Foothills Parkway: Chilhowee to Wears Valley
The western section of this National Park Service parkway, about 33 miles between US 129 at Chilhowee (the Tail of the Dragon's own northern end) and US 321 at Wears Valley. Wide lanes and sweeping curves rather than tight technical corners, with sustained ridge views of the Smokies.
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National Park Service road; check current conditions before a trip, as sections have a history of weather and construction closures separate from the Dragon or Cherohala. Check current access · Reviewed 2026-09-22
Planning the drive
This western section of the Foothills Parkway starts at US 129 in Chilhowee — literally the Tail of the Dragon's own northern end — and runs 31.6 miles to US 321 at Wears Valley. Despite starting where the Dragon does, it drives nothing like it: 90 bends over that distance is a density of 2.8 per mile, wide lanes and sweeping curves built for sustained ridge views of the Smokies rather than tight technical work. Treat it as the decompression drive after the Dragon, not a second dose of the same thing. Wikipedia: Foothills Parkway
This is a National Park Service road, and it has its own separate history of weather and construction closures apart from the Dragon or the Cherohala Skyway nearby — a clear US 129 doesn't mean the Parkway is open. Check current NPS conditions before relying on it.
Roads to connect
- Tail of the Dragon · US 129Starts at the exact same US 129 junction where the Dragon ends, at the Chilhowee end.
Driving notes updated .
Road shape
- Length
- 31.6 mi
- Bends
- 90
- Switchbacks
- 9
- Bends per mile
- 2.8
- Turning per mile
- 311°
- Curviest rank
- 102of 152
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
- 7,631ft
- Climb per mile
- 241ft
- Highest point
- 2,594ft
- Steepest grade
- 7%
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.
No reliable posted limit was found for this selected section. Follow current signs.
Posted signs always govern. How speed evidence is handled.
Sources
Difficulty 1/3 (Relaxed) is our editorial rating of width, bends and sightlines; “Medium speed” describes character, not a target speed. Full method. Identified from:
- Wikipedia: Foothills Parkway
- Tail of the Dragon: Foothills Parkway
- OpenStreetMap road data (68 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.