Planning a trip to the US? Check out the AMA’s top 15 US biking roads

[Bob]

Members of the American Motorcyclist Association (AMA) have come up with their list of the top 15 US motorcycling roads:

1. Washington Route 129 and Oregon Route 3, Clarkston, Wash., to Enterprise, Ore.
2. Ohio Route 170, Calcutta to Poland.
3. California Route 58, McKittrick to Santa Margarita.
4. U.S. Route 33, Harrisonburg, Va., to Seneca Rocks, W.Va.
5. Natchez Trace, from Natchez, Miss., to Nashville, Tenn.
6. Angeles Crest Highway, California Route 2.
7. U.S. Route 12, Lolo Pass, Idaho and Montana.
8. California Route 36.
9. Cherohala Skyway, North Carolina and Tennessee.
10. Going to the Sun Road, Glacier National Park, Montana.
11. California Route 1, Pacific Coast Highway.
12. U.S. Route 550, from Ouray to Durango, Colo.
13. U.S. Route 129 -- The Tail of the Dragon -- on the North Carolina-Tennessee border.
14. Blue Ridge Parkway, North Carolina.
15. Beartooth Highway, Montana and Wyoming.

[Metastable]

FYI - I think your list is backwards.
http://www.roadracingworld.com/news/article/?article=43686

No sensible list would have a road in Ohio in the top 3, unless it was the racetrack at Mid-Ohio. :D

BTW - here is my take on what I know is on that list:
15. Washington Route 129 and Oregon Route 3, Clarkston, Wash., to Enterprise, Ore.
- No idea, but Oregon is known to be sticky about policing

14. Ohio Route 170, Calcutta to Poland.
- Been through OH a million times and never knew of this road - Ohio State Troopers can ticket you for anything over 5mph. And most of the State is kinda lame for riding anyway.

13. California Route 58, McKittrick to Santa Margarita.
- Haven't done this one, but should be very very good as long as there isn't too much traffic.

12. U.S. Route 33, Harrisonburg, Va., to Seneca Rocks, W.Va.
Dunno

11. Natchez Trace, from Natchez, Miss., to Nashville, Tenn.

Pretty, the road itself is the National Park. It isn't very challenging, more of a gently curving road with little traffic

10. Angeles Crest Highway, California Route 2.
Lots of Sportbikes, can get busy on weekends, technical road.
Throw in Deckers Canyon in the area or further north in the San Fran Area you can do Mines road.

9. U.S. Route 12, Lolo Pass, Idaho and Montana.
Never been, but my friend rates it #1 in the US, and he is an iron butter and has ridden almost every road in the US. :D
This road should probably be much higher up the list.

8. California Route 36.
Very good, little traffic should be higher up the list

7. Cherohala Skyway, North Carolina and Tennessee.
Nice fun road, sweeping corners, fairly high speed. Traffic is a lot lighter than the GAP.... the odd cop can show up.

6. Going to the Sun Road, Glacier National Park, Montana.
Dunno - but most roads in Montana, Wyoming, Colorado and Utah are very good with little traffic and very little enforcement

5. California Route 1, Pacific Coast Highway.
It's pretty in certain sections. The only technical section is just south of Monterey. Otherwise the rest of it between Sand Diego and San Fran is slow going, lots of traffic, but the scenery is nice with the beach right there. Not really a good riding road.

4. U.S. Route 550, from Ouray to Durango, Colo.
THE BOMB!!! Little traffic, be careful of wildlife, very technical road. Then again there are so many awesome roads in Colorado. Throw in 133 Carbondale to Hotchkiss, 24 Leadville to Minturn, 50 through Monarch Pass, Cottonwood Canyon, Independence pass etc etc etc....

3. U.S. Route 129 -- The Tail of the Dragon -- on the North Carolina-Tennessee border.
- The Gap - Very technical and tiring road. Too much police enforcement and too many squids and poor visibility. THe Cherohala mentioned earlier is better

2. Blue Ridge Parkway, North Carolina.
- This roads is HUGE i.e. Looooong .... not a technical road.... but very scenic high up on a ridge. YOu need to be careful with giant wild turkeys and dear.... curvy bendy road, but not for speed... you have to be going REALLY REALLY fast for it to be fun.... Federal Road..... I wouldn't want to end up in a Federal prison. Plan out your gas stops.

1. Beartooth Highway, Montana and Wyoming.
- Should be awesome, never been.

So basically, anything from Colorado -> west is usually very good. Some roads in California can get busy. I've heard from a few guys I trust that Lolo Pass is their favorite road and THEY KNOW.... they've done Deals Gap etc. As far as the stuff in the east, usually visibility starts to become more of a problem, because the vegetation is much thicker than it is in the west. It the west when the roads get technical you do have to worry about sand mid corner and small rocks that might have slid down the side of the hill. IMO, the Blueridge and US129 (Deals Gap) should be further back on the list.

[Bob]

Thanks for the feedback, really appreciated.

It is always interesting, when you post an item like this, to get detailed feedback from someone who has ridden (most) of the roads.

I looked up Route 36 and it looked great on the map. So nice to get confirmation!
(Been to California a few times now, but still not hired a bike. One of these days...)

[Metastable]

No worries, although a few of those were done by car.

http://www.dubbelju.com/

I rented from them in San Francisco and had a very good experience.