We’ve reached the end of Moto May, and what a ride it was. While packs of people are flocking to the beaches in seek of summer, we encourage your group to fire up the hogs and hit the road for a good old-fashioned American road trip. You don’t have to be Harley Davidson and The Marlboro Man to navigate these picturesque routes. Revv up those engines, folks, and we will see you for Moto May 2022!
Beartooth Highway
The Beartooth Highway is the highest elevation paved road in the northern Rocky Mountains, which means that this isn’t a place for semis and work commuters. This is smooth pavement and postcard views from Red Lodge, Montana all the way to the entrance of Yellowstone in Wyoming. You can stop at the Top of the World Resort to watch the sunset at 9,400 feet, or hit up one of the landmarks like Bear’s Tooth, a jagged rock formation that looks like…well, a bear’s tooth.
Blue Ridge Parkway
The BRP is nicknamed “America’s Favorite Drive” for a reason. This road starts right by Shenandoah National Park and ends at Great Smoky Mountains National Park, both of which are worth visiting to bookend this five hundred-mile trip through North Carolina and Virginia. The one downside to this trip is that you may have hundreds of thousands of other badasses on bikes as that is how many elect to make this drive every year
Going to the Sun Road
Even though Going to the Sun Road is only a fifty-mile ride, it is the only major paved road that goes through Glacier National Park, which is maybe the most beautiful park in the United States. That fact enough makes this short ride worth going to Montana. There are also a lot of other short rides in the area that you can fill the hours with to make for a full day.
Needles Highway
Sturgis motorcycle rally is the largest gathering of bikers in the U.S. And since it’s held in Sturgis, South Dakota, that also means one of the potential routes that takes you to the event is this beautiful jaunt through South Dakota’s Black Hills. If that sounds familiar, it is because you get the opportunity to see one of the country’s most famous not-natural landmarks in Mount Rushmore. Part American tourist, part biker badass, this is a never-miss for any moderately serious riders.
Northwest Passage Scenic Byway
Nothing says American West like Lewis and Clark. Men like Wyatt Earp and Doc Holiday may have built the West, but Lewis and Clark traversed it. This passage follows the same path, cutting through the West and transporting you back to before the country was settled. This is a must for any fan of American history.
PCH
If you are ready for upwards of a thousand miles of riding through some of the most popular lands in the United States, the Pacific Coast Highway (or State Route 1) will take you from San Diego all the way up to Seattle. This road goes from the beaches of California to winding through cities like Los Angeles, San Francisco, and a number of small towns in between. Because this is one of the most popular roads in America, there are countless restaurants and sites for you to see whenever you need a break.
Tunnel of Trees Road
One of the best feelings, when you are driving a car, riding a bike, or even jogging on the side of the road, is when you are surrounded by trees on both sides. Closing you off from the rest of the world and bringing you into a place of solitude as you wind through the country that looks like it jumped right off of a painting. There are a lot of roads like this in Michigan, but this road tracing the state’s western coast is definitely the number one place for you to ride this summer.
Route 66
Route 66 was one of the United State’s first continuous stretches of paved highway and served as a major path for those who migrated west. “The Mother Road” was established on November 11, 1926, and ultimately stretched 2,448 miles from Chicago to Los Angeles. This classic trip of Americana will take you at least two weeks, so this is definitely for the more serious riders. But with retro hotels, fifties-style diners, and great scenery dotting the entire trip, you could easily spend a month on the road.
Whether you are a seasoned vet ready to take weeks to shoot up the coast or across the Midwest, or a newbie ready to take your brand-new hog out for the first time, this collection gives you a number of choices to get you away from work and in the open air. So grab your jacket and shades, fire it up, and hit the road.