)
Robbinsville, NC
Vonore, TN
Ebenezer Ballplay Church (not in the screenshot below but allows you to take 360 which looks interesting)
Cherohala Skyway
Tapoco Lodge
Fontana Dam
Robbinsville, NC
Blairsville GA
Russell-Brasstown Scenic Byway (take it all the way to the end and turn around and go back)
Sunrise Grocery and River Cabins
US-19, Dahlonega, GA 30533 (Waypoint isn't specific. You want to continue south on US 19 from Sunrise Grocery and take a right on GA60 to Suches)
Maybe put these in the newly revitalized Roads app?
I had the Road app installed a while back and deleted it. At your suggestion, I downloaded it again. It has some good routes in there. Getting a route in there proved very difficult. You can't do it on a computer and there aren't sufficient details in the phone app to specify the waypoints. The solution is to create a GPX file. I may give that a try.
Having said all of that. If you are wanting a fun route for a drive in a new area you might try the roads app. You can pick your location, direction, and duration and it will recommend a route nearby that meets the requirements. However, it's a random route and there's no way to judge whether it is for you or not.
I've driven most of these routes, not all inthe same trip, or even the same year, but they are great driving roads. I recommend the website Sixgap.com, which includes some of your routes. I've never had much luck with the Roads app.
After commenting on this topic I started looking at various websites about the area, so many good drivingvroads I'm planning to go back myself soon. We'll probably stay at Forrest Hills Suites resort outside Dahlonega, and one must see this time will be Brasstown Bald, highest point in GA. I hope to do the six gaps plus several other roads in the area oferc2-3 days. We stayed one night at Forrest Hills Suites last time and it's a good base camp for driving the area. Good food too.
I'm not finding the Roads app in the Play Store. Does it go by another name?
If by "Play Store" you mean the Google Play Store.... I think you're out of luck. As far as I know the Porsche Roads app is Apple-only.
As for some of these routes - all good ones listed. I just moved to Atlanta over this past Memorial Day but have explored a lot of these roads... and man it's super nice to have these all in my backyard! If there winds up being a Rennlist gathering... post up. Would love to cruise out and meet a few other RL'ers!
Great shares here, will be saving this post. I try to make one trip annually into the Blue Ridge just to drive the lovely tarmac, this spring is proving difficult to earmark a weekend, so this time I might do a fall visit. It's not the easiest trip for me to plan coming from the NYC area and at the age that I now avoid driving at night; but the trip happening in 2023 will be necessary for me and the 718.
I note that the OP here is largely proposing round-ish routes, but my insight says that the Cherohala Skyway should have been pointed out or acknowledged stand-alone as an incredible stretch to drive. Added to that, if you've got any reason to go south, I would recommend a half-day itinerary starting in Waynesville looking like, Robbinsville to Tellico Plains (Cherohala), then take the Unicoi Tpk south towards/through Turtletown (I took it to ATL once, and the first 3/4 of the route was very nice driving though I admit it's been a few years since). FWIW, I seek out spaghetti looking roads on almost every trip I've taken over the past 20 years; the Cherohala Skyway is at the #1 spot on the most enjoyable roads I've been privileged to attack list. There are some canyons in CA that make a great argument, but then I'd have to go to CA and deal with their residents, so Cherohala stays as my MVP.
I'm so jealous of the roads you locals get to have nearby - and I can't really complain much as we do have mountains and scenic drives in my area, not somewhere flat as paper like Florida.
Last edited by DreiPedals; 01-03-2023 at 05:19 PM.
Great shares here, will be saving this post. I try to make one trip annually into the Blue Ridge just to drive the lovely tarmac, this spring is proving difficult to earmark a weekend, so this time I might do a fall visit. It's not the easiest trip for me to plan coming from the NYC area and at the age that I now avoid driving at night; but the trip happening in 2023 will be necessary for me and the 718.
I note that the OP here is largely proposing round-ish routes, but my insight says that the Cherohala Skyway should have been pointed out or acknowledged stand-alone as an incredible stretch to drive. Added to that, if you've got any reason to go south, I would recommend a half-day itinerary starting in Waynesville looking like, Robbinsville to Tellico Plains (Cherohala), then take the Unicoi Tpk south towards/through Turtletown (I took it to ATL once, and the first 3/4 of the route was very nice driving though I admit it's been a few years since). FWIW, I seek out spaghetti looking roads on almost every trip I've taken over the past 20 years; the Cherohala Skyway is at the #1 spot on the most enjoyable roads I've been privileged to attack list. There are some canyons in CA that make a great argument, but then I'd have to go to CA and deal with their residents, so Cherohala stays as my MVP.
I'm so jealous of the roads you locals get to have nearby - and I can't really complain much as we do have mountains and scenic drives in my area, not somewhere flat as paper like Florida.
Everyone has there taste in roads. No on likes traffic or tight law enforcement of course. But find the roads that are bendy enough to be enjoyable without being so tight that they are stressful is the challenge. I tend to agree that the Cherola strikes the right balance. Plus it has enough visibility that I don't worry about a head-on collision or dropping a wheel onto the shoulder and bending it at every corner. On that map, the road from the Dragon to Fontana Dam to Robbinsville is tighter than Cherohala but relaxed enough to be enjoyable. Also, I can't recommend Wayah Road and Forest Service Road 711 enough.
Been riding that area for the last 19 years on my motorcycles and now with my Cayman. Cherohala Skyway is definitely the marquis road among them all. Route 28 from Deals Gap to near Robbinsville NC is a good one. Going up the south side of Blood Mountain in Georgia is a blast as well.
The Foothills Parkway is a great road, especially the newer section from where it crosses under 321 to Wears Valley.
12-28-2022, 12:51 PM
Route Recommendations NC and GA
