To experience Ohio riding....

[lurch12_2000]

Well, I'm putting together a riding loop of about 750 miles, starting in northern Kentucky then up to southeastern Ohio during the last week of April this year. Hopefully the weather will cooperate as I rush the season ahead by going south. The plan is to truck my '82 GS850G down from NH and unload it at my brother's to do four days of riding. The roads I have in mind include Rt 374 around Hocking Hills for about 27 miles; Rt 78 north from Glouster known as Ohio's Dragon Tail for around 20 miles; Rt 536 the other Tail of the Dragon for 12 miles starting in Hannabal; and then to loop back up to Rt 555 (the Triple Nickle) and it's whole 63 mile stretch heading south from Zanesville. The bulk of miles will cover scenic, non-highway roads getting to each of these spots. I'm not camping on this trip due to streamlining my load and will live in luxury at cheap hotels/motels along the way. A warm bed, hot shower, TV and a hot cup of coffee in my progressing, wiser years. I think I've had enough riding and camping in 40 degree weather over the last 10 years! All my riding will be on weekdays to avoid traffic too.

So if anyone else has a great road to recommend in that area or to just connect up for a cup of coffee let me know. Also, if you are aware of road construction happening on these roads that would spoil the thrill please let me know. It's all subject to change and the hope of good weather, but I have to start dreaming now before the winter gets to me. I was out on the old 850G for a couple of 1 hour rides a few weeks ago when it was above freezing and decent, but subzero wind chills and 15” of new snow from this week's blizzard put a stop to that.

Note:
If someone thinks that there are better riding roads in northern Kentucky rather than what I laid out in Ohio, I'm open to change.

 

[dorkburger]

Sound like a cool trip! It's been a long time, but there was an old state highway I traveled across retuning home from a trip in my old ElCamino. I remember thinking how cool it would be on a bike.
I have it written down. I'll take a look later.
Chuck78 should be able to point you in the right direction.

 

[Guest]

The AMA museum is in central Ohio. Not on your route but is worth considering if you haven?t been there & have the time.


http://www.americanmotorcyclist.com/hof/

 

[Dogma]

Well, I can't make any specific recommendations, but there are a ton of great roads in the general area of 555. 555 is one of my favorite roads, but it's not for everybody. It seems to have been designed to kill you. Be very diligent about sight distance. There are a lot of sudden turns on the other side of hills and other hazards. It's more of a point and squirt roller coaster than something you can carry speed on, except way at the north end by Zanesville.

 

[lurch12_2000]

The AMA museum is in central Ohio. Not on your route but is worth considering if you haven’t been there & have the time.


http://www.americanmotorcyclist.com/hof/

Yes I had the museum on my original list, but the loop didn't quite work out heading west towards the Columbus area, but rather I would be down by the Ohio river and didn't want to backtrack over to there. BTW, if I joined AMA for $49 a year the entrance to the museum would be free as a member. Maybe I'll visit when I'm heading back in the truck along the route home to NH.

 

[lurch12_2000]

Well, I can't make any specific recommendations, but there are a ton of great roads in the general area of 555. 555 is one of my favorite roads, but it's not for everybody. It seems to have been designed to kill you. Be very diligent about sight distance. There are a lot of sudden turns on the other side of hills and other hazards. It's more of a point and squirt roller coaster than something you can carry speed on, except way at the north end by Zanesville.

Maybe they should relabel it as Hwy 666. BTW, I spent time years ago doing some IT consulting for Wendy's at their Mason corporate office, or at least it used to be there?

 

[Steve]

There are a lot of sudden turns on the other side of hills and other hazards.

And some of them don't wait for the other side, they turn ON TOP of the hill.


That is probably the greatest concentration of good roads in oHIo, but there are plenty of good roads just a bit east of there in West Virginia, too.

Probably not enough time to do them, though.

.

 

[Dogma]

Maybe they should relabel it as Hwy 666. BTW, I spent time years ago doing some IT consulting for Wendy's at their Mason corporate office, or at least it used to be there?

Well, if it's still here, I haven't happened to notice it. There are a lot of places a thing like that can hide from me, though.

 

[Joe Garfield]

It sounds like your route has the right roads/locations. SW Ohio is pretty boring on a bike. It's better near Hocking Hills and on the Kentucky side of the river from Cincinnati.

 

[Chuck78]

Look at the travelling picnic thread on here, I dumped A TON of detailed info out on that one.

http://www.thegsresources.com/_foru...89-Traveling-Picnic-JULY-2017-New-Information


These roads are basically local to me. I'm 50 minutes from state route 374 through Hocking Hills. Great road, amazing sightseeing if you can take any breaks and do some short hikes to very cool cliff areas - Ash Cave, Rock House, Conkles Hollow etc are just a few of the amazing publicized hiking trail destinations.
I highly recommend 374 south. For extra miles of curves but skipping a fun short bit of 374 (with some good elevation changes and a handful of great curves skipped on 374) to detour at the Conkles Hollow signs to head east on that eastern half of Big Pine Rd, lots of curves very flowing following Big Pine Creek, then hang a right on 664 back to 374 south.

Once you get to 374's end at 56, hang a right for a wonderful 5 mile or so stretch to a gas station at 664 & 56. Then return on 56 again because about 3 miles of it are some of my favorite pavement in the area, or for a more unpredictable tighter path, take Chapel Ridge Rd east back to 374 s back to 56. Then 56 to the Zaleski State Forest Lake Hope region. Then catch the northeastern half of 278 into Nelsonville. Cross over to Ohio State Route 78 on the other side of Nelsonville. I like to detour on the short sweet Rollercoaster of State Rt 685 there off of 78, left on St.Rt 13 @ it's end, R again on 78 for the best of it - "The Rim of the World" as its known, the Scenic Byway section of OH-78. Not really the Ohio Dragon, which it gets mislabeled a lot, it's amazing fun for all skill levels but a bit faster turns than some of the tighter roads in the region. 78 is to not be missed. 536 is the real Ohio Dragon. 536 has only about half the curves as US129/Deal's Gap Dragon, but a great road regardless.
78 from Nelsonville to 377 (and beyond to Caldwell) is a GREAT GREAT road, climbs up to a long 11+ mile ridge with nonstop curves and a few nice vistas nearing 555 & 377 when you finally get a break from the tree cover. There's a mandatory motorcycle unmarked stop at the picnic table behind the white barn next to a 1 story aluminum sided house that's been vacant for a decade or more but the owner still keeps it up.

78 gets mundane for a handful of miles around McConnelsville but picks up again nearing The Big Muskie Bucket Miner's Memorial - mandatory rest stop! Strip mining drag line bucket the size of a large house, resting on a decent elevation ridgeline...

I cut south off of 78 either at 377 (excellent mid speed sweepers road often skipping the second lower half to incorporate 266? & 792? & often part of 555 to hit the best of 676), or run it past the big muskie bucket through Caldwell to catch 158 or 260 south to THE BEST STUFF in Ohio... I love the really tight twisty roads tremendously, but I don't care for most of 555 as much as everything else in the area. Most parts of it are not flowing at all, & in April, I'd highly recommend avoiding it due to all the farms off of it. The roads will be littered with mud and debris from tractors, farm trucks, & cattle moving, making the roads very dirty in these areas. 555 is hit and miss even in summer as to whether it is clean, & some areas have pavement getting bad.

Almost all the rest of these roads I speak of have been repaved in the past few years.
374 is GREAT, 78 is a MUST RIDE, but if skipping some amazing short cliff area scenic hikes on easy paths wouldn't bother you at all, I might consider more skipping 374 and only going as far west/north as Nelsonville / 78 or even Glouster where 78 gets real good. The stuff east of I-77 & south of OH-78 is THE BEST way to spend a day in Ohio. 78 in this area isn't as good, but 260, 255,536, Dalzell Rd, 565, 537, 530 (this is mostly west of I-77 but a top top road in the state), Archers Fork Rd, Sykes Ridge Rd, the bottom section of 800... these are GREAT roads.

oh! I forgot to mention Ohio State Route 26 the "Covered Bridge Scenic ByWay!" Not as tight generally but an incredibly flowing road that mostly follows the Little Muskingum River to Marietta, with several side roads off of it that have covered bridges immediately off 26.

556 up by Sykes Ridge Rd area is another good one, faster and not as tight but very good.


I ALWAYS run 255 southbound in this area so that I can jog down the Ohio River Scenic ByWay Rt 7 up to (Hannibal?) Rt 536 north. 536 JUST got repaved end of last season. It's been terrible for years due to fracking truck traffic destroying it. When I was told it just got repaved, the next late October 75 degree day (one of last of 2016), I took a vacation day just to go ride it... WOW. Nice road!
Point of this is I only do 536 northbound generally, as there's a marked 15mph curve just south of Sykes Ridge Rd (stop sign/90 degree turn for 536 traffic @ Sykes) that is very dangerous for southbound unfamiliar riders, as it is decreasing radius and slightly off camber with a slight elevation drop. MANY southbound riders have lost traction and crossed the other lane and ended up in the field there..

 

[Chuck78]

How many days are you planning to ride Ohio? 4 days? Or 4 days total for Ohio/Eastern Ky/WV?
just across the river from 536, on the west Virginia side, there is a road called Proctor Creek Rd... ride this if you can! There is a 2nd road around there named proctor creek rd, but this one you catch near the Ohio River (I think it's next to a post office?) & run until it turns into Amos Hollow Rd which ends at the famous Moundsville to Hundred section of US250 in WV, which also just got paved last year after 6 years of horrible pavement...

Eastern KY has many gems as well, you wouldn't regret skipping Ohio to ride just KY & WV, but if you follow my narrative, I highly doubt you'll have any regrets running these Appalachian SouthEast Ohio roads either!
Having good insider info can make a huge difference between riding a good area with great tips from locals vs trying to plot your own route through an even greater riding area without much in the way of pointers from people experienced in riding those areas heavily.

I sent some of my GS racer/suspension tuner buddies from Pittsburgh down through Ohio on Rt 26 the Covered Bridge Scenic ByWay, a great flowing road, but not one that I personally try to run most times I'm in the area (too many even more thrilling choices, too far from home for all of them in 1 day). My buds were heading to the Red River Gorge in KY, this was just an exciting back roads route for them to get to KY. THEY ABSOLUTELY LOVED 26! I think it was one of their favorite roads on the whole trip actually...

 

[Chuck78]

Cut and paste of my posts from the travelling picnic thread:

called off work last october for one last warm weather ride, kaidesch (sp?) point park off of ohio state rt 536 about 350-400' above the ohio river (huge, 3x as big as the mississippi river where the two converge).


^^^dalzell rd (turns into county rd 5? @ county line 1 mile to 565) to oh-565 to jog on the awesome oh-260 to the short & sweet oh-537... Wayne national forest deep in se ohio

^^^255 south to 536... 536 was just freshly paved, one of my favorite best of the best 10 mile or so stretches of pavement in the state. Northbound-only for those unfamiliar to miss a southbound decreasing radius 15mph turn that can be disastrous if not going less than 15mph
oh-255 south to the ohio river scenic byway (state route 7 east) to oh-536 north to 78 is one of the best and most scenic rides in the state, a bit more techically challenging than 78 & 26 but those 2 are packed full of fun for all riding styles. 255 and 536 being 2 of the most techical state routes here...





^^^^^^mandatory scenic stop on ohio 78 scenic byway nearing oh-555. The house there has been vacant for a decade or more but landowner has picnic table behind barn at the edge of the ridgetop and it is a common stopping place to take a break from the nonstop sweepers and twisties of 78. The views at this point overlooking the burr oak lake valley 400' below are nearly like a lot of mid/northern blue ridge parkway type views into va... Hard to believe you're in ohio at views like behind this barn, as 70% of the state is glaciated and as flat as kansas...

 

[Chuck78]

From travelling picnic thread:

Stolen from an article linked from an old post of mine, I believe this is 255 in the pic (& FYI they skipped some of the best roads so follow my advice and not necessarily their route):
http://www.revzilla.com/hub-day-trip

Here's my modified slightly longer and much more awesome route for you all, covering the same territory as theirs:


https://www.google.com/maps?saddr=E...TWgIdutUe-w;FYMRXAIdUCAd-w&t=p&mra=mivtw&z=10




Photos by drc32-0, a short detour off of 78 from Nelsonville eastbound to 13N to 78 is this short sweet little gem OH-685:

 

[Chuck78]

From travelling picnic thread:

More photos by FJR Denny aka drc32-0,
Ohio 78 near Caldwell:

And three of the best sections of OH-555 aka the Triple Nickel:

 

[lurch12_2000]

How many days are you planning to ride Ohio? 4 days? Or 4 days total for Ohio/Eastern Ky/WV?
just across the river from 536, on the west Virginia side, there is a road called Proctor Creek Rd... ride this if you can! There is a 2nd road around there named proctor creek rd, but this one you catch near the Ohio River (I think it's next to a post office?) & run until it turns into Amos Hollow Rd which ends at the famous Moundsville to Hundred section of US250 in WV, which also just got paved last year after 6 years of horrible pavement...

Eastern KY has many gems as well, you wouldn't regret skipping Ohio to ride just KY & WV, but if you follow my narrative, I highly doubt you'll have any regrets running these Appalachian SouthEast Ohio roads either!
Having good insider info can make a huge difference between riding a good area with great tips from locals vs trying to plot your own route through an even greater riding area without much in the way of pointers from people experienced in riding those areas heavily.

I sent some of my GS racer/suspension tuner buddies from Pittsburgh down through Ohio on Rt 26 the Covered Bridge Scenic ByWay, a great flowing road, but not one that I personally try to run most times I'm in the area (too many even more thrilling choices, too far from home for all of them in 1 day). My buds were heading to the Red River Gorge in KY, this was just an e citing back roads route fir them to get to KY. THEY ABSOLUTELY LOVED 26! I think it was one of their favorite roads on the whole trip actually...

My intent is to do 4 days of riding of about 200 miles per day, 3 nights of lodging, including the KY side of the Ohio River starting from Florence, KY and crossing in Aberdeen, OH. I do want to pace it so I can stop and look around too. I'm not just trying to rack up riding miles. Then I would start north toward Hocking Hills. I'm trying to configure a loop to include the other roads north and east of there, but not crossing into WV at this time. You listed a lot of good info that I'm trying to digest down to fit my trip. I'll be keeping my eye towards the weather forecast and warmer temps down there, since it is still going to be mid-April when I'm planning now, which is when I can do this. Otherwise I can do all the cold weather riding on twistie roads up here around New England if that's the case. I like your pics.

 

[Chuck78]

My intent is to do 4 days of riding of about 200 miles per day, 3 nights of lodging, including the KY side of the Ohio River starting from Florence, KY and crossing in Aberdeen, OH. I do want to pace it so I can stop and look around too. I'm not just trying to rack up riding miles. Then I would start north toward Hocking Hills. I'm trying to configure a loop to include the other roads north and east of there, but not crossing into WV at this time. You listed a lot of good info that I'm trying to digest down to fit my trip. I'll be keeping my eye towards the weather forecast and warmer temps down there, since it is still going to be mid-April when I'm planning now, which is when I can do this. Otherwise I can do all the cold weather riding on twistie roads up here around New England if that's the case. I like your pics.

Unless you can find some local route info for some great backroads between Florence, KY and Aberdeen, I would definitely try to focus on Kentucky roads southeast of Aberdeen 40 miles or so and beyond that east. That's where the more rugged hills start, basically bordering on the Daniel Boone National Forest that stretches north to south through a good percentage of the state. as you go much further east from that, once you get toward Louisa KY, the terrain gets downright AWESOME as you are nearing West Virginia.
If your riding in Kentucky is focused on the areas around Florence and Aberdeen, I wouldn't spend as much time thrill seeking for good roads, I'd head to Eastern KY or SE Ohio or anywhere in West Virginia. WV and the western bordering edges of Virginia, eastern half of TN and a good portion of NC are the best states in the east to ride in. SE Ohio and Eastern KY rank right up there behind them.
The closest thing I have seen up your way would be around Green Mountain National Forest in VT. Hogback Mountain lookout at the general store reminds me of countless West Virginia vistas. Very nice. WV is almost an entire state filled with amazing riding roads, however.
Red River Gorge area and south of there in KY in DBNF area is an incredible place to ride. Worth focusing your efforts on.
I think I have a cheat sheet of someone's notes on central KY great twisty roads. I will try to dig that up for you.

 

[Chuck78]

Here it is, smartphone screenshot from the Ohio Riders forum:

These I believe are all closer to Florence, KY than Aberdeen, but I am unfamiliar with these roads. I believe this route suggestion list was intended for Cincinnati area riders, who have no good roads to ride around SW Ohio despite Cincinnati and surrounding areas having large hills.
I would venture to say that the roads around the Daniel Boone National Forest and East towards Louisa KY are substantially better than riding these. I am speculating, but it is a very clear fact that the hills in the regions I am praising are much more impressive scenic and rugged Appalachian Hills, where you are mentioning are much lesser hills. Still, better riding than a lot of the USA however. But if you are treating yourself to a sampling of the best this region has to offer, GO EAST!!!!

Only being vaguely familiar with central Kentucky and fairly familiar with most of Ohio, I personally would recommend going deeper and further east into KY quite a ways in search of good riding, and I would not cross into Ohio until at least Portsmouth or east. That is where you can jump onto some pretty decent roads and head NE to the better stuff. Some of THE BEST riding in Ohio that is very remote and seldom visited is around the Crown City Wildlife area that is southeast of Portsmouth a ways. Crossing the Ohio River at Ashland KY or Ironton OH would be a much better bet so you can stay in KY in search of great roads through central KY eastbound to get you to this point. This is where Ohio gets really good. Huntington would be the most ideal point to cross the Ohio River. North of this Crown City Wildlife area, Ohio gets a little less exciting until you get up towards the Lake Hope - Zaleski State Forest area and the Hocking Hills region just north of there. I would rate the Crown City Wildlife Area / Gallipolis area due north of Huntington WV / Proctorville OH as the #2 best riding in the state. #1 would be the region between the Ohio River, Woodsfield, and Marietta (south of OH-78 and mostly east of I-77). Ohio 78/377/Hocking/Zaleski-Lake Hope would rate as #3 as long as youre not in the Hocking area on a weekend! #4 would be out east a bit north near Zanesville/Cambridge/Coshocton/and out from Cambridge towards Wheeling and northeast of Woodsfield.

 

[Chuck78]

Here's what I'd do from some glancing at some motorcycle maps and notes... if you are in or near Florence for non motorcycle reasons, book it over to Falmouth KY. Take 22 to 10 to 19 to 165. If you were to head south of Florence, there is a big lull in the goodness of the terrain south of this route I just mentioned around Lexington, not nearly as exciting. From the Piqua KY area, make a direct route towards Stanton/Bowen/Slade/Pine Ridge KY. Not much good from Piqua until you get near that area. Ride around that area as it is some of THE BEST in the state of KY. From there one option would be to head up north toward Morehead (where some of my family is from, used to visit there all the time, great hills), take 32 all the way to Louisa KY. This road looks pretty darn great.
Cut down US52 just across the WV KY border from Louisa, head down to 152 and head north toward Huntington. Here you can cross into Proctorville Ohio.


You could also keep as an alternate in case the weather is better there, the area southeast of Slade KY all the way to near the TN border - Pine Mountain, Jenkins, Elkhorn City etc. Just southeast and east of that Slade KY area of the Daniel Boone National Forest are a lot more very twisty and fantastic roads. I'd seriously familiarize yourself with those areas as well as a backup/alternate plan based on weather. Look up some lodging options as well. If you go down this area, check out 160 from Cumberland KY down to Appalachia VA... talk about a WICKED twisty road... wow. KY66 south of Oneida. GREAT.

 

[Chuck78]

If you decide to follow this general guideline and come into Ohio at Proctorville, here are the tips from the two best insiders I know if who are experienced in riding this area around Crown City Wildlife Area in Ohio:

My buddy Denny (took road photos above) has been there numerous times. Here are reports from the past 6 years:

The roads are fairly curvy and haved good elevation change as well. But they tend to be pretty narrow and have lots of driveway connections on them. Never see any cops and very few other cars at all.
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I've ridden through there many times, roads are fun but some are not in the greatest shape for what most sport bike riders consider fun. For the dual sport crowd it is perfect.
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Outstanding scenery, rode through the bottoms, into some real Appalachia life....horse drawn plows, great 2 lanes but not for speed. Lots of blind curves (miss em you go over some good drop offs). Just before catching 141 I ran through some real desolate area's as I did running through Wayne Forrest. Almost like Dueling Banjo's/Deliverance type scenery in places.

790,775 from Wigus to Lecta, 217 especially from 7 to 218

are all very twisty and good. 218 is good, but it always seems to have alot of gravel in corners.141 is more open, kinda like 800. If you're in that area and like twisty roads check out Greasy Ridge road...it parallels 775.If the pavement is still good that is one twisty road.The pavement was getting bad on the south end last year,but the rest of Greasy Ridge is one of the best county roads I know.Have fun...Gallia and Lawerence counties are really overlooked when it comes to good riding.
Just for fun...google Greasy Ridge.

Gallia and Lawerence counties are 2 of the most overlooked counties for motorcycle roads in the state.

217,218,790,141 and 243 are all good,and in some places very good!790 that runs between 775 and 218 is getting paved this year.

Greasy Ridge Rd that parallels 775 (and crosses it twice) is one of my top two or three favorite county roads in S.E.O. (FYI seo= SE Ohio). The last time I rode it the pavement was rough south of 217,but north of 217 it's a blast.

As for conditions...I was down there early this year ...217 from 141 to Greasy Ridge was paved last year and still very good.217 from Greasy Ridge to 7 is older and getting a little rough.I would still run it though because 217 from 218 to 7 is one of the four twistiest roads I know in SEO.From what I remember 218,141 and 790 where all in very good condition although 790 was very dirty for some reason.I hope it's clean for your trip because it is a very good road.
Two county roads in that area worth trying ...Hannon Trace from 775 to 790 is very good.You can pick it up on 790 about a mile from 218.
Greasy Ridge road is a fun tight sweeper road.It parallels 775 and crosses it two or three times.The bottom part was paved last year but the top part is still older pavement, but still fun.
Sadly the best part of 775,Wilgus to Lecta,is full of tar snakes.

217 from 141 to either Greasy Ridge or 775 is a very twisty/tricky road with new pavement last year.There are a couple of switchbacks on that section that are as tight as you're going to find in Ohio.These are what I call cartoon corners.Remember the old loonytoons mountain chases where their front paws are gripping the mountain road and their rear paws were spinning in the air?Yeah,that kind of turn!217 from 218 to 7(Miller) is a very twisty section in the same league as 530 or 536.It's only about 5 miles so I usually do an out and back to Miller and then continue on 218 or 775.The pavement is getting a little rough on that part of 217,but if you like the tight twisty stuff you'll like it.The best part of 218 is south of Mercerville.The road surface is a little suspect...I'm not sure if it's good chipseal or pavement but it's not the most confidence inspiring.Very twisty but I'm always a little cautious when I run this area.
Here's route I usually run in that area...
from 135...
141e
775s
Hannon Trace se
790 sw?
775s
141sw
217e to Miller
217w
218 n to 7
This is just my preferred route and it does leave out some good stuff on 775,141,236 and Greasy Ridge.
One other thing... if you do ride 217 until it crosses Greasy Ridge you will notice a Vietnam Era artillery piece. This is the Danny Hayes Memorial.217 is the Danny Hayes memorial highway.I highly recommend stopping and reading the plaque about Danny Hayes.We sometimes use the word hero pretty cheaply,Danny Hayes is the real deal!

That's some good roads down through there. I haven't been this year, but I've ridden them before. Not very many gas stations. Stop by Hillbilly Hotdog in Lesage, WV if you have never been before. It's a sight to see.
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I just moved from that area. I have some maps left over I will post here.

Watch for gravel, residual clutter is usually there for at least a week after a rain. On top of that the local drivers dont seem to grasp the concept of motor vehicle operation and cut every corner throwing debri on the road. When it is clear the area is amazing for riding.

If you have more time and are already down that far, pop back over towards ashland after you hit 141, 775, 217, 218, 790 (my favorite road on ohio by far) and take KY1S across 64 to sandy hook. There you fill find one of the best kept motorcycle secrets of the Appalachian area. KY32. Take 3 N from there and hit the stuff in Lawrence and Gallia counties again.

Scioto & Lawrence Counties:
https://www.google.com/maps/d/edit?mid=z5Rx5cf76Bk0.k5EGrvtAor38&usp=sharing

Grab some hillbilly hot dogs while you are in Huntington.

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Fyi Dennis, I clocked it. 217 to 7 is 44 curves in about 4 miles iirc. Lol
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We made it out to some of these roads but of course it started raining so we bypassed much of it. I like 141. It was actually fun just wish it wasn't in such a residential area.
We tried to pick up 217 from 141 after the rain stopped and there were detour signs so we took some weird road trying to bypass it and ended up just in front of the detour. Luckily detour signs don't apply to motorcycles

and we just went through. The next day we picked it up again from the beginning and road it through. Very nice road but it was crazy dirty. Like giant piles of gravel and mud. Must've gotten hit hard with the storms a few days prior. I'd love to try it again some day when it's cleaner.
It was fun area though. We liked it.
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Honestly it is kind of hard to catch it clear. At least 1 week after any kind of precipitation usually.

141 is nice, luckily all of the good sections are away from the houses. 775 is just as good.

 

[Chuck78]

^^^ Note the Kentucky 32 reference... "one of the best kept motorcycle secrets of the Appalachian area" definitely a must on your route if heading into Ohio this way!!!!

I'd plot out your time frame on a route through the red river gorge area of Daniel Boone National Forest, and run route 32 for sure. Look into that other jog south and up to Huntington, maybe cut it out of time doesn't allow. run a nice route through the Crown City area, and then book it straight up towards Nelsonville or Glouster. If you don't have time to make it past that area, you at least must do a loop of 78 from Glouster to 377 south to 266S to 792 S to 676 S/W, you can then take a boring stretch of 555 south to 550, head toward sharpsburg to run the only great section of 550, then hit 377 north to 555 if you wish, back to 78 the other direction. then you can run up to the Hocking Hills area for a quick run and some great sights.

If seeing some impressive cliff areas is a huge interest, do that. if finding more twisty riding areas, I'd head deep into SE OH after running 78 Glouster to 555 or 377. I have a back way if you run 377 266 792 676. you can take some back roads off of 676 up to lowell hill rd and then gas up and catch 530 out of Lowell, which is amazing, Then run down 841 I think is to hit Dalzell Rd through a section of Wayne National Forest, turns chip seal near the county line and has a different name, hits 565 - hang a right this road is great! Then left on 260 and at the bottom of a big hill at a farm and very rural general store with an antique working gas pump, hang a right on 537 to 26. take 26 northeast to 800 south, catch 255 in just a short jog. 255 down to the Ohio River is AWESOME. It is due to get repaved soon but was still very good to ride last fall. the views from some of the hilltops near the end are unbelievable for Ohio. Even better than "the rim of the world" section of Rt 78. Left on the Ohio River Scenic ByWay Rt 7, then gas up and left up the Ohio Dragon Rt 536... wow what a great 11 miles! This dumps you out on 78 again. Take it into Woodsfield or you can run Sykes Ridge Rd off of the top of 536 at a stop sign, down to Clarington I think it is,. link up to 556 back west and hit Woodsfield. catch 26 back to marietta, the covered bridge scenic byway. then run 676 back to 550 etc and plot a more direct route back.

This skips most of 260 which has some GREAT parts, and Germantown Rd that runs parallel to Dalzell, and Archers Fork Rd and others, but these are great roads. GREAT. You might just fall in love with the Red River Gorge area stuff long before you get here however, and not make it this far to find out! Both are GREAT choices for riding tho. Best of luck, ask any route questions you can think of to me if needed. I live for twisty roads and fun on two wheels.