Need help with great ride locations

Hey members, I'm working on national tour route that will be completed in the span of two months, potentially starting in April but all likelihood will probably be Mid-May. I have attached a map we are basing the trip on that gets us through all 48 lower in 52 days (giving us a week+ of extra days to add where we see fit). Each marker represents a location we will be bringing out the sleeping bags (so to speak), and while most of the journey is no where near a full days ride, we want to be able to get out and experience some great local spots as we traverse the country.

I'm looking for input from forum members to roads or locations that are absolutely a must see or experience that doesn't take us more than an hour to get to from the path presented...although the locations or ride can take several additional hours to complete.

Without spilling too much. I'm taking this journey with a friend of mine who's riding his Goldwing (a 98 model) for the last time. He has terminal cancer and is not expected to survive past 2016. We made a promise back in our college years that a national tour on motorcycles would happen before we reached 50. Unfortunately, that promise has to happen a year early. He wants to see several places on this map but also want to ride some of the most scenic or best bike roads there are.

Two are on our list right off the bat...Deals Gap (The Dragon) in Tennessee/N.C., and the Three Sisters just west and north of San Antonio. If you know of a "must not miss" location along the way, please let me know a starting point and any info you have so I can add it to our route. We will even be adjusting the route to add days if necessary. This is a no regrets trip.

Thanks a bunch in advance.


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You ought to include the Blue Ridge Parkway or a part of it on your route. It starts at Cherokee NC and goes for over 500 miles north into Virginia at Roanoke. Plenty of scenery along the route.

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Also, while in Florida you should ride through St. Augustine on A1A, and also stop in downtown Mount Dora while riding across the state. There are some very scenic roads around there as well.

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Mount Dora is on Lake Dora:

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Looks like you are going very near Philadelphia, PA. PA has done a great job of restoring the original part of the city - where the Continental Congress building, the Liberty Bell, Christ Church, etc are located. Lots of street parking available. Full of History, you can eat at a tavern that is over 200 years old and still serves meals on the original plates. Right close is Reading (pronounced "Red-ing) Market, the site of the original Reading Train Depo. Don't forget to get a cheese steak!! May your trip be safe and create memories that will be recounted and revered for years to come.

The upper part of Michigan is nice both Lake Michigan m 2 and m28 along Lake Superior

Do not..repeat do not....miss the Badlands in SD.

If your friend is an aviation enthusiast, the Naval Air Museum in Pensacola is AMAZING.
Let me know when you come through NW Florida. If welcome, I'll ride a few hundred with y'all. If not, I understand. No worries.

Sorry to hear about your friend.

Get yourself a road atlas published by Harley Davidson. Scenic roads in all states are clearly marked. If you can't find one, I'd be more than happy to send you one.

Contact me when you pass through MN. Breakfast, lunch or dinner is on me.

It also looks like you have Glacier Natl park on there....
When I was there, 30 Jun, they had just opened the Highway to the Sun that day for the season.
Make sure the road is open and you ride it. Absolutely breathtaking scenery.

Looks like your initial route doesn't get you near Deals Gap, which is almost due north (with a wee bit East) of Atlanta.

I see that you are coming right through New Orleans, LA which is where I live. It's one of those places, if you've never been, that you just really need to stop and spend a couple days downtown in the French Quarters. Its sooooooo rich with culture, music, and historical artifacts and building, and THE BEST FOOD IN THE NATION HANDS DOWN!!!! Give me a call when you come though and I would be glad to bring you guys around to see some of the sights and point you in the right direction.

I will second the blue ridge parkway from Cherokee, NC and add the cherohala skyway, tail of the dragon, foothills parkway, and the great smoky mountain national park as a whole. That should be somewhere that you spend at least a full 3 days riding through. Its about the best riding in the country for sure. I go every year in September for a week and still after 3 years riding haven't ridden all the nice roads through those mountains. Really from North Georgia where the smoky mountains begin all the way up the blue ridge parkway and up to Virginia/Maryland area is just absolutely beautiful, especially off of the interstate.

Grant

I understand the need for speed, but it ought to be a crime to ride a motorcycle through Arkansas and not get off the interstate. :icon_twisted:

http://www.motorcycleroads.com/Routes/Colorado_81.html

http://www.motorcycleroads.com/search.php?q=new+mexico

http://www.motorcycleroads.com/search.php?q=Utah

http://www.motorcycleroads.com/search.php?q=Wyoming



https://www.google.com/maps/dir/Mont...!1m0!3e0?hl=en

https://www.google.com/maps/dir/Mont...!1m0!3e0?hl=en

http://www.americanmotorcyclist.com/...ing_roads.aspx


https://www.google.com/maps/dir/Peyt...3161!3e0?hl=en

The best rides up here are the western part of CT and Mass. Only problem is that it's off the beaten path. If you have the time, try them out. Your route is all east. If you want places to see, not so much ride, they're all along the coast....Newport, RI,... Cape Cod, Plymouth, Boston, Salem....

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Originally Posted by Patch

Hey members, I'm working on national tour route that will be completed in the span of two months, potentially starting in April but all likelihood will probably be Mid-May. I have attached a map we are basing the trip on that gets us through all 48 lower in 52 days (giving us a week+ of extra days to add where we see fit). Each marker represents a location we will be bringing out the sleeping bags (so to speak), and while most of the journey is no where near a full days ride, we want to be able to get out and experience some great local spots as we traverse the country.

I'm looking for input from forum members to roads or locations that are absolutely a must see or experience that doesn't take us more than an hour to get to from the path presented...although the locations or ride can take several additional hours to complete.

Without spilling too much. I'm taking this journey with a friend of mine who's riding his Goldwing (a 98 model) for the last time. He has terminal cancer and is not expected to survive past 2016. We made a promise back in our college years that a national tour on motorcycles would happen before we reached 50. Unfortunately, that promise has to happen a year early. He wants to see several places on this map but also want to ride some of the most scenic or best bike roads there are.

Two are on our list right off the bat...Deals Gap (The Dragon) in Tennessee/N.C., and the Three Sisters just west and north of San Antonio. If you know of a "must not miss" location along the way, please let me know a starting point and any info you have so I can add it to our route. We will even be adjusting the route to add days if necessary. This is a no regrets trip.

Thanks a bunch in advance.


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That will be a trip of a lifetime. I congratulate you, five years ago my friend of 50+years and I planned a last ride thru Northern Arizona, Utah and Colorado. He was shipping his Valkyrie from Ohio to my home in AZ. He too was ill with Cancer, but it was very early and he thought we could still complete the loop. Sadly he passed just weeks before we were to leave. I was pretty crushed and I put the trip on hold. Last Summer I did the ride with a new friend, my Pharmacist actually, It was a great route, Northern AZ and Utah around Kanab, Torrey are not to be missed. But I still missed my old friend. Ride safe...

I don't know how you feel about bike shows and rallies but here's some ideas. Myrtle beach bike fest is Mid May then shoot over to the dragon follow I-81 north detouring to the Blue ridge parkway (a beautiful ride). Proceed up to Phil. if your interested in the historical sites there but remember Phil is a rough city.
Myself I would get off the Blue Ridge and follow some routes over toward Harrisburg, PA. There pick back up on I-81 N. Follow it up to I-80 E to the Delaware Water Gap (a large national park 29 miles long w/ federal camping sites along the Delaware river.) and the Pocono Mts. at your back.
You can then proceed up through PA. Rt 209 cars and bikes only a beautiful National Park road. Then once out of the park 209 will take you clean up to Albany, NY. From there follow the signs up to Lake George for Americade.
Americade is a large bike rally that's historically started as a Gold Wing family rally. It starts the first week in June and goes on for a week.
Not to worry if you get there early, there's plenty to do there including some of the most beautiful riding through mountains anywhere. There are plenty of campsites if that's your thing or motels. This is a summer tourist destination in late June, but your there before the season starts and the pricing inflates. There are old colonial forts to explore, plenty of museums and historical sites from pre-revolutionary times.
Note the one major fault I see in your plan is your spending too much time and mileage on I-95. You'll find that to be nothing but high speed boring bumper to bumper congested riding, not to mention dangerous.
If you like danger (just kidding) a week later they move everything from Lake George to near by Laconia, NH for one of the oldest more hard core biker weeks ( do a Google).
There's more great riding through the New England Mts. including a ride up Mt Washington where they'll give you a sticker proclaiming "this vehicle climbed Mt Washington".
Now whats your pleasure? On to Maine for a lobster dinner or maybe a quick ride to Cape Cod? Most of it's within a 4 hour ride
How do I know these things? I'm 70 years old been riding since 63; been there done them.
One year is such a short time I can only pray that you and your friend make the ride and enjoy every day!
If you need any specifics on what I wrote send me a PM I'll be only to happy to help.

I agree with Bob Penn regarding the mountains of NH. I've ridden from Maine to Fl and across to the Rockies and have experienced some amazing rides: Tail of the Dragon, Blue Ridge Parkway, RMNP, a ghost town in NM, the Badlands of SD, etc. The one ride that always defines what enjoying nature on a motorcycle means to me is the week I spent camping and riding the White Mountains of NH. Franconia Notch, Kancamangus Hwy, Mt Washington and many other roads that I can't recall the names of. Perhaps Yellowstone, the Redwood Forests or other future rides will displace NH as my favorite ride, but for all the places that I've traversed on two wheels, my mind always returns to the White Mountains of NH.