Seeing as how today was dam near perfect I decided to take a ride on the Dragon. On the way I discovered that the Foothills Parkway connecting it from 321 is closed. No indication as to why or how long. No sign of work or heavy equipment. Luckily, being a local, I know that there's more than one way to reach the lair. I know that Dewain is trying to whip up interest for a run this coming weekend so I thought I would give a head's up to anyone who might be planning to join him. A viable alternate route is to take 411/129 south. About 9 miles from the Jameson Inn 129 will split off of 411 (to the left). This is the original route to Fontana and is in excellent shape. Its not a bad road to have fun on either (55 mph speed limit).

The Dragon itself is in great shape. I hope they get the connector open before the July gathering.

 

Thanks for the UPDATE! We really appreciate the inside scoop!

 

My thanks too Ravenwerk.

 

Ravenwerk,

Thanks very much for your thoughtful post here. The Foothills Parkway being closed has always been a concern for me when we have the Dragon events. Thanks very much for the heads up on this.

Any folks traveling to the Dragon within the next couple of days will surely be thankful of your post. Very helpful!

 

The Foothills has been closed for the past month or so. I went up there a few days after the huge storms rolled through the Knoxville area, and wiped out the roads around Tapaco (sp.?).

On the parkway about four miles from 129 the road was blocked off. I decided to see what the problem was and walked along the road for about two miles, but saw nothing.

It may be closed to the public for police reasons also. The day after I was up there. The police discovered the body of a missing UT student. I don't know if this has anything to do with the road closing, but it seems a bit coincidental.