Dragon’s tale continues into Virginia

Don't worry Tail of the Dragon, Smyth and Tazewell counties have got your back.

According to Media General's Southwest Virginia Today, officials from those two counties are turning Virginia Route 16 into the Back of the Dragon in hopes of cashing in on what the Tail of the Dragon has done for local tourism.

Stephanie Porter-Nichols reported in the March 18 edition that Smyth County’s Board of Supervisors followed Tazewell's board in adopting a resolution to endorse renaming Route 16 to promote "the mountainous route to sports car and motorcycle enthusiasts."

Porter-Nicols' report credits Larry Davidson of Thompson Valley with the idea, noting that he rides the 11-mile-stretch of road in North Carolina near Deals Gap and likes the way the community has capitalized on the area.

Davidson has already started a small business built around the idea and has a logo and website. The name Back of the Dragon comes from the three mountains between Frog Level and Marion representing a dragon’s humps.

(Go ahead and sing it because you know you want to: My humps, my humps, my lovely dragon bumps. OK, now pay attention.)

“Back of the Dragon Days” are in planning, according to the story, and will be held with the Southwest Regional Recreation Authority and National Trail Days on June 4, 2011.

The Smyth supervisors stopped short of putting money where their dragon is, changing their vote so that, rather than supporting paying for signs to promote the road, they will consider supporting paying signs for the road.