Devil's Whip: Buck Creek Gap to Marion
12 miles of North Carolina Highway 80 between Buck Creek Gap on the Blue Ridge Parkway and Marion, NC, with around 160 curves and roughly 2,000 ft of elevation change along Buck Creek.
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This road has real closure history: a mudslide shut part of it in 2018, and a nearby wildfire closed a section as recently as March 2026. It also crosses the Blue Ridge Parkway at Buck Creek Gap, which has its own seasonal and weather closures. Check DriveNC.gov before a trip. Check current access ↗ · Reviewed 2026-09-16
Planning the drive
The Whip drops from Buck Creek Gap on the Blue Ridge Parkway to Marion in 12.1 miles, with 70 counted bends and 14 switchbacks following Buck Creek down the mountain. Our own elevation data puts the high point at 3,343 ft and the relief at 2,079 ft — both line up closely with the road's own reputation, which is a useful cross-check that the mapped section is the real one.
This is a road with real, recent closure history: a mudslide shut part of it in 2018, and a nearby wildfire closed a section as recently as March 2026. It also crosses the Blue Ridge Parkway itself at Buck Creek Gap, which has its own separate seasonal and weather closures. Check DriveNC.gov rather than assuming a mapped road is a currently open one. WLOS: closed roads in McDowell County ↗
Roads to connect
Driving notes updated .
Road shape
- Length
- 12.1 mi
- Bends
- 70
- Switchbacks
- 14
- Bends per mile
- 5.8
- Turning per mile
- 650°
- Curviest rank
- 45of 141
Measured from the OpenStreetMap centreline at a 20 m sampling step — road shape only, not a safety or speed judgement. How bends are counted.
Elevation
- Total climb
- 2,245ft
- Climb per mile
- 186ft
- Highest point
- 3,343ft
- Steepest grade
- 7.8%
Sampled every 100 m from USGS 10 m elevation data, a public-domain federal dataset. Total climb counts vertical change in both directions, so it does not depend on which way you drive. How elevation is measured.
Speed limits
Varies
Unverified
Check posted signs along the road.
OpenStreetMap tags this route between 35 and 55 mph depending on the section, but this project does not treat OSM tags alone as a verified source. Follow posted signs.
Posted signs always govern. How speed evidence is handled.
Sources
Difficulty 3/3 (Demanding) is our editorial rating of width, bends and sightlines; “Technical” describes character, not a target speed. Full method. Identified from:
- Motorcycle Roads: North Carolina's Route 80 (Devil's Whip) ↗
- Wikipedia: North Carolina Highway 80 ↗
- Wikipedia: Buck Creek Gap ↗
- OpenStreetMap road data ↗ (12 ways in this trace)
Reviewed 2026-09-16. The trace shows selected road sections, not a navigation route.
Roads nearby
Distances are approximate straight lines between road centers, not driving distances or direct connections.
- Back of the Dragon · VA 16
- Tail of the Dragon · US 129
- Cherohala Skyway
- Richard B. Russell Scenic Highway · GA 348
Explore all Blue Ridge Parkway corridor, North Carolina roads →