event details
LOCATION
Our events are located at the 129 Hub in Maryville, Tennessee, which is 10 miles from the start of the Tail of the Dragon. Maryville is at the foothills of the Great Smoky Mountains and it’s twin city, Alcoa, is home to the Knoxville area airport. This makes Maryville a fantastic place to visit with no shortage of lodging and restaurants.
VENUE
The 129 Hub is the restaurant and retail store you want to stop by when visiting the Tail of the Dragon. Their food is fantastic and they have the nicest and classiest apparel and swag in the area. They also have a huge Dragon sign in their parking lot, which makes for an awesome photo opportunity. We are thrilled to be partnered with the 129 Hub and have them be the “home base” for our driving events.
REGISTRATION CHECK-IN
We will have our registration check-in open an hour or 90 minutes before our scheduled Driver Meeting, depending on the event. You will be emailed an Event Guide with the event details, times, maps, itinerary, and general event info. For the Dragon Rally events, you will receive your event decals, loaner walkie-talkies, printed maps and wrist-bands at the check-in. For all of our other events the registration and check-in info and times will be emailed prior to the event.
DRIVER MEETINGS
Before every drive we have a mandatory Driver Meeting to ensure everyone has a fun, yet safe experience. Here we will go over our driving route, safety rules and tips, how we communicate with our walkie-talkies, details on fuel stops and general drive information.
KILLBOY PHOTOGRAPHY
We have partnered with Killboy Photography, the original photographer of the Tail of the Dragon. Their team of photographers are stationed along the Tail of the Dragon to capture your bucket-list drive, and have been doing so since 2001. These guys are the best in the business and have been featured in dozens of magazines, books, and even on The Discovery Channel, History Channel, and Travel Channel, We have one of their photographers along with us for all of our events, so we are able to capture photos for you that no one else gets in the area, on roads no other photographers cover. Unlimited access to these photos are included in your event registration for you to download and have. These photo downloads are typically $9 each from their website.
FOOD
After our drives, we conclude the day back at the 129 Hub. We do not have planned lunch stops during our Dragon Rally events, as the driving is often too intense on these curvy mountain roads. We make several stops throughout the drive for fuel, and we suggest grabbing a small snack at teach stop to hold you over until our dinner. The 129 Hub always has a great breakfast that is available for purchase during our registration check-in to help hold you over.
THE DRIVES
Eastern Tennessee and Western North Carolina are home to the greatest driving roads in America, including the legendary Tail of the Dragon. This whole mountainous region is covered in fantastic roads, and we hope to cover them all! Every driving event travels different roads and will have a totally different route. Our daily drives can be anywhere from 220-300 miles, and last between five and seven hours. We will always have a fuel stop with every 80-100 miles.
DAM PHOTOSHOOT
We do a photoshoot at Fontana Dam for every event. The Fontana Dam is the tallest dam East of the Rocky Mountains and makes for some amazing scenery.
FUEL STOPS
We make several fuel stops during our drives and never go over 100 miles between stops. This is not only an opportunity for a restroom break, snack and gas, but an awesome time to catch up and socialize. We have had attendees say our gas stops were some of their best memories from the trip. It is like a rolling Cars and Coffee when we bring our Bimmers through some of these small towns and take over their gas stations. This is a great time to meet like-minded BMW enthusiasts, talk about the drive and insane roads you just completed, or how your BMW performed and how good your new friends’ inline-6 sounded.
LODGING
We have a discounted rate with Knoxville Airport Hilton, where the event is held. This is less than 30 miles from the Tail of the Dragon and right at the Knoxville area Airport. Being close to the airport means there are tons of restaurants and shopping if you needed anything on your trip. This hotel is newly remodeled and is a perfect fit for our guests.
This Alcoa hotel is connected by a covered walkway to Knoxville McGhee Tyson Airport. The hotel offers an indoor pool with waterfall and shuttle service within 5-miles of the hotel. Hilton Knoxville Airport rooms include a coffee maker, MP3 docking station and flat-screen TV. The rooms are also equipped with free WiFi and cable TV.
Your Registration Confirmation Email will have a link for our discounted rate for booking.
Knoxville Airport Hilton
2001 Alcoa Highway
Alcoa, TN, 37701