Tail of the Dragon again or someplace new? Thinking West Virginia

dschult2

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It's early but I've started to plan my motorcycle trip for next year already. Did Tail of the Dragon and surrounding roads last year. No motorcycle trip for me this year as I am taking the Family back to Tennessee. But I will definitely be going someplace next year. While I loved the Tail and all the other roads around there I was thinking maybe West Virginia. I've heard nothing but good things about the roads out there. I know we have a member or two here from that area. What I'm looking for is specific roads I can research and places(towns to stay in) where I can get a hotel for the week and go on rides from there. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks!
 

Red Wazp

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I was in WV last fall. I really enjoyed the "Back of the Dragon" From Marion, Virginia to Tazewell, WV on hwy 16. WV is a great state to ride, doubt you can go wrong with most of the roads in that part of the the world. Beautiful country.
 

JayyVee

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It's early but I've started to plan my motorcycle trip for next year already. Did Tail of the Dragon and surrounding roads last year. No motorcycle trip for me this year as I am taking the Family back to Tennessee. But I will definitely be going someplace next year. While I loved the Tail and all the other roads around there I was thinking maybe West Virginia. I've heard nothing but good things about the roads out there. I know we have a member or two here from that area. What I'm looking for is specific roads I can research and places(towns to stay in) where I can get a hotel for the week and go on rides from there. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks!

Lots of other good places just south of the Dragon to ride on here in North GA and into N/S Carolina: Blood Mountain, Wolfpen Gap, Blue Ridge Parkway, all come to mind. Hope that helps add to the fun list. :)
 

ACME_Rocket

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I was in WV last fall. I really enjoyed the "Back of the Dragon" From Marion, Virginia to Tazewell, WV on hwy 16. WV is a great state to ride, doubt you can go wrong with most of the roads in that part of the the world. Beautiful country.

I have not had a chance to ride hwy 16 however I was just true WV and VA area I will say that any ride crossing this state border should be a good ride.
Route 33 from Elkins, WV to Harrisonburg, VA was awesome. The best parts were just east of Judy Gap, WV and crossing WV-VA border.
I also road some of Route 250 on these two ridge lines. Similar corners however lots of fresh patches and loss stone.
I think any road that cross the ridge lines along WV VA border wold be a grate ride.
If you do you may also want to ride some of Blue Ridge Pkw or Skyline Dr. This is a national park with 30 MPH speed limit but views are incredible
 

e30_325es

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I did blue ridge parkway down to the dragon about a month ago with some friends. We stayed in boone on the way back home. Good hotels for cheap there, highly recommended. Blue ridge is an amazing ride, 45mph virtually the whole way, with crazy views. I'd avoid skyline, as it tends to have more traffic, has lower speed limits, and is more heavily patrolled. Back of the dragon is nice, but avaid it in the spring/beginning of the summer, as it tends to have more gravel on the roads then from winter runoff. Like the other people said, any road crossing between VA and WV is pretty good. 33, 250, 48, 50, 219, 9 are all roads myself and friends will frequent on weekend rides. You can even just ride around and wander side streets and won't get disappointed.
 

ShoopCE

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I live in WV and I recommend it for a motorcycle vacation. I can't say much about any of the roads in other parts. I've only returned to riding a year and a half ago and most of my riding has been close-ish to home in Parkersburg, which is in the northwest part on the Ohio River. We have LOT of great twisty roads with elevation changes all over.

Check out motorcycleroads.com for a great set of suggestions.

Between PKB and Charleston and east to Clarksburg the terrain is all broken up with ridges and valleys which cause some great motorcycle roads. If you get anywhere near Charleston you must try WV 34 which is a true gem. The eastern border with "East" Virginia down to the southern part is mostly the Appalachian mountains which are certain to have some great views and great sweeper valley rides. The ski resorts like Snowshoe will be in that part of the state. You can probably get a great off-season rate on nice rooms - if you're looking for that.

If you'd like to try whitewater rafting or kayaking, consider the New River Gorge or Gauley River. Both are a bit south of Charleston, with lots of all types of hotels/motels nearby.

I think there should be lots of motels in the area near Parkersburg. Until the price of gas dropped last year, the fracking drill and construction crews were all over the place and the motels were building like crazy. But I suspect that now after things have slowed down there should be lots of available rooms. Best to check though before visiting - so you know. The water trucks that are part of the drilling ops were a pain in the rear on US 50 - which is pretty but not very twisty - a rare treat for trucks and cars in this state. But I saw very few on my trip last week.

Being that you're from Michigan, you might consider joining the MI branch of the MSTA. As you know, MI has very few nice roads. So those guys, and gals, take 4-day trips regularly to Marietta OH or someplace in KY to get a fix of nice twisty roads. They ride in small groups with good discipline, so it's a safe & enjoyable ride. Check out the rideMSTA.com site then navigate to the forums or straight to the Michigan site to see the planned rides.

Twenty year ago I lived in Kingsport TN and visited Gatilburg, the Smokeys, and Boone NC. But I wasn't riding then. Silly me.

That's about all I know - for now. I plan to do a lot more day trips nearby.

Chris
 

WarriorDog

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I have traveled to WV several times and really enjoy the roads there. I have a week long trip planned the first week of August near Gauley Bridge, WV. I have found that a lot of the roads WEST of I-77 are not as good as the roads to the EAST of I77. I've found that Hwy 19, 119 and 219 are kind of uneventful north south roads. It seems like the good roads are the ones that travel east - west between 19, 119 and 219.
Here are some suggestions below. I try to stay off the interstates and 4 lanes. You can sometimes find good deals on VRBO or Craigslist for cheap houses for the week in some of these off the beaten path locations.

We stayed in Mt Nebo, WV one year and hit some of these rides

Google Maps

Google Maps

Google Maps

Google Maps


We stayed near Hinton, WV and Talcott, WV one year and hit some of these rides. the house we rented was on the Greenbrier River. 5 riders stayed for the week, $700 for the house. It had an outdoor shower, Pretty cool to shower outside with the road about 150 feet away. Stay away from Lewisburg WV during the State Fair time and during the GreenBrier Golf Classic. Too many farmers taking their prize cattle and horses to the show.


MapQuest Maps - Driving Directions - Map

http://mapq.st/1mhk4pA

http://mapq.st/1pc7EmX

http://mapq.st/SzCQkm


I've stayed near Boone NC in Sparta NC, Galax Va and Lansing NC for a week at a time over the past 15 years and have some good rides plotted out from there if you need them.

I live an hour from Deals Gap and have several of the roads in western Carolina, North Georgia and East Tennessee plotted out from Franklin NC, the IronHorse Campground and Kickstand Campground in Stecoah NC if you want some of them, too. Lots of great roads near here.
 
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dschult2

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Get info guys! Much appreciated! WarriorDog, If you have routes planned around Boone I would love to see them! Also any around Southeast Tennessee or Western NC as I am starting to lean towards Boone or Asheville. The other thing I want to make sure of is I will be able to get to where I am staying with a truck and trailer as I will not be riding down.
 

WarriorDog

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Here are some rides from Boone NC As mentioned earlier. Hwy 16 from Marion VA to Tazwell VA is called "The Back of the Dragon"
This lady has a lunch cart she pulls up there on the weekends.
If you are Riding VA 16 aka Back of The Dragon | Adventure Rider

Look where Hwy 421 crosses Hwy 133 near Shady Valley TN is called "The Snake" Hwy 226A near Little Switzerland and Spruce Pine NC is called " The Diamondback" All great road from Boone. Hwy 58 from near Mouth of Wilson Va across to Demascus Va is a good road. Make sure to stop at the Ice Cream shop in Demascus.

I have RARELY encountered any police on these back roads EXCEPT for this time

[video=youtube;EE4L21NecpE]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EE4L21NecpE[/video]

That's Wifey on her FZ6 at the 3:00 mark. That's me that claims to spot someone's "dropped biscuit" at the 3:30 mark. At the 4:30 mark they were at 105. At the 4:45 mark those front three were clicking up to 135 to get in front of each other in case the Police chased. The front three were on a Triumph Daytona, Diavel and a Gen 2 VMax. You'd be surprised to see us all pull off the helmets. We're a bunch of 50 -70 year old kids.


Hwy 421, 221 in and around Boone are just very wide 4 lanes with stop and go traffic. Hwy 321 from Elizabethton to Boone goes around Watuaga Lake, It's nice if there arent many trucks. Get up to Banner Elk and eat at the Banner Elk Café. Go to the Mast General Store in Valle Crucis NC.

MapQuest Maps - Driving Directions - Map

MapQuest Maps - Driving Directions - Map

MapQuest Maps - Driving Directions - Map

MapQuest Maps - Driving Directions - Map
 
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Dry Martini

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I have ridden the dragon, snake, and diamondback. I have not been to West Virginia, yet. So WVa would get my vote. I have read of some great roads up there. I have also heard from WVa natives, that when you see a sign for a curve and a low speed limit for that curve, it is not a suggestion. Their signs for curves are accurate.


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