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The Snake (US 421)

Shady Valley

Distance

23 mi

Duration

40m

Checkpoints

2

Road type

Mountain twisty

Region

Southeast

Length

Medium (20-50 miles)

Surface

Paved - modern

Intensity

Technical

Season

Fall

Winter status

Sometimes closed

About

US 421 over Holston and Iron Mountain between Bristol and Mountain City — 489 curves and three mountains, and the reason Shady Valley has a motorcycle shop and not much else. Tight, steep and relentless; the middle section rarely lets you out of second and third. Photo: Brian Stansberry / CC BY 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

The road

The Snake (US 421) in Shady Valley, Southeast is graded at 285 corners, about 12.4 for every mile you drive. 90 of them are genuinely tight (32% of the road), and the sharpest turns in at a 12 m radius.

Graded corners
285
Tight (1–2)
90
Tightest radius
12 m
Corners per mile
12.4

Corners are graded from the road’s own geometry on the rally 1–6 scale, where 1 is a hairpin. Road & Rally calls them out as you drive.

Checkpoints

2

Checkpoints · Members only

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Fastest times

No one has a time on this road yet. Drive it start to finish in the Road & Rally app and the first run sets the record.

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