Riding Report: The Rattler

I wanted to ride to Hot Springs, NC today, which I had heard was a fun mountain town on a pretty creek.(More about this later.) The road between here and there entails a section of NC 209 that is one of the 'named' motorcycle roads locally, called "The Rattler." 

One of the things that draws tourists to the area are the twisty roads of the mountains, which are basically old mule trails someone later paved. Sports car enthusiasts as well as motorcycle riders flock to the Appalachians to ride the twisties, and some of the roads become famous enough to gain a name. By far the most famous of these is the Tail of the Dragon, which is US 129 at the TN/NC border. I've mentioned it several times here. There are many others, though, of great to modest fame.

The Rattler is actually fairly tame for a named road; there are plenty of far more twisty and dangerous roads around here than it. Having ridden it out and back, I can only assume that it became famous enough to get a name because it links the resort communities of Lake Junaluska and Hot Springs. There are short sections that are fairly twisty at each end, especially in the north in the Pisgah National Forest. There are a few surprises here and there in the middle. There was one curve marked with a warning for fifteen miles an hour that I took at thirty, for example. Nevertheless, there are also long sections where you can get to top gear and go just as fast as you'd like. I exceeded seventy-five at points on this route; on the Tail of the Dragon, there is no section where that speed is even possible. 

However! It is a very pretty ride through lovely valleys and gorges. Not having quite so many curves means that you can spend more time enjoying the scenery. Especially in the Pisgah it is quite beautiful. 

Hot Springs, by the way, is not a fun town at all right now. It must have been once. Hurricane Helene flooded that pretty creek to the point that it devastated the whole of the small downtown, gutting the historic buildings and leaving misery in her wake. They have not rebuilt enough to reopen almost any of them. Some that had patios have now brought in food trucks since their kitchens are long gone; others remain closed. 

In spite of that it is plagued by massive and terrible traffic. The recent closure of I-40 means that US 25/70 from Asheville to Knoxville, which passes through Hot Springs, is now the major artery of NC/TN traffic. There are lines of cars miles long trying to pass through the town in either direction on that road, barely creeping along through the central intersection of a dead town.