WEDNESDAY - DAY THREE

We planned a short route as we wanted to be on the road back to Robbinsville by 3 pm. This was another double loop figure eight day but with more than half the route on gravel. After having our camp breakfast of course.

We headed out on US 25/70 south crossing the French Broad River and took a quick left onto River Road. This road is paved for a few miles and then turns into gravel. After some six miles along the river it turns uphill at Paint Rock, crosses into Tennessee, crosses Paint Creek and then forks. Turn to the right for a great ride along Lower Paint Creek Road (paved) with some great places to stop for photos or a Red Bull break. We explored this route, backtracked and then took the left fork Paint Rock Road (gravel). This road climbed from the river (1300 feet) through the morning mist to Lone Pine Gap (2200 feet) before descending to TN 107 (1700 feet).

We hung a right taking TN 107 (paved) northward a mile and a half, turned right onto Rollins Chapel Road (paved), and then took another quick right onto Lower Paint Creek Road (paved). After a short distance Lower Paint Creek Road veres to the right and connects up to where we had already explored (SEE PREVIOUS PARAGRAPH). Staying straight the road turned to gravel and we climbed on Hurricane Gap Road to the Tennessee/North Carolina state line at Hurricane Gap (2900 feet).

We decided to explore the dead end road to the right which took us to the Rich Mountain Lookout Tower (3600 feet). Visibility was severely limited because of the mist and clouds that still hadn’t lifted. The state line runs right under the tower.

Backtracking to the intersection we bore to the right and descended four miles on Lookout Mountain Road to US 25/70 (2100 feet).

We then took US 25/70 north back through Hot Springs and continued south of NC 209 six and a half miles and then took a right onto Meadow Fork Road for 11 miles. This road is scenic rural farmlands. The last two miles or so are gravel leading up to Max Patch Road. We had planned to continuing straight across Max Patch and taking Westley Creek Road southward to Ferguson’s Crossroads, but the two roads looked to be rather rugged and we weren’t in the mood to go dirt biking with clouds on the horizon. We turned right and took Max Patch Road northward to Max Patch Mountain where we have braved the rain storm two days earlier. There is a one-mile loop trail to the grassy peak (4629 feet elevation) which offers some great 360 degree views. The Appalachian Trails crosses Max Patch Bald. They were grading the road near Max Patch and that can make for tricky riding.

After taking a few picts and downing a Red Bull we backtracked to Little Creek Road, then to Meadow Fork. We decided to give the restaurant we saw in Spring Creek Valley in the old high school building. There are signs for GRITS (Girls Raised in the South) everywhere and being picky eaters we didn’t really want to eat there ……. but we stopped. The menu should have told us. There were thirty different sandwiches/wraps, fifteen different dinner plates, 14 different salads, and various pizzas. I asked if they had grits and one of the GRITS girls who was waitressing said no!  I ordered a hamburger and asked if the fried okra was fresh …. nope. Here we are out in the middle of the country and they have no grits or fresh okra? Nancy ordered the crumbled veggie burger salad, we ate and got out of Dodge. Sorry GRITS girls, you need to have Chef Ramsey pay you a visit and straighten out your restaurant.

We hit rain for a few miles heading back to camp on NC 209, but it soon cleared and we arrived in sunshine. That is fairly common in the mountains in the summer months. It can rain in spots and then it is gone. The sun comes out and the roads dry in an hour.

We packed-up the bikes and hit the road for home. This time we took US 25/70 south into Asheville and the I-40 west in order to avoid the tight corners on NC 207 in the RV. Time was about the same and it was much safer.

TOTAL MILES: 81
ROADS: Paved and well maintained gravel
REMOTENESS: 5 to 9 on a scale of 10
COMMENTS: Only for dualsports. Gravel roads were well maintained but did have some steep sections with switchbacks. Road grading on gravel roads presented minimal difficulty. Average or better riders should have no problem.
HIGHLIGHTS: Remote back roads, scenic rural farmlands. Great twisties on NC 209. No Tennessee Highway Patrol.
BE AWARE: Very few gas stations so be sure to gas up when you can. GRITS  was a big disappointment to us.
WARNINGS: Watch your speeds as there are some tricky corners on some of these roads. Cell phone service marginal. GPS can be tricky and show roads that are actually trails …. Beware when the GPS identifies a road as just ROAD !!

DAY ONE
DAY TWO