A suggestion inspired by Tobias and Step Seargent on Tiktok: The Tail of the Dragon is a popular motorcycle enthusiast driving location along route 129, crossing Deals Gap from North Carolina into Tennessee. The 11 mile stretch of road parrallels the Little Tennessee River that is dammed in several locations to create a staircase of reservoir lakes.

To create this model I used USGS 10m DEM public domain and combined them with US Census TIGER files roads for North Carolina and Tennessee, extracting Route 129 and some intersecting roads. I then raised the route above the terrain slightly, keeping it parrallel to the mountains surface, but projected in a way that it will stand out and using AMS or marker you can change the color of the road.

The print profile and RAW models include two alternates, first being just the map with road and the second with a text medallion that says “tail of the dragon Tennessee”. You can edit or alter this however you see fit, put your own logo, text or club names on there.

Print suggestions:
I suggest to print with gyroid infill, 10 to 15%, print as large as your printer can handle, the greater the size the greater the level of detail. Also, the smaller the layer height the better. There are a lot of details in the mountains and the road twists and curves that become lost printing it at a smaller scale, and larger layer heights. I chose green for the land, blue for the river, and grey for the road, but you can experiment with any color.

General User disclaimer: This is an artistic representation of a real place in the Earth, sourced from publicly available data. This is an artistic representation and may contain errors, inaccuracies, and in no way should be used for navigation. The designer is in no way liable for misuse of this model.

Printed with multiple filaments and some details touched up with marker. Your product may vary slightly. Please print and enjoy this fantastic piece of art.