Pisgah area dual-sport riding

Wifey & I will be in the Pisgah area visiting family in a month, and will be trailering the dual-sports down, hoping to do some easy, forest service road-type riding. We'll be staying southwest of Asheville near Canton.

My gps is a Nuvi car unit, so not something I can plan routes on. I'll use the gps for getting me to starting points, and back to where we're staying.

Goal is little traffic, nice views, minimal hgwy, staying as much as possible on gravel, dirt, and tertiary roads. Not interested in riding on the BR Parkway. These will be day trips, so we'd like to ride a few hours, grab some BBQ, ride a couple more hours and end up back in Canton before suppertime. Bikes are a Super Sherpa and WR250R.

Looks like there are NFS roads off 276 and maybe 215.

There seems to be a large network of unnamed, wiggly roads between Lake Logan and Little East Fork Road. Not sure what sort of surface or traffic.

Suggestions would be most welcome.

For those who have seen one, is the NC Gazetteer a good resource?

Great area, your right about 276, on the East side of the BRP there are several forest roads. If you take 215 south some good roads south of the BRP as well. Also check out Wayhutta OHV park just north of Cullowee, about 22 miles of trails for $5 registration fee.

Hit the rattlesnake...209 which you pick up at Lake Junaluska...which is about 10 minutes from Canton. The ride to Hot Springs is very twisty and there are numerous trails to be ridden in that area...Max Patch and several others. 276 is decent, 215 also.

Hit the day trips and ride reports, several inmates have all kinds of great routes for you to consider.

I live in candler, just east of canton. What dates will you be here? Quite a few decent dirt/backroads loops from this area. The gazeteer is a great resource.
Quite a few of us live out this way, surely we can show you around when you are here!

Thanks for the replies everyone. We'll be down the last week of August. It is a family visit first, so not making any plans in advance. My bro is moving there from TN soon.

We usually spend Christmas at a relative's cabin in Waynesville, so I am a little familiar with the area. I've never been there with bikes, and always thought the roads look fantastic.

I'll order up the Gazetteer, and start a list of roads:

276
215
209

35xj - nice of you to offer. I may PM you.

I Googled Max Patch, and it doesn't sound like motorized vehicles are welcome there. In any case, we aren't looking for off-road this trip. Wifey is reluctant on the Sherpa after a nasty crash last year, and wants a lighter-weight, real dirt bike before she does more off-road riding - a CRF150F or similar. And I am typing this with a cast on my right leg, recovering from a fractured ankle from a recent trail ride, on which my boot found on a pine stump left a foot too high. So we'll be taking it easy.

Can anyone recommend a great BBQ place around Canton or Waynesville? Preferably South and West of Asheville.
Thanks!

Fat Buddies in Waynesville.....get the ribs. Sweet Onions...black berry bbq chicken or pulled pork sammich!. Can't go wrong with Bogarts either, they have good food although it's not a "bbq" establishment like you specified. JArthurs in Maggie Valley is a bit expensive, but has good food. Cash's smoke house in Franklin is good...I ride there monthly for some bbq goodness.

Thanks Sumo. I look forward to trying some of them out! I BBQ

Max Patch ROAD is like a gravel highway that goes from Ferguson's Store on 209 all the way to Delrio Tennessee (It's called Round Mountain Road on the Tennessee side). There are many other gravel and dirt Forest Service roads off Max Patch/Round Mountain Road.
Motorized vehicles WITH LICENSE PLATES are welcome on any of them that are not gated.



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That sounds interesting, thanks Mike. I took the above suggestion to ride Max Patch as being the mountain itself, rather than understanding Max Patch as a gravel road. Google Map is amazing, I found Ferguson's store!

Hard to tell zooming in so far on Google; is there a good loop to be made, rather than backtracking? Looks like East on Meadow Fork to Sunrise Mtn, then South again on 209.

Any fuel along the way? I usually carry 2 or 3 MSR fuel bottles if fuel availability is in question. Our comfortable range is about 90 miles.

I ordered the NC Gazetteer to my brother's address, so I won't receive it until I arrive in NC.

Rode 276 > F.S. 1206 > I have no idea what roads, > BRP > 276 and back to my brother's house. Great day.

<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/37262441@N04/9612223879/" title="NC vacation 010 by Jon in ON, on Flickr"><img src="https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5481/9612223879_92bce746c6_b.jpg" width="1024" height="768" alt="NC vacation 010"></a>

<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/37262441@N04/9615452678/" title="NC vacation 012 by Jon in ON, on Flickr"><img src="https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7357/9615452678_9e74314e2d_b.jpg" width="1024" height="768" alt="NC vacation 012"></a>

Heading down 215 today.

Just saw you two ride by on Main St. In Waynesville as I was browsing the regional forum

Cool!

<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/37262441@N04/9625744174/" title="Anja &amp; Jon on vacation by Jon in ON, on Flickr"><img src="https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5349/9625744174_f0f883c13c_b.jpg" width="1024" height="768" alt="Anja &amp; Jon on vacation"></a>

<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/37262441@N04/9622478153/" title="Max Patch, NC by Jon in ON, on Flickr"><img src="https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3748/9622478153_08e58a35a3_b.jpg" width="1024" height="768" alt="Max Patch, NC"></a>

<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/37262441@N04/9616498475/" title="NC vacation by Jon in ON, on Flickr"><img src="https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7287/9616498475_0306dd18d3_b.jpg" width="1024" height="768" alt="NC vacation"></a>

<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/37262441@N04/9614913373/" title="hgwy 215 on NC vacation by Jon in ON, on Flickr"><img src="https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7291/9614913373_6f63f74b81_b.jpg" width="1024" height="768" alt="hgwy 215 on NC vacation"></a>

We're on our way back home now, but this was a great trip, and we'll be back.

We ended up doing all the rides we planned to do. 276 + FS roads, 215 + FS roads, 209 and Max Patch. Max Patch was fogged in so we didn't see any vistas.

I love the NC / TN mountains!

And we ate at Fat Buddies - ribs, lima beans, and fried okra. Very tasty!

Sumo64c - this is really quite a coincidence, as well as a testament to the reach of ADVRider.

We had a great trip, enjoyed the scenery and the riding more than any place I have ridden. This thread provided all the input, and your sighting of us while reading this forum is just over the top.

Thank you to everyone who contributed to our NC trip!

Jon