Holiday Help
 

G'day everyone!

Hope you all are well

Planning on a 2/3 week motorcycle trip through parts of the USA in late August to September and the idea is to ride around the areas of West Virginia / Virginia Kentucky and Tennessee. Starting and finishing in Washington DC.

So I need tips on great motorcycle roads - no interstate or gravel roads. The idea is to see the 'real USA' small towns, family run cafes and such. One road I have locked in is the blue ridge parkway.

Hope you guys can help

Re: Holiday Help
 

First Problem is that I think that period of time is a major holiday season for you. Am I wasting my time because everywhere will be booked (and because of staff travel I can not pre book) and try late September. Obviously i don't want to leave it to late in the year because of the weather.

Re: Holiday Help
 

CNN just had this in their travel section:
http://www.cnn.com/2013/05/23/travel...html?hpt=tr_c2

if you want to avoid interstates you have a lot of routes to choose from

use Highway 15 / 29 which runs further east thru Manassas to Charlottesville then 250 West to pick up the BRP
-or-
you can head west along I-66 (from DC) to Front Royal and then head south on Skyline Drive to I-64 and then hook up with the BRP and continue south
(note: I have no clue what condition skyline drive is in)
-or-
further west use Hwy 340 (Stuart Drift Highway) - Hwy 11 (Lee Highway) which runs semi-parallel to I-81 down thru the Shenandoah valley to Staunton then use Highway 250 East to pick up the BRP
-or-
west of I-81 there is a long stretch of road on highway 220 that runs thru several national parks and forests and further west there is highway 159

and all of those are in Virginia -
there's too many to list (check out some of the links for more details)

Fall color changes in the NC area of the BRP are in late September thru October (depending on Elevation) and room rates and availability will reflect that.
It's also going to be a lot tougher finding rooms off the beaten track.

Here's some links that might be useful:

Charlottesville Virginia
http://www.charlottesville.org/
http://www.visitcharlottesville.org/

Roanoke Virginia
http://www.visitroanokeva.com/

general Info about the Blue Ridge Parkway
http://www.blueridgeparkway.org/index.php
http://www.nps.gov/blri/planyourvisit/index.htm

http://www.nps.gov/blri/planyourvisit/lodging.htm
http://www.pisgahinn.com/

Road Closures on the Blue Ridge Parkway
http://www.nps.gov/blri/planyourvisit/roadclosures.htm

Great Smoky Mountain National Park
http://www.nps.gov/grsm/index.htm

Lodging in or around GSMNP
http://www.nps.gov/grsm/planyourvisit/lodging.htm

The section of highway running north from the GSMNP is problematic. The road is fine but it eventually runs through towns like Gatlinburg, Pigeon Forge and Sevierville which are imo just glorified tourist traps. They are ALL overpriced so your best bet for lodging is NOT in those towns or along that strip of highway.

There are a LOT of campsites along the BRP if you're up for it.

Hope that helps.

Edit:

Found this link as well.
http://www.motorcycleroads.com/
and this one in particular looks useful
http://www.motorcycleroads.com/Routes/Virginia_122.html

Re: Holiday Help
 

That is some fantastic help Micah

I really appreciate the time you have spent providing me with those links and research

:)

Re: Holiday Help
 

No problem Wellard. :) Glad it helps.

Let me know what you decide for a route.

Re: Holiday Help
 

Wellard,

North Carolina has been getting soaked with rain lately. As a result of all the rain, a long crack has appeared running along the center line of the BRP over a 20 mile portion of the BRP. The crack is 6 feet deep in places and it being evaluated for potential risk of collapse. The BRP has been closed to vehicle traffic from milepost 355 to 375. Bike and foot traffic is allowed.

Roads in the area have been suffering collapse:

http://wlos.com/shared/news/features...unty_12446.jpg

http://wlos.com/shared/news/features...oads_12369.jpg