6 Motorcycle Road Trips You Can’t Afford To Miss
Traveling the country on a motorcycle is an enlightening experience that intensifies your connection to the open road. A motorcycle allows you to see, hear, and feel your surroundings in ways that you simply can’t while driving a passenger car.
Motorbikes come with their own fair share of challenges, like reduced protection from road hazards or limited creature comforts to sustain you on long rides. What they lack in added features, motorcycles make up for with pure, adrenaline-pumping performance.
We’ve curated six road trip routes across the country that are must-see rides on a bike. If you prefer a car or a truck, these rides will be plenty enjoyable for you, too. From the Pacific Northwest to the Appalachian Mountains, get ready to step out and enjoy some of this country’s most beautiful scenery with these six routes.
Northwest Passage Scenic Byway
This 202-mile route traverses Idaho from Montana to Washington, following a well-travelled historic route. The Northwest Passage was forged by famed explorers Lewis & Clark as they made their way toward the mighty Pacific Ocean. You can enjoy mountainous terrain and endless views of thick blankets of forests as you head west on this trail.
Beartooth Highway
Beartooth Highway, carved through Northern Colorado and some of southern Montana, is a high-altitude, perennially snowy road through the Rockies. It’s closed from October through May as heavy snowfall and dangerous loose rocks create treacherous conditions on this route that tops out at nearly 12,000 feet above sea level.
Pacific Coast Highway
Perhaps the most famous road in America (besides Route 66), the PCH spans the length of California’s golden Pacific coastline and is best traveled in its entirety. Part of the spectacular appeal of this highway is the expanse of terrain it covers: you travel from sunny SoCal up through stunning cliffs and valleys, through wine country and eventually up into the heavily-forested Bay Area.
The Twisted Sisters
Texas is known for big open skies, perfect for enjoying long road trips across this massive state. One of the best road trips we found is rather short compared to the sheer amount of pavement in Texas: The Twisted Sisters are three state highways (TX 335, 336, and 337) form a 100-mile loop around the beauty that is the expansive Texas Hill Country.
Natchez Trace Parkway
For a historical thrill ride, take the nearly 450-mile trip through the Deep South on the Natchez Trace Parkway, a prehistoric migration route used by Native Americans seasonally. The route takes you directly through Jackson, Mississippi, and continues north through Tennessee, where you’re sure to come across some delectable barbecue between Memphis and Nashville.
Blue Ridge Parkway
Toward the Atlantic, the famous Blue Ridge Parkway twists and winds for nearly 500 miles on a path through the Appalachian Mountains up through North Carolina and into Virginia. The route connects two beautiful national parks, Shenandoah and the Great Smoky Mountains, each filled with towering blue-tinged trees that stretch as far as the eyes can see.
Regardless of the part of the country you live in (or if you’re visiting and renting a motorcycle), you have access to countless miles of beautiful scenery and countryside. For more information on these spectacular road trip destinations and more, check out the infographic below from The Zebra and explore more travel content on dangerousroads.
Please include attribution to TheZebra.com with this graphic.