Leaving 6/5 with my girlfriend on tow, this will be her biggest road trip yet, by far. Planning on leaving wednesday morning, returning home sunday. Tent camping of course! We want to see amish country PA, Harpers Ferry, take the BRP from start to meadows of dan, check out mabry mill, new river gorge and then WV20 for some twisties up to trans-allegheny asylum, seneca rocks, and the flight 93 memorial. Any other suggestions? Also, with the route I'm posting here (no interstates) am I setting myself up for some serious traffic... maybe near lancaster? Any other sights near my route I should consider stopping by? http://maps.google.com/maps?q=bullv...7017833001710&um=1&ie=UTF-8&hl=en&sa=N&tab=wl
Access to this cool old diesel powered wooden water wheel ferry -which crosses the Susquehanna River- is a campground near the intersection of US routes 11/15 & PA 34. runs from the campground to Millersburg on the east side of the river. 6.00 more or less, for a bike and two riders. WAY worth the time. YES, I would avoid Lancaster at all costs. No easy way to get there, and traffic off US 30 down there is horrendous. "Amish country" is in many different places- no need to go down to Lancaster County. PA route 45 east of State College, around Milheim is one good place- lots of Amish out there, also in Milhiem is the Elk Creek Brewery and restaurant- (closed Tuesday) excellent ales and really great fresh food sourced from farms immediately local to the neighborhood. Access that area off US 220 out of Lock Haven- zig zag down hopping ridges and valleys (64>445/192/445>45 at Milheim- Elk Creek Cafe is on your right at the light). 120 above Lock Haven follows the west brach of the Susquehanna- fantastic road- you can get down to it on just about any road off US 6 west of Wellsboro. Check Hyner Point (Hyner View?) near Renovo for a great vista overlooking the river. Another good area for Amish is PA route 75 between US 30 and US 322. West of that intersection of PA route 75 & US 30 is US 522- I just had a great ride down thru WV- US 522 to Berekley springs, R on WV9 to 29, to US 50 to US 220. Awesome ride all the way to Covington, VA. On the other side of the ridges is VA rte 42. Runs from Harrisonburg to Abingdon VA, and no major towns and no traffic. From Tazewell to Marion VA runs VA 16- The Back Of The Dragon. Great ride. 16 crosses 42, BTW. In Marion, eat at The Apple Tree Restaurant- about the only non chain place in town. Just off I-81. I see ya wanna ride the BRP/Skyline Drive. I've had some great rides there- as well as some that have been horrendous- in rain & fog. If the weather sucks, you can access US highways east or west of the BRP to get south (or north depending on your direction of travel. Sundays later in the day, and Monday AMs are best for moving on the BRP. Skyline Drive is cool and you can access it off US 522 at Front Royal. 35 MPH on Skyline Drive, tho. West of US 522 up in PA, where US 30 intersects with PA 31 is the Jean Bonnet Tavern. Decent food and a great selection of PA micro brews on tap. Nice deck outside, HIGHLY RECOMMENDED if you're going that way. Also out that way- Mt Davis, the highest point in PA- not very dramatic in and of itself- but the riding in the area is phenomenal. US 219 runs right thru there and of course goes down to WV. Follow the local roads (look for the scenic "dotted line" routes on your map- 653 from Somerset to Normalville (SERIOUSLY! ) and 381 south to Ohiopile- sweet riding! take 31 off 30 to Berlin and pick up 219 to 653. Cut back to 219 on US 40. All this is near the Flight 93 memorial. US 30 is not so sweet. Kinda blah, IMO. 31 is better, cuts out to the south. Frank LLoyd Wright's FallingWater is right above Ohiopile, too- if that strikes your fancy at all. How much time you got?
Awesome - thanks for the insight. Fallingwater is neat, I may go see it afterall. I will check out those roads. I will post a writeup with pictures once I'm home.
Exceeding the posted speed limit by 20 mph on the BRP is a felony. I saw them cuff and stuff a squid for that. Sounds like you have a great trip planned! Ricochetrider is right on the money!
I just did this weekend, Rt 16 from Beckley, WV to Marion, VA is excellent. The section from Tazwell to Marion, VA is probably the best in VA......there's also Rt 58
Rt. 60 from Rainelle, WV to Rt 19 (New River Gorge) is pretty good too and if you're in that area Rt 66 from Cass, WV to Snowshoe Ski resort is fanastic
Its 630am, getting ready to leave. Our clothes, rain gear and camping equipment is packed. Hoping to stay dry most of the time!
Check the weather before you go - there's supposed to be a big low pressure system forming in the Gulf west of Florida that will start tracking north up the east coast/Blue Ridge Mountains. We expect showers in Lexington, VA starting Thursday evening, heavy rain all day Friday, and tailing off Saturday. Sunday through Tuesday looks to be glorious, of course. From the forecast I saw this AM it looks like things will be much drier to the west so if you need you can detour that direction early and ride more of West Virginia... New River Gorge area is AWESOME, and the roads around Seneca Rocks etc. are glorious! Have fun, hope it doesn't rain on your parade! Doug
Oooops, too late with the warning, I guess. Woke up to heavy rain this AM (Thursday) after a night of sprinkles. The reports say expect this all day and then REALLY heavy rain all day Friday. Hopefully you guys are west of this mess by now... Doug
Safe travels to the intrepid duo. No such thing as a bad day of motorcycling? Well... some days are a little less good than others. Hope the tires and rain gear are up to the task. Looking forward to seeing the pix, and hearing about this one.
Near Lexington now, Yup it was too late!.... Only did 150 miles today due to some heavy rain and intense fog on the bro. Heading to new river gorge tomorrow
Local TV weather lady said we got almost 3 inches of rain from yesterday's storm and they expect another 2 inches or so today. I hope you and you're GF are having fun anyway! Good news is, it's mostly going to be East of the Blue Ridge, you should be OK at New River Gorge. The storm is supposed to be gone from our area by late tonight with glorious weather Saturday through Wednesday. If you're tired of the weather, I can suggest a great B&B in Fayetteville, run by a tiny lady named Pat. Her place is just ~2 blocks from the center of town, excellent prices, fantastic food, WAY better than the local chain hotel and actually cheaper (generally my experience with B&B's): The County Seat B&B 306 West Maple Ave. Fayetteville, WV 25840 304-574-0823 The B&B is located less than two blocks from a fantastic pizza/beer joint and 2.5 blocks from a seafood restaurant (yes, in the mountains of central WV) that serves the best cajun food I've ever had (and I've spent time in New Orleans, better than anything I had there). Might be just the trick after a couple soggy days in a tent . My girlfriend (wife now ) and I have stayed there several times and really enjoyed it. Doug
We left wednesday, at 8am from Bullville NY. 55 degrees and beautiful out. We had a plan to get to harpers ferry WV, and then go a bit further south before camping. We took RT 209 into PA, and then hit 443 into Harrisburg. This prvoed to be a good route, especially 443. Stopped at a harley dealer on 209, to check out some expensive shiny bikes I have a cracked right side saddlebag, that I fixed before the trip with some epoxy. Sure enough, it cracked again on 443 and almost fell off. 1 bungie strap ought to do it! I had a GPS mounted to my windshield. I accidentally tweaked it near harrisburg, and it bounced onto my triple clamp, tank, and off of my thigh much faster than I could safely grab it, so it shattered on the ground at 60mph - I kept trucking, who needs electronics? Passed through Gettysburg, but didnt stop. Wanted to make good time... In maryland, stopped off at a pizzeria. We spotted a mullet and a picture was the immediate priority. Had me a glove tan going! Harpers Ferry, IIRC Made it to Berryville VA, about 7pm. Setup camp at watermelon park. The ground was HARD... However, the beer was COLD 365 miles for us on day 1. The longest motorcycle ride for my girlfriend by about 200 miles, but she didnt bat an eye. No interstates today, lots of good smooth roads. Tomorrow the rain came...
443 is one of my fave local roads. Pretty sweet from 61 to its terminus at the Susquehanna, just above Harrisburg. FYI, for future reference- Port Clinton is just a wee bit south of 443 & 61 in PA- Port Clinton Hotel is great, with good food and LARGE portions. DO NOT under any circumstances, order two orders of french fries- one will feed four! Sounds like you had a groove on, too bad cuz the Millersburg Ferry was just a little off course for you. I admit it's not the side trip if you're trying to make time, tho it is worthwhile at some point, if you're ever down this way and just F'in around. Lookin forward to more on this ride! Good for your GF for hangin in there and enjoying the ride (SO FAR )
Day 2 was the day we were to run 340 south to the BRP, and run 177 miles of the BRP, to land in meadows of dan. I happen to like Willville campground. We departed Berryville around 9am. We hit light rain on 340 and it was cloudy, but the weather report was bad. There was a coastal tropical storm, and we were going to get rained on. We saw a rainbow, but it sure wasnt becuase of the sun! We got onto the BRP and there was so much fog it was unbelieveable. I didnt even stop to take a photo of the entrance sign, it was raining awfully hard. I put my flashers on and did about 30mph, as there was no visibility. I knew that cold and rainy would put a damper on the trip for Abby moreso than myself. I decided to pull off the parkway, and pack it in at a motel. I did stop to get a picture at a scenic overlook, though! Although when getting back on the bike, my rain pants ripped. Abby had herself a good laugh We made it to a days in next to I-81 in Raphine VA. We were glad to change into dry clothes. We watched the rain from inside, and got burgers from the nearby Wendys. We walked so as to not sit back down on my wet seat! 149 miles :huh Next up is WV. Better weather, and a huge arch bridge!