Ohio's "Tail of The Dragon"

[ImUrOBGYN]

This trip was taken two weekends ago. I tried posting it then, but got logged out while posting it, losing everything. So, here it is. The trip you've been missing.

 

So, been getting the itch for some advanced driving but your tired of Hocking Hills and it just doesn't cut it and that damn Tail of the Dragon is sooo farrrr. Well, I know just the road to scratch it.

 

Norm and I took a day out in the Supra and made the trip from Delaware to Newark to Zanesville, taking backroads wherever possible. However, it was Zanesville where it would all begin.

 

Just before you leave Zanesville out the southern side there is a road I find a suprising amount of native Ohioans know little about. Ohio's version of the Tail of the Dragon, the Triple Nickel, Highway 555.

 

This road lets you know what you're about to face immediately upon entering it. Shortly after, you get some looser turns and a couple straights as you exit Zanesville and it's housing, in turn, losing what little traffic we found that day. (A Tuesday, I believe.) From there on, my memory is almost a blur except when we took a break. Every turn imaginable. Bear with me as I try to do it justice. Banked turns, partial bank turns, decreasing radius, blinds, and hairpins, among these some of my favorites like steep hills that drop so quickly, you lose sight of the road ahead of you for a couple clicks. The best? WHen you crest that hill only to find out the road turns sharply immediately afterward. There are MANY of these. There's actually only a few sections were you can really get into a rythym due to the multitude of different turns. THis goes on for miles and miles. Wanna take a break from 555? Turn down one of the many other oh so twisty roads and follow a creek to a nice turnoff. Even the return trip up 50 and 33 proves to be a decently scenic and relaxing drive to wind down on. We saw next to ZERO traffic and no law enforcement. We even managed to finish up a great day of driving with a few runs against a wrx on 33. Yes, the Supra came out on top.

 

So, go ahead. Leave the Hocking Hills to the tourist and the car clubs. Treat yourself to Ohio's Triple Nickel. You won't be sorry.

 

Here's the link to Google Maps. This is pretty much the trip we took leaving Delaware, to Newark, to Zanesville, to Redbush, to Athens, to Columbus, etc. The extra Destinations were added to keep GoogleMaps from auto adjusting my intended route down 555. You take 555 from Zanesville to Redbush so this is a very easy route to take as long as you pay attention to the signs as 555 takes some weird turns occasionally.

 

I had planned on pics to go with this post, but forgot the damn camera, as I generally do.

 

http://tiny.cc/l8euh

[Rhett]

Sounds badass.... soooo when we getting a cruise to go down there

[Mr. Jones]

The bike guys have known about the triple nickle for a ages.......Been meaning to check it out myself.

[Aaron]

The bike guys have known about the triple nickle for a ages.......Been meaning to check it out myself.

 

I am down for a cruise sometime. Let me know.

[Mr. Jones]

I am down for a cruise sometime. Let me know.

 

Sounds like a plan.

[vitamincj]

Thanks for the info! I can't wait to try it out. It looks curvy even on the map.

CJ

[Draco-REX]

555 is fun, but it can bite back. There are a number of crests that can hide a bike or even a car on the other side. At the '08 River Run the running joke (that stemmed from an actual situation) was "Left 3, Over Crest, into Mini." What happened was that at one point a crest COMPLETELY hid a mini on the other side. Luckily he wasn't exactly going slow so we could haul down our speed in time.

 

Just be careful. As I said at the beginning, 555 is fun, but it can catch you out when you least expect it.

[Fiji ST]

Sounds like a crazy trip. Might have to run it sometime during a review. Edited May 31, 2009 by Fiji ST

[Dr. Apex]

555 is a very twisty road, been down it twice and it's a good one for sure.

[coty061885]

I typically take 78 to 33 coming back from my grandparent's house, near Caldwell. I think next time I'll jump onto 555 at Ringgold and give it a try. Thanks for this post.

[copperhead]

555 is what gave Kenny his bionic leg

[Bahnstoermer1647545488]

Riden it and driven it. It's safer in a car due to gravel, which varies depending on conditions but is always present. The advice above is correct - it's fun, but be careful, there are decreasing radius turns, dozens of blind rises, and almost every corner is blind But as long you're careful, it's a crazy fun road.

[6 Speed S4]

If Im thinking of the right route I've been on it many times. My grandma lives in bellefountaine, where my dad grew up as well, just outside of Zanesville. My dad told me a story about how his friend went down the very steep hill and into the blind turn, flipped his car multiple times and died. It is a pretty crazy route.

[ImUrOBGYN]

It is an advanced road so to speak. THe gravel was minimal to nothing and there wasn't any outstanding bad spots on the road. THere are some turns that would be dangerous at the posted speed limits let alone speeding through, so be careful. Some of those blind rises had us about shitting ourselves followed by some good, nervous laughter.

[Main3s]

NIIICCE!!! Ever since I got the Subie, I've been looking for turns. Good on ramps and round abouts are hard to find. Looks like I have somewhere to go now...

[Tractor]

Great road and expect to actually get tired of so many freaking turns by the time you get to Chesterhill. You still have 30-40 minutes from there to the Ohio river too. I take that road home to visit my parents a lot since it gets me about 15 mins west of their farm.

 

Oh and if you wanna make it safer do it at night. That way you can at least see headlights which will give you an easy 5-10 seconds of warning. I'm usually on it at night since I take the trip to my parents on friday evenings in most cases.

[TheBussman1647545507]

Been down it several times in the MR2, it's a great time, be ready to turn when you get to the top of those hills they sneak up on you real fast especially if your car sits relativity low to the ground. and yea, the gravel is defiantly something to be worried about, I've seen it cause some trouble.

[ImUrOBGYN]

Great road and expect to actually get tired of so many freaking turns by the time you get to Chesterhill. You still have 30-40 minutes from there to the Ohio river too. I take that road home to visit my parents a lot since it gets me about 15 mins west of their farm.

 

Oh and if you wanna make it safer do it at night. That way you can at least see headlights which will give you an easy 5-10 seconds of warning. I'm usually on it at night since I take the trip to my parents on friday evenings in most cases.

 

My back was sore the next day and I can get in my Supra with my back hurting and get out later with it better and it was still sore.

[Solo Vette]

Love that road. Great for the bike, great for the Vette. Thanks for reminding me, it has been a while.

[dover]

i rode it on memorial day