Great American Motorcycle Roads, Region by Region

Club calendars are built around roads. A chapter in Ohio plans a weekend around the Tail of the Dragon; a chapter in Arizona plans one around Jerome and Oak Creek Canyon. This list collects the roads that come up again and again in club ride schedules across the country. Each state page on this site adds the local favorites.

Southeast

The Tail of the Dragon on US 129 at the North Carolina and Tennessee line packs 318 curves into eleven miles and is the most famous motorcycle road in the country. It is also crowded and heavily patrolled, so experienced clubs ride it early on a weekday and spend the rest of the weekend on the Cherohala Skyway, the Moonshiner 28, and the Foothills Parkway, which are nearly as good and far quieter. The Blue Ridge Parkway runs 469 miles from the Smokies to Shenandoah with no commercial traffic and a 45 mile-per-hour limit, and Skyline Drive continues another 105 miles north. In Georgia, GA 60 through Suches and the Richard B. Russell Scenic Highway are the local equivalent. The Natchez Trace Parkway, 444 miles from Natchez to Nashville, is the gentlest long ride in the South.

Northeast

The Kancamagus Highway through New Hampshire's White Mountains, Vermont's Route 100 and the gap roads that cross it, the Mohawk Trail in Massachusetts, and Route 97 along the Delaware River in New York are the classic New England and Mid-Atlantic rides. The Catskills and Adirondacks add hundreds of miles of two-lane. Pennsylvania's Route 6 and the Laurel Highlands, West Virginia's US 33 and Highland Scenic Highway, and Virginia's Back of the Dragon on VA 16 are the choices south of New York. Foliage season, late September into October, is the time to go.

Midwest

The Midwest hides its curves in river valleys and glacial leftovers. The Driftless Area where Wisconsin, Minnesota, Iowa, and Illinois meet has the best of them, along with the Great River Road on both banks of the Mississippi. Ohio's Hocking Hills and Triple Nickel, Indiana's Brown County, Michigan's Tunnel of Trees and the Keweenaw, Missouri's Ozark highways, and Arkansas's Pig Trail and Push Mountain Road are the destinations. Kansas's Flint Hills Scenic Byway and Nebraska's Sandhills Journey on NE 2 are long, empty, and better than their reputations.

Mountain West

The Beartooth Highway on US 212 between Montana and Wyoming is the road most riders name first, climbing to nearly 11,000 feet past glacial lakes, and it pairs with the Chief Joseph Scenic Byway and the Yellowstone loops. Going-to-the-Sun Road in Glacier, Colorado's Million Dollar Highway, Independence Pass, and Trail Ridge Road, Utah's UT 12 and UT 128, Idaho's Lolo Pass on US 12, and the Black Hills roads around Sturgis complete the list. All are seasonal. Most open in late May or June and close with the first heavy snow.

Southwest

Arizona's 89A from Prescott through Jerome and Oak Creek Canyon, the Coronado Trail on US 191, and Mount Lemmon above Tucson ride year-round at one elevation or another. New Mexico's Enchanted Circle and Turquoise Trail, Nevada's US 50 and the Red Rock loop, and the Texas Hill Country's Twisted Sisters on Ranch Roads 335, 336, and 337 are the other staples. Big Bend's River Road on FM 170 is remote enough to require fuel planning.

West Coast and Pacific Northwest

The Pacific Coast Highway through Big Sur is the signature California ride, with the Angeles Crest Highway, the Ortega Highway, and the Sierra passes on CA 4, 108, and 120 close behind. Oregon's Historic Columbia River Highway, McKenzie Pass, and the coast on US 101, and Washington's North Cascades Highway, Chuckanut Drive, and the Mount Rainier passes carry the list north. Coastal roads ride year-round with fog; the passes open in summer.

Alaska and Hawaii

Alaska's Seward Highway along Turnagain Arm and the long runs on the Glenn and Parks Highways are paved and spectacular in a four-month season. Hawaii's Road to Hana on Maui and the Saddle Road and volcano roads on the Big Island are the island rides worth renting a bike for.

Riding them with a club

Clubs ride these roads in smaller groups than they use on the highway, often four to six bikes, with the pace set for the least experienced rider and the fast riders released to run ahead. Famous roads attract enforcement and crowds. Weekday mornings, shoulder seasons, and a willingness to ride the lesser-known road next door are what separate a good club weekend from a frustrating one.