The Hellbender 28 - By rtcoker

After you stop and catch your breath at Deal's Gap, from riding the Dragon, take this run. A really fun one. Speed limit WAS 55 up until 2018. now its 40 and patrolled a little bit heavier. But fun none the less. lots of twisties, a couple hair pins and you drive right by the bottom of Fontana Dam. It's the biggest dam in the Eastern US. tallest and widest. You can also ride up to the top and if it isn't under construction (as it has been the last couple years) you can ride across the top to a great picnic area and overlook on the far side. Fontana Resort is a popular place to stay for motor cyclists as well as car enthusiasts who want to enjoy the surrounding area and roads. Plenty of bragging goes on in the evening over everyone's wheels and rides. Hellbender follows the shore line of Cheoah Lake. Cheoah Dam at the bottom of the lake and bottom of the Dragon is the dam from which the Stunt double for Harrison Ford actually jumped for the film "The Fugitive". And so locals call the dam Fugitive Dam. The road doesn't allow commercial traffic and is usually lightly traveled. no side roads or driveways, mean the only thing you have to watch for is curves, oncoming traffic and an occasional rock from the Smoky mountains right alongside the road.