Western USA
Best Biking Roads
Thousands of great motorcycling roads worldwide. Each road/route is rated for Scenery, Visibility, length plus several more categories. I also like the list of Nearby roads with URL links. It's great!
Thousands of great motorcycling roads worldwide. Each road/route is rated for Scenery, Visibility, length plus several more categories. I also like the list of Nearby roads with URL links. It's great!
Most Historic "Old West" Town
While Tombstone, Arizona, may be a bit pretentious, its history is undeniable. The "Gunfight at the OK Corral" is the West's most famous legend. Today, you can visit the OK Corral and see figures representing each participant positioned exactly as they were at the moment of the shootout. Other "must-sees" are the humorous and ironic epitaphs ("Hung by Mistake") at the infamous Boot Hill Cemetary and the Bird Cage Theater, rated the "wickedest" night club in America by the New York Times.
10 great motorcycle trips
Updated AM | Comment | RecommendE-mail | Save | Print | EnlargeBy Nancy HowellPlains and simple: The route goes from Omaha to Broken Bow, Neb., and takes in Kansas along the way, where, author Gary McKechnie says, "you'll meet some of the nicest people in America."Fall is the perfect time for a two-wheeled road trip, says Gary McKechnie, author of Great American Motorcycle Tours (Avalon, $21.95), the country's best-selling travel guide for riders. "This is when you get those beautiful bright-blue skies, and the air is crisp." He shares some of his favorite rides — which are also great in cars — with Larry Bleiberg for USA TODAY. Details on the routes are atmotorcycleamerica.com.MAP: Where to start your journeyMORE 10 GREAT: Themed lists and expert picksLenox, Mass., to Stowe, Vt.
The trip begins in the Berkshires and meanders through some of the prettiest fall color in the country. "The road twists and turns as you go through the woods, especially on State Highway 100 through theGreen Mountains in Vermont," McKechnie says. "There's something so peaceful, pastoral and tranquil about it." 800-227-6277;massvacation.com and 800-837-6668; vermontvacation.com
Livingston, Mont., to Jackson, Wyo.
This is a trip to clean your mental hard drive — a journey free of billboards and traffic, McKechnie says. When it passes through Yellowstone National Park, riders might encounter bison and even grizzlies. Heading to Jackson "puts you in a spiritual place where there's nothing in the world but you and your motorcycle." 800-847-4868; visitmt.com and 800-225-5996; wyomingtourism.org
Durango to Mesa Verde, Colo.
Although the towns are just 35 miles apart, McKechnie's route covers more than 400 miles of mountains, valleys and high passes, visiting such places as Silverton, Ouray and Telluride. "You've got these high switchbacks and turns, which, for motorcyclists, is like Valhalla," he says. "It's like being in a Colorado beer commercial." 800-265-6723; colorado.com
Sedona, Ariz., to Zion National Park, Utah
This route combines some of the continent's most stunning scenery with long stretches of empty highway, passing through canyon country and skirting Lake Powell. "Sedona, Grand Canyon and Zion is like the hat trick of motorcycling: three extraordinary rides," McKechnie says. 866-275-5816; arizonaguide.com and 800-200-1160; utah.com
Calistoga to Carmel, Calif.
This California journey starts in a Napa Valley gilded-age resort town, crosses the Golden Gate Bridge, and takes in one of the country's most storied roads, the Pacific Coast Highway. "Everything that California claims to be, you'll find on this route," McKechnie says. 800-862-2543; visitcalifornia.com
Cannon Beach to Florence, Ore.
McKechnie's favorite day ride covers 150 miles of Oregon coast and inland forest. He says he was astonished by the views of lighthouses, mountains and ocean from U.S. Highway 101. (By taking this route south, riders stay on the ocean side of the road.) "Every few miles, I thought: 'It can't get better than this.' And it does." 503-436-2623; cannonbeach.organd 541-997-3128; florencechamber.com
Updated AM | Comment | RecommendE-mail | Save | Print | EnlargeBy Nancy HowellPlains and simple: The route goes from Omaha to Broken Bow, Neb., and takes in Kansas along the way, where, author Gary McKechnie says, "you'll meet some of the nicest people in America."Fall is the perfect time for a two-wheeled road trip, says Gary McKechnie, author of Great American Motorcycle Tours (Avalon, $21.95), the country's best-selling travel guide for riders. "This is when you get those beautiful bright-blue skies, and the air is crisp." He shares some of his favorite rides — which are also great in cars — with Larry Bleiberg for USA TODAY. Details on the routes are atmotorcycleamerica.com.MAP: Where to start your journeyMORE 10 GREAT: Themed lists and expert picksLenox, Mass., to Stowe, Vt.
The trip begins in the Berkshires and meanders through some of the prettiest fall color in the country. "The road twists and turns as you go through the woods, especially on State Highway 100 through theGreen Mountains in Vermont," McKechnie says. "There's something so peaceful, pastoral and tranquil about it." 800-227-6277;massvacation.com and 800-837-6668; vermontvacation.com
Livingston, Mont., to Jackson, Wyo.
This is a trip to clean your mental hard drive — a journey free of billboards and traffic, McKechnie says. When it passes through Yellowstone National Park, riders might encounter bison and even grizzlies. Heading to Jackson "puts you in a spiritual place where there's nothing in the world but you and your motorcycle." 800-847-4868; visitmt.com and 800-225-5996; wyomingtourism.org
Durango to Mesa Verde, Colo.
Although the towns are just 35 miles apart, McKechnie's route covers more than 400 miles of mountains, valleys and high passes, visiting such places as Silverton, Ouray and Telluride. "You've got these high switchbacks and turns, which, for motorcyclists, is like Valhalla," he says. "It's like being in a Colorado beer commercial." 800-265-6723; colorado.com
Sedona, Ariz., to Zion National Park, Utah
This route combines some of the continent's most stunning scenery with long stretches of empty highway, passing through canyon country and skirting Lake Powell. "Sedona, Grand Canyon and Zion is like the hat trick of motorcycling: three extraordinary rides," McKechnie says. 866-275-5816; arizonaguide.com and 800-200-1160; utah.com
Calistoga to Carmel, Calif.
This California journey starts in a Napa Valley gilded-age resort town, crosses the Golden Gate Bridge, and takes in one of the country's most storied roads, the Pacific Coast Highway. "Everything that California claims to be, you'll find on this route," McKechnie says. 800-862-2543; visitcalifornia.com
Cannon Beach to Florence, Ore.
McKechnie's favorite day ride covers 150 miles of Oregon coast and inland forest. He says he was astonished by the views of lighthouses, mountains and ocean from U.S. Highway 101. (By taking this route south, riders stay on the ocean side of the road.) "Every few miles, I thought: 'It can't get better than this.' And it does." 503-436-2623; cannonbeach.organd 541-997-3128; florencechamber.com