Roads to/from Deals Gap! | Page 3 | GTAMotorcycle.com

Roads to/from Deals Gap!

Lazy Sunday morning bump.
Here's a bunch of all paved routes for anyone to use, with some pretty ridiculous roads covered here.
Since Google Maps only allows around 10 points per route, some of these routes had to be split up into a few parts.

Day 1: Mississauga to Harrisonburg VA Super8 - https://goo.gl/maps/nDrL1FzUwDGkmYzu5 - 830km / 10:30hrs
Day 2: Harrisonburg WV to Radford VA Super 8 - https://goo.gl/maps/evZ5G7ZcrudkkxgZA ~800km / 11hrs
Day 3a: Radford VA to Lebanon VA Super 8 - Super 8 by Wyndham Radford VA to Super 8 by Wyndham Lebanon - 500km / 8hrs
Day 3b Lebanon / Appalachia Loop - Super 8 by Wyndham Lebanon to Super 8 by Wyndham Lebanon - 275km / 4hrs
Day 4a: Lebanon VA to Poga Rd TN - Super 8 by Wyndham Lebanon to Poga Rd - 215km / 4:15hrs
Day 4b: Poga Rd TN to Black Mountain - NC-9 to Poga Rd - 260km / 5hrs
Day 4c: Black Mountain TN to Greer SC Super 8 - NC-9 to Super 8 by Wyndham Greer/Spartanburg Area - 140km / 2:15hrs
Day 5a: Greer SC to Bernardsville NC - Super 8 by Wyndham Greer/Spartanburg Area to Barnardsville - 275km / 5hrs
Day 5b: Bernardsville NC to Ironhorse Lodge - Barnardsville to Iron Horse Motorcycle Lodge - 350km / 5:45hrs
Day 6: Ironhorse Loop 1 - Iron Horse Motorcycle Lodge to Iron Horse Motorcycle Lodge - 600km / 9:30hrs
Day 7: Ironhorse Loop 2 - Iron Horse Motorcycle Lodge to Iron Horse Motorcycle Lodge - 600km / 10hrs
Day 8: Ironhorse Loop 3 - Iron Horse Motorcycle Lodge to Iron Horse Motorcycle Lodge - 500km / 9hrs
Day 9: IronHorse to Boone NC Super 8- Iron Horse Motorcycle Lodge to Boone - 550km / 10hrs
Day 10: Boone Nc to Harrisonburg VA Super 8- Boone to Harrisonburg - 640km / 9:45hrs
Day 11: Harrisonburg VA to Mississauga - https://goo.gl/maps/ZhSNego29V5xYRgb6 - 815km / 10:15hrs
 
Haven't missed riding in North America til now ....sigh ...loved chasing spring....lotsa pics please. :coffee:
 
On your first day when you leave 219 how is the rest of your days ride?, I've been doing 219 all the way down then staying in Pearisburg for the 4 or 5 years before the border closed. I've only been doing 2 days down and back.
 
woobie said:
On your first day when you leave 219 how is the rest of your days ride?, I've been doing 219 all the way down then staying in Pearisburg for the 4 or 5 years before the border closed. I've only been doing 2 days down and back.
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After I leave the 219 it's a really beautiful ride. If you have never been on Smoke Hole Road near Seneca Rocks, check it out. There's also a really cool ride up to the highest point in WV called Spruce Knob, which is not on my route this trip, but it's very close to Seneca Rocks as well.

I've done the entire length of the 219 and there are some really nice sections of it (especially north of Marlinton), but some of the nearby roads are more interesting with less traffic, so I'd prefer to take those. The roads I'm taking on Day 2, 3, 4, 5 are primarily ones I have not been on before but come highly recommended or they look great on the map. Normally I take 3 days to get down there, but this time I have bunch of vacation days to use up so I'm riding a very indirect route.
 
Hey all. Figure I'd jump in here with my own plans (for anyone interested) with a friend for a Tuesday through Sunday trip, right after the long weekend.

- Day 1, home to Jellico TN nonstop, about 1100km. Staying at the Days Inn in Jellico.

- Day 2, start off running the Devils Triangle just SW of Jellico, and then work our way down to the Dragon, spend the rest of the day there. Probably only about 350km day but I'm sure we'll run the dragon back and forth quite a few times. Staying at Dragon City.

- Day 3, Depart the Dragon (after another run back and forth I suspect if we wanted) and then work our way around to the beginning of the Cherohala, run that over to Moonshiners 28, Going to run Moonshiners as far as is realistic before cutting off somewhere and winging it (probably using the Scenic app to plot a decent route based on our time available) over to the western side of the Copperhead. Going to spend the night at the bottom end of the western side of the Copperhead loop at the Holiday Inn Express in Brevard NC. Another 350km day, but all day to do it.

- Day 4, head out of Brevard and run the eastern side of the Copperhead. Take whatever interesting roads we can find over to the Diamondback and run that around back up to Little Switzerland probably for lunch. From there I think I'll throw caution to the wind and let the Scenic App plot us a decent route (hours permitting) up to Marion VA which is the bottom end of the Back of the Dragon which I seriously enjoyed last time I was down there. Staying at the EconoLodge in Marion.

- Day 5, Head out of Marion and run the Back of the Dragon. I'd like to say we might have time to run it back and forth twice, but I also figure we should be somewhere around the PA line by the end of the day in order to avoid having too many miles to cover on our last day (we might be getting worn out after 5 solid days on the bikes at that point) so we may just run it north and then let Scenic do it's thing again to route us northward. We don't have a hotel booked this night, throwing caution to the wind...there's lots of options anyways along the interstate corridor. Target-ish destination is Marion VA basically at the PA line south of Pittsburgh.

- Day 6, Get moving from whereever we ended up and head towards Buffalo/Niagara and towards home. If we are making good time I'll let Scenic take us off on some tangents through the Alleghenies.

Speaking of the Scenic app, anyone who may have tried it in the past and found it wonky, or has never used it before, I think it's worth a new look - it seems to have gone through a complete revamp and some poking at things in the last few days it actually seems pretty awesome now.
 
shanekingsley said:
Totally agree. A few years ago I was riding down there and quickly came upon a GA police officer who seemed to be driving the speed limit. He waved me to pass him and I thought it was a trap. But it wasn't... he didn't seem to mind my pace at all, which was pretty awesome.

I was thinking I would do something like this route below for one of my loops, but this is all roads I've been on before, so if you know any others in the North GA mountains to check out, I'm all ears:)
View attachment 53280
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Since I live in North Georgia I can give you a couple of pointers here.

When you're leaving Helen there's a great road that literally runs by my house - 197 out of Clarkesville along Lake Burton.
Screenshot 2022-04-03 180527.jpg
It's much curvier than it looks on the map.

Also, when leaving Clayton I would take Warwoman to NC28 and follow this route to Toxaway:
Screenshot 2022-04-03 181002.jpg

Unless you specifically wanted to ride through Highlands and Cashiers (pronounced Cashers). Highlands is a very posh area (think Muskokas) and is often busy so you'll no doubt end up behind slow cars there with no opportunities to pass.

In VA have you taken 21 south out of Wytheville to Independence (Fox Creek Leather is located here) and 58 west through Mouth of Wilson?
wyth.jpg
wilson.jpg

It's God's country and the views are unbelievable. 58 leading into Damascus is a ton of fun and shaded which is nice on the those hot days.
 
Jason Bourne said:
Since I live in North Georgia I can give you a couple of pointers here.

When you're leaving Helen there's a great road that literally runs by my house - 197 out of Clarkesville along Lake Burton.
View attachment 54259
It's much curvier than it looks on the map.

Also, when leaving Clayton I would take Warwoman to NC28 and follow this route to Toxaway:
View attachment 54260

Unless you specifically wanted to ride through Highlands and Cashiers (pronounced Cashers). Highlands is a very posh area (think Muskokas) and is often busy so you'll no doubt end up behind slow cars there with no opportunities to pass.

In VA have you taken 21 south out of Wytheville to Independence (Fox Creek Leather is located here) and 58 west through Mouth of Wilson?
View attachment 54261
View attachment 54262

It's God's country and the views are unbelievable. 58 leading into Damascus is a ton of fun and shaded which is nice on the those hot days.
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Awesome thanks - I made the changes to the GA area and definitely didn't want to pass through slow areas around the Highlands area.
I've done that bit in VA and that stretch on the 58 is a super fun run for sure. Beautiful bike and thanks again!
 
Might try some of these. We're planning on going down to the Barber Vintage Festival again this year.
 
justride said:
Super 8
Hey, Shane any particular reason why you favour Super 8?
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I only go there because I generally know what to expect and the prices are reasonable. I don't smoke any more and I've had a few experiences in other chain motels, where I was put in a non-smoking room that merely had the ashtrays removed but it stunk of decades old butts and that smell was with me the whole trip. If I'm going to be in a motel, I really want decent wifi and I've generally had good luck with this in Super 8's but some other motels it's been really bad. The breakfast is good enough to get me on my way and I usually take a couple apples or oranges with me:)

If I am riding with others, then I'm happy to stay anywhere that pleases the group. On this trip, there is another rider from Buffalo meeting me and so we are going to splurge on a few nights and stay in nicer digs.
 
Holiday Inn Express is a good option with a consistent good breakfast as well, and good rooms. When I'm travelling with the wife it's almost exclusively our go-to option as we *know* there's going to be a good breakfast that will save us that cost in the AM, and I've never had a bad experience (so far as a dirty room or whatever) there.

Prices can vary wildly though depending on the area though - it seems to have worked it's way into the upper middle end of the hotel spectrum versus the bargain it used to be.

For our trip to the dragon there's all sorts of different places we're staying at (as per my post above), but I based it mostly on a happy medium between a decent hotel with good reviews, and cost. Trying to stay on some sort of reasonable budget for this trip, although splitting the rooms with a buddy will help, but there's still 3 meals a day for 6 days, etc.
 
PrivatePilot said:
Holiday Inn Express is a good option with a consistent good breakfast as well, and good rooms. When I'm travelling with the wife it's almost exclusively our go-to option as we *know* there's going to be a good breakfast that will save us that cost in the AM, and I've never had a bad experience (so far as a dirty room or whatever) there.

Prices can vary wildly though depending on the area though - it seems to have worked it's way into the upper middle end of the hotel spectrum versus the bargain it used to be.

For our trip to the dragon there's all sorts of different places we're staying at (as per my post above), but I based it mostly on a happy medium between a decent hotel with good reviews, and cost. Trying to stay on some sort of reasonable budget for this trip, although splitting the rooms with a buddy will help, but there's still 3 meals a day for 6 days, etc.
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I like staying at a hotel with a breakfast. I hate having to stop and find food after getting going in the morning. I also swipe a few of the small cereal boxes and whatever else I can find and save them for snacks later in the day.
 
Sadly the Squeeze isn't a big breakfast person. We travel with 2 bowls, 2 spoons and a variety pack of the small cereals @matthew likes in the topbox. A 500ml plastic bottle full of ice will keep a small milk container cold for a day or so. About every second or third day we have to have a hotel room with a mini fridge to refreeze the bottle.
 
Jason Bourne said:
@shanekingsley I rode 178 today and don't remember seeing it on your routes. I always forget how nice this road is but it's a great one that passes through NC/SC.

Don't know if you've ridden it before but if not it makes for a nice loop with 276:
View attachment 54529

Used a pull out to take a pic of the new bike but you get the picture.
View attachment 54530
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Thanks that's a great suggestion and I've never been on it before. Also made me realize that I had never been on that southern section of the 276 either, so now I'll try to check them both out. Thanks again!

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Every time I see this thread pop up I get all giddy about our trip down there in a little over 4 weeks now.

But then I look at all these maps everyone is posting and realize how many awesome roads there is all over the place, and in reality, how few of them we'll have time to ride.

I think about 3 months down there would be about right lol.
 
shanekingsley said:
Thanks that's a great suggestion and I've never been on it before. Also made me realize that I had never been on that southern section of the 276 either, so now I'll try to check them both out. Thanks again!
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Head's up on a photo opportunity when you're passing by Table Rock State Park (waypoint 14 on your map). This is the view from a few years ago but they've created a pull-off rest area since then so keep an eye out for it.
table.jpg

Have a fun trip!
 
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