Dragon – CKay Lens View

The Dragon P6

Day 2 of the Claw of the Dragon we woke up to a beautiful sunrise from the Big Walker Motel.

First stop was the Back of the Dragon shop in Tazwell. We picked up some BOTD souvenirs and visited with another rider before hitting the road again.

We traveled along the outer loop down the winding mountain roads going through beautiful countryside and several charming towns. Our next stop was the Grayson Highlands State Park.

Located in Mouth of Wilson, Virginia it is most often described as having alpine-like peaks. With elevations 5,000 ft, Grayson Highlands offers extraordinary views. Although we did not get to see them during our stop, the park is also well known for its wild ponies.

Heading towards the top, there is a visitor center that showcases exhibits and educational items on the history of the area. It covers topics like moonshine, music, the wildlife and lifestyle of the area and much more. You can also do some shopping in the Mountain Crafts Shop. The shop offers crafts and other gifts made by local artisans.

Close to the visitor’s center there is a nice overlook that is just a short walk called Buzzard Rock Overlook. At the time of English settlers, turkey vultures would nest in the rocks and reminded the settlers of the buzzard hawks of their homeland, hence the name “Buzzard Rock”.

After coming back now from the visitor’s center, we headed east on Route 58. Not far from the park entrance there was a gas station with a store inside that had a little bit of everything. It made the perfect backdrop for some pictures while we fueled up, and the owner was very friendly and talkative.

After fueling up, we continued on 58 and found a nice hotel near Hillsville to stop for the night. Total miles for Day 2 of our Claw trip were 183.

Check back for Dragon Trip part 6, our third day riding the Claw of the Dragon.

The Dragon P5

Our first trip we covered the head, neck, back and tail of the dragon. To complete the entire Dragon we took a second trip to the Claw of the Dragon. We saved the Claw for a separate trip because it is made up of 6 loops; the Wytheville, Galax, Bastian, Bland, Marion and Outer Loop. The entire Claw winds through 7 counties and totals over 350 miles. Located in Southwest Virginia the country roads of the Claw offer breathtaking views of the Blue Ridge Mountain range and surrounding countryside. There are several sources for information and maps about the Claw including the Wytheville tourism site and REVER.

Day 1 was mainly spent traveling. The one attraction we did see the first day was Big Walker Lookout and BW Country Store. Located on the Wythe/Bland County Line, Big Walker Lookout is the highest point on the Big Walker Mountain National Scenic Byway, which is the scenic bypass for I-77.

Big Walker Lookout offers amazing views from an observation tower and charming country store. The store sells a variety of items including handmade products from the Southwestern Virginia, Claw of the Dragon merchandise and my BF’s favorite part of the store…ice cream. There is plenty of seating and interesting decor to take in outside the store.

While BF was enjoying his ice cream I was able to get some great shots of a hummingbird who was also enjoying some sweet treats provided by the store.

The observation tower has been run by the same family since it was was originally built in 1947.

Originally, visitors crossed to the tower by way of a swinging bridge that connected to the back of the old general store, however in 2003 there was a fire that burned the original store down and a portion of the bridge. The swinging bridge that was not destroyed in the fire and still stands and offers great picture opportunities. Please overlook me being an oddball tying swing the bridge.

Located at an elevation of 3,405 feet, it is said on a clear day the 100 foot tower offers views of mountain peaks in five different states. Whether that is true or not, all I know is the climb up the tower is well worth the amazing views you get from the top.

The first day we covered 389 miles. We stayed the night at a nice little place in Bland, Big Walker Motel. It was a little dated, but it was clean and a great location for this trip.

The Dragon P1

Living in Pennsylvania I tend not to go on as many adventures during the winter months because I’m not a fan of the cold. However, this gives me an opportunity to share some of my past ones. The first one I’d like to share is The Dragon.

One of my favorite ways to see new places is traveling by bike. And no I don’t mean the ones you have to pedal. I think it’s great for those who do, but this gal just doesn’t have that much energy lol. I’m talking about motorcycles. Well, one day my bf was telling about the Tail of the Dragon. A section of road that almost all motorcycle riders have heard of and many have experienced, and how he’d like to do it. Me being the person I am, I started doing my research. I came back to him and said “you do know there is an entire dragon, right?”. Well he didn’t, and as we’ve come to find out most people do not. So instead of just experiencing the Tail of the Dragon, we took on the entire Dragon.

The Dragon is made up of the famous Tail of the Dragon, Back of the Dragon, Head of the Dragon, Neck of the Dragon and the Claw of the Dragon. The Claw of the Dragon is actually made of multiple loops so we decided to divide our “Dragon Adventure” into two trips. The first year we did everything but the Claw and the second year we did the Claw. I’m going to break our trips into multiple posts because there are a lot of miles and sites to cover. In this post I’ll just give you and an overview.

The Neck, Back and Claw are all located in Viginia, the Tail is in Tennessee and the Head is in West Virginia. I laid out our trip so thet we would do the Neck, then travel down the Back, make our way to the Tail, then do the Head on the way back home. Again, the Claw we left for our second trip.

The first day we traveled from western PA to a hotel in Staunton, VA close to the Neck of the Dragon. I planned it this way so we could get a good nights sleep and be bright-eyed and bushy-tailed for the true beginning of our adventure the next day. It was a lot of miles to cover so there weren’t many stops on the way down, but it was a beautiful ride.

The Dragon P2