3 Day Trip to/from Pennsylvania (Starting in Kitchener) | GTAMotorcycle.com

3 Day Trip to/from Pennsylvania (Starting in Kitchener)

gixxer_dave

Well-known member
Hi guys,

A buddy and I are going to be taking a 3 day trip down to Pennsylvania (approx. 400-500 km days, on sport bikes with soft saddle bags and a tail bag). I scoured a few of the threads on here about nice roads in Pennsylvania and stitched together the route in the link noted below. I was curious if there are any other roads that are a MUST when traveling down there. I don't expect anyone to re-write the entire route, but, I would hate to get back here only to realize that we missed some great roads in the area.

Also, if anyone has been there lately, I'd love to know if there are any roads that are in rough shape and not to bother. Anything twisty, smooth and scenic with good visibility are worth hearing about. Less slabs the better!

Planning to wing it on Motels on Friday and Saturday night depending where we end up!

Cheers and thanks in advance.

https://www.google.ca/maps/dir/Kitc...544b!2m2!1d-80.4771472!2d43.4129238!3e0?hl=en
 
generally looks good- you are missing Wykoff Run which is great and 555 which goes by the end of it ....it's "okay"

but you really need to try and work in 44 ( Cherry SPrings Road ) to Cherry Springs as that is repaved and much fun last year.
144 is excellent from Cherry Springs down but was being paved above that - might be done now.
144 above and below Renovo is worth doing in opposite directions....too much fun :D



872 parallels 144 north of Renovo and is lovely and scenic along the river.
 
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I am looking at doing a 3 day trip there myself at the end of August, I have bookmarked your route. Look forward to your impression of it...
 
You'll adore it...from Hamilton you are 4 hours from motorcycle heaven. :D

[video=youtube;nLyQiVhi4hY]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nLyQiVhi4hY[/video]
 
Wykoff

[video=youtube;2zGZreksOSI]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2zGZreksOSI[/video]

10 miles of big time fun
 
Anything twisty, smooth and scenic with good visibility are worth hearing about. Less slabs the better!
Some excellent roads can be easily added to your route. As Mac mentioned, hit up Wyckoff Run Road at least once - maybe a few times. Some other excellent ones also include the ride up to Hyner Mountain - a short twisty climb rewarded with a really nice view of the area below and a good stop for a break. Also check out the twisty road that passes through Kettle Creek State Park. The 872 south of Coudersport is also excellent and well paved. You also have a section of your ride that travels east of the 15 and Williamsport - I would suggest removing that section and replacing it with the 949 and 666, which are both east of St Mary's and in Allegheny Park.
You will find some routes including those roads here: http://www.gtamotorcycle.com/vbforu...4-Pennsylvania-Ride-Canada-Day-overnight-trip
 
Hyner is very nice but mind your fuel. Almost got caught out on that route. There is a small station that saved the day.
As a general rule, especially on Sundays, fill it up whenever you get down a couple of bars.
They have odd hours in the boonies away from the main routes. With no cell coverage in many areas it's a risk. I don't suggest spare fuel but just be mindful of it.
You will be blistering some of the roads....144 south of Renovo climbing over the mountain just begs to be attacked and that eats fuel like crazy.
I assume someone has a GPS or smartphone with an offline GPS map??

With all the valleys and mountains you cannot navigate by instinct tho hitting a river will usually get you down to a town eventually.

Traffic off weekends can be crazy light .....which is good until you need someone to ask or help.

Biggest issue is keep sharp eye for critters even in daytime....I've seen a bear gallop across and of course morning and evening the place is crawling with wildlife including size large elk tho I've never seen one on the road.
Deer alive and dead every where....and there is way way more than you ever see.

Take layers....it can get very chilly in the morning then go to 30+ by midday...hydration can be an issue - especially this coming week which looks to be low 30s all week here.

You'll love it tho.....don't be content with a single run ....in fact having a slower sightseeing run lets you be aware of any construction. It's great riding and I certainly have not seen anywhere close to all the roads tho 144 is top drawer.

If I don't stop extolling the virtues you'll see a White Vstrom roaming there soon enough....came close to packing stuff tonight.
 
With your route going through Johnsonburg -> St. Mary's, I'd definitely do Flower Valley Road. We did it on our trip and it was one of the twistiest sections we found.

I would also consider doing 44 north from Coudersport on the way back. The country side is beautiful, and the pavement was the best we found. A very fun and fast stretch of road that goes right to the PA/NY border (and turns into 144)

Finally Hyner view. The road up there was also some of the most fun we had on the entire trip. It's barely wide enough for two cars, no painted line, uphill the whole way, and it winds back and forth with an amazing view in some spots. The view from the top is worth seeing as well.
 
Thanks for the amazing feedback guys. I do appreciate you taking the time to lay out some recommendations. I ran out of 'via' points on the google maps app which is kind of disappointing (if anyone knows how to increase the amount of these or knows a workaround let me know), but, I do have an GPS that we will be using for the trip to keep us on point.

I'll be adding all those roads to a checklist to ensure that we are making the best of our time south of the border.
 
Another suggestion if your doing something similar in the future would be to check out the Adirondacks. Some of the best riding I have done and not to far at all. 540 km from Kitchener brings you to Old Forge NY which is on the western side of the Adirondacks. 2nd day you have a whole day to explode a massive area of great curvy roads with amazing scenery. A lot of great riding not to far from home.
 
Thanks for the amazing feedback guys. I do appreciate you taking the time to lay out some recommendations. I ran out of 'via' points on the google maps app which is kind of disappointing (if anyone knows how to increase the amount of these or knows a workaround let me know), but, I do have an GPS that we will be using for the trip to keep us on point.

I'll be adding all those roads to a checklist to ensure that we are making the best of our time south of the border.

If you want to plan your route on Google Maps, I'd recommend using My Maps. You can login and save maps under your account. That way, you can use direction layers to break up your directions into different days, or "legs". That way you don't have to limit your waypoints to the entire trip, just each individual leg. Using My Maps you can also add other layers for POIs like restaurants, accomodation, ect.

Example: https://www.google.com/maps/d/edit?mid=zOok_z3Kexn0.kXzSzCuVbCyo&usp=sharing

P.S. I was excited for the trip, and got a little carried away. We didn't get anywhere close to that entire route, and marking gas stations turned out to be unnecessary.
 
Another suggestion if your doing something similar in the future would be to check out the Adirondacks. Some of the best riding I have done and not to far at all. 540 km from Kitchener brings you to Old Forge NY which is on the western side of the Adirondacks. 2nd day you have a whole day to explode a massive area of great curvy roads with amazing scenery. A lot of great riding not to far from home.

The down side of the Adirondacks is slab to get there and back and the incredible amount of traffic on weekends in the summer.
It's a very popular resort area, Saturday is one set shifting out and another set shifting in, police presence and NY has ticket arrangements with Ontario.

During the week tho very nice area and fast jump over the bridge to Vermont from Lake Placid.
Whiteface is a fun ride up ...right to cloud base and there are some very sweet roads.

Vermont roads were very choppy last year from a hard winter and I suspect just got worse from the last blast. Anyone have a report on that?

If you do do Adirondacks.....Wolfe Island Ferry is a nice alternative.
 
Thanks for the amazing feedback guys. I do appreciate you taking the time to lay out some recommendations. I ran out of 'via' points on the google maps app which is kind of disappointing (if anyone knows how to increase the amount of these or knows a workaround let me know), but, I do have an GPS that we will be using for the trip to keep us on point.

I'll be adding all those roads to a checklist to ensure that we are making the best of our time south of the border.

So Jealous ... I wanted to do this trip this weekend but have know one to join me :( Have fun and ride safe....
 
The down side of the Adirondacks is slab to get there and back and the incredible amount of traffic on weekends in the summer.
It's a very popular resort area, Saturday is one set shifting out and another set shifting in, police presence and NY has ticket arrangements with Ontario.

During the week tho very nice area and fast jump over the bridge to Vermont from Lake Placid.
Whiteface is a fun ride up ...right to cloud base and there are some very sweet roads.

Vermont roads were very choppy last year from a hard winter and I suspect just got worse from the last blast. Anyone have a report on that?

If you do do Adirondacks.....Wolfe Island Ferry is a nice alternative.

I have always gone to Essex to take the ferry, really nice restaurant right beside the ferry, right on the water. Lots of back roads to explore in the Adirondacks, have gone down some where I did not see a single car for 40 mins or so. I have never experienced any crazy traffic, but I do leave very early in the morning.
 
I would take the 16 down from Fort Erie, 219 sucks balls
44 right turn after Paul's motel is closed (I was there last week) but I see from your route that you didn't include that.
144 south from Renovo is my favorite road since last week, truly enjoyable.
Didn't see it in your route but you should do Hyner Run, Chapman, PA 41.349497, -77.632411


I think you covered all the roads I was at last week, they are all in really good shape

Hi guys,

A buddy and I are going to be taking a 3 day trip down to Pennsylvania (approx. 400-500 km days, on sport bikes with soft saddle bags and a tail bag). I scoured a few of the threads on here about nice roads in Pennsylvania and stitched together the route in the link noted below. I was curious if there are any other roads that are a MUST when traveling down there. I don't expect anyone to re-write the entire route, but, I would hate to get back here only to realize that we missed some great roads in the area.

Also, if anyone has been there lately, I'd love to know if there are any roads that are in rough shape and not to bother. Anything twisty, smooth and scenic with good visibility are worth hearing about. Less slabs the better!

Planning to wing it on Motels on Friday and Saturday night depending where we end up!

Cheers and thanks in advance.

https://www.google.ca/maps/dir/Kitc...544b!2m2!1d-80.4771472!2d43.4129238!3e0?hl=en
 
. Lots of back roads to explore in the Adirondacks,

I've always been on too short a time frame to get into the area properly...once got chased west by a massive weather front...it was fine in PA ...not so fine getting there.
the other time I poked around Vermont a bit as summer traffic around Placid was stupid busy.

I think I need to wander around more south of Placid
 
44 right turn after Paul's motel is closed (I was there last week) but I see from your route that you didn't include that

Good - means they are finally fixing it - was a horror.

Alternative and very sweet is stay on 6 to Swiss something or other and hang a right on Cherry Creek - newly paved and really a sweet ride.....then left on 144
 
Good - means they are finally fixing it - was a horror.

Alternative and very sweet is stay on 6 to Swiss something or other and hang a right on Cherry Creek - newly paved and really a sweet ride.....then left on 144
Yea that is what I took as D tour. I was talking to the construction lady with the sign and she told me that they had fixed it but screwed it up and the road is a mess, so they are fixing it again properly.
 
872 is excellent, did it for the first time last week as well, 666 is awesome as well. I did 700km days and that included going there and coming back the next day, however I was no stop riding and end up down in State College for a good sleep. 3 days you can probably include a lot more roads.
Some excellent roads can be easily added to your route. As Mac mentioned, hit up Wyckoff Run Road at least once - maybe a few times. Some other excellent ones also include the ride up to Hyner Mountain - a short twisty climb rewarded with a really nice view of the area below and a good stop for a break. Also check out the twisty road that passes through Kettle Creek State Park. The 872 south of Coudersport is also excellent and well paved. You also have a section of your ride that travels east of the 15 and Williamsport - I would suggest removing that section and replacing it with the 949 and 666, which are both east of St Mary's and in Allegheny Park.
You will find some routes including those roads here: http://www.gtamotorcycle.com/vbforu...4-Pennsylvania-Ride-Canada-Day-overnight-trip
 
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