The North Georgia Mountains are just a short drive from my house and provide some great driving roads. It has been a few years since I had a manual transmission car so I have been using the mountain runs to get comfortable with running through the gears while staying focused on keeping the car on track through the twisties.

The Suches Loop is often referred to as Georgia’s Tail of the Dragon.

Dahlonega is 45 minutes north of my home in Roswell, GA so if I get a break from meetings on a sunny afternoon I will make a run up to the mountains for some spirited driving. The mountain roads are full on the weekends, so if your schedule permits, I suggest going on a weekday. Getting stuck behind slow moving traffic turns a fun drive into a boring one pretty quickly. Fortunately the views are great and when traffic slows you down you can take in the mountain vistas.

On my first run of the Suches loop, I also tested out my GoPro in Time Warp mode. You can watch my entire 1 hour drive in 4 minutes. Be warned, with all the turns the sped up video can make you feel a little car sick, almost like you are driving the actual road.

Another reason to head out on a weekday is there are typically less fastest driver awards being handed out by the local police or Georgia Highway patrol. The local municipalities are certainly wise to the fact that gear heads love to drive their cars or motorcycles on these roads. With the number of turns and short distance between turns you really have to work hard to go faster than the speed limit but don’t say you weren’t warned!