Episode 043 - Top 10 Bucket-List Motorcycle Roads East of the Mississippi
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[00:00:00] Todd, why did the motorcyclist challenge the Devil's Triangle? I don't know. Because he heard it was a hell of a ride. Episode 43 is our top 10 bucket list motorcycle roads east of the Mississippi. We did a little west of the Mississippi, uh, on the last episode.
Number 10: Devil's Triangle
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So if we have the top 10 here, I'm putting the Devil's Triangle at number 10. ~Um, ~that is located in the mountains of eastern Tennessee. It's pretty easy to get to.
~Um, ~and really it's the, to me, Mississippi. The hairpin turns in elevation, like I would say, like, there's nothing crazy special about this road, except there are some just S turns that are in, you're in first gear on the motorcycle and you are dragging, you know, no matter what happens. Yeah. ~Um, ~I love this road.
I wouldn't put it at number 10. I'd have it up close to the [00:01:00] number one, but this, I don't think the order matters. Yeah, this, this road is fantastic. Elevation changes are amazing.
There's times when you're, you know, kind of just riding the edge of a cliff. You got to, you know, a wall of rock on one side and a sheer drop off, you know, on the other side without a guardrail. Yeah. I remember the white line that's painted on the edge of the road actually like fell away because like some of the road had crumbled, crumbled there.
Yeah. So you don't want to be close to that white line. It's, it's an amazing, amazing road. We've, we've, uh, been on it, uh, both in the daytime and in the nighttime. Well, and that's weird, right? Why would we be riding this road at night? There was a specific reason. The very first time, yeah, we, we were heading down to this area, you know, the Tale of Dragons style area.
And, uh, we probably bit off maybe a little more than we could chew. And it was a pretty big riding day. And I just remember, I don't remember exactly the town room, but I remember sitting at the top of that hill at that gas station. And we're like, We're not going to make it to [00:02:00] either the hotel or this place by dark.
So what do you guys want to do? Do you want to still try it or not? And so we decided to go ahead and try it. And I just remember my biggest memory of that thing is I was leading, I think. And I know that Chris was riding the Harley in the very back. And I don't remember if there's five or six bikes. I just remember I was coming out of the second hairpin turn and I look up and Chris's bike, cause he has that Harley with that like 000 K light.
And I'm like, he's 40 feet above me right now. I mean, I'm like, There's no way I didn't it just didn't make any sense, you know And I know that we ended up turning around and coming back ~Um ~and doing that road in reverse on on the way home and it was it is I don't know I think it's just ~um ~I don't know if it was because it was like kind of one of our very first like kind of Bucket list roads that we ever rode on is why we have such affection for it and not everyone feels that way about this road And then yeah while I was there with you, we it [00:03:00] was an abandoned prison was there but oh, right Yeah, you've been there since yeah, the second time we went there Brushy Mountain State Penitentiary was a Open like open.
You could go take tours of it. They had a,~ um,~ restaurant inside. I think there was a brewery or something or a distillery, something like that in there. But, uh, they have outdoor concerts. They've got stage set up and, uh, it's really, it's it blows my mind because when I was there, there was, it was a field of weeds and an abandoned building.
Yeah. I mean, well, it was all the razor wire and the fence around it, but it was a, Abandoned prison and that look like should have been like And I'm so I'm mostly excited to get back there someday again just because I want to see that Yeah, so the second time there we toured all through it and it was a lot of fun Yeah, yeah, what a cool thing and I don't know they think it's just I wouldn't say we Accidentally found that but it just kind [00:04:00] of became a kind of a hinge pin of where we've done when we're in that area
Number 9: Great River Road
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So yeah, so the number eight road is the great river road.
~Um, ~minnesota to louisiana mississippi river You can run on both sides of the mississippi, which is kind of cool And uh, it's just uh, the mississippi river valley is just unique I mean it is so big and so interesting and then the locks and dams that we've talked about before it's just so big There's nothing else like it, I don't think, and,~ um,~ you know, I don't know, that's, it's just a tribute to this kind of the longest It's just an icon, right?
Of kind of the U. S. and, and, and Maricona, if you want to say that. I think, yeah, so I don't, I don't know what you think of that. I just, I totally agree. There's certain times of the day I like to ride that road and I like to be on a certain side, you know, of the river. ~Um, ~but you know, as the sun is starting to set and you see it reflecting off the water, it's, it's just amazing.
And when you get into southern Illinois as well, I mean, there's just some beautiful [00:05:00] areas,~ um,~ of Places you don't feel like are just normally beautiful, but I mean, it's just that river bottom that happens down there. Mm hmm. ~Um, ~it's just, it's just amazing. I love the Great River Road. Me too. So, the next road, uh, number seven.
No, excuse me. Ten, nine, you're on eighth now. It's eighth. Thank you very much. Yeah.
Number 8: The Snake
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Eighth! Bah, road for your bucket list, uh, on the east of the Mississippias. This is Appalachians Mountain Road, US 421, mostly known as The Snake. Yeah. So this is uh, border of Tennessee and North Carolina, so right in the Appalachian Mountains.
But why would you ride this? It's honestly like a biker's dream road. I mean, it's a dream. I think we can figure out why they call it the snake, but it's a 400 curves and 33 miles. So that's a lot. I mean, it's manageable. You know, we'll talk about our num,~ um,~ another road later with maybe more in a more dense, but 400 curves and 33 miles is really [00:06:00] good.
Like it's just,~ um,~ it's very sweeping. You and I have been on this road before, and it's just what you would imagine if like just a great, if you could design the road to ride, you're just cutting into corners, but they're not like. Insanely technical. It's just, it's a great ride. I mean, it just feels great.
Yeah, agreed.
Number 7: Kankmanus Highway
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Okay, I'm gonna, this is a road, our number seven road is a road I've never been on. I've never rode motorcycles in New Hampshire. ~Um, ~the Kankmanus Highway. Hmm. ~Um, ~that's in the White Mountains of New Hampshire. They sometimes locally call it the kink, but it's really,~ um,~ it's really about this white mountain national forest is really as you can imagine.
So unfortunately I've never really been up in the Northeast and, but I can just, I've seen great pictures of this beautiful, uh, trees and, and how did it get its name? Well, it was, there was a chief. I got to use my cheat kink, kink, malice pink moss. ~Um, ~but it's just a native, Native American leader. He was [00:07:00] very fierce competitor.
And, uh, so that's kind of where this park and, uh, the white mountains. And came from and just lots of trees overlooks, as you can imagine. So that would be a great one. Someday I would really like to get out East and ride more. I don't think I've rode much in the North. I don't think we've rode to Ohio on the bikes.
And then we kind of shrugged our way down to. Parts of North Carolina, but never really gotten really east which I think would be be fun
Number 6: Skyline Drive
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One more East Road number six is one called Skyline Drive, Virginia. So that's Shenandoah National Park 105 mile road Along the Blue Ridge Mountains. ~Um, ~so Skyline Drive, because it's kind of, uh, one of those top of the mountain type views.
~Um, ~so have you ever been to either of these two places, Todd? I, I've been in Virginia, but I don't, this doesn't sound familiar to me. I mean, Shenandoah sounds familiar to me, but I don't remember this road. Yeah. I think it'd be wonderful to. To [00:08:00] find some time to get out that way. I'd love to see some Pennsylvania, Virginia There's some really neat things to see in this area.
It'd be great to plan a trip in that way So, all right, so my six is that what it is?
Number 5: Tunnel of Trees - M119
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Sixth road tunnel of trees. We've been on this one for sure m119 michigan It's in the lower peninsula of Northern Michigan. It's on the lake, uh, the Lake Michigan side. So it's just a funky narrow road that is literally a tunnel.
I mean, I think that is why it's called the tunnel of trees. It is a literal tunnel of trees. And for me, what's cool about the tunnel of trees is you're like kind of just cruising down a road and it looks like you're almost turning into a sub development and it turns into this tunnel of trees. Yeah. And it just kind of appears out of nowhere and then disappears out of nowhere.
And I don't know. It's when the first time that I wrote it was coming from North to South, I actually liked South to North better now, but [00:09:00] I don't know, like it was just the craziest thing. It's got white lines on two sides, about 15 feet wide at best. I mean, it's just. It's awesome. I think you can see some better views of the,~ um,~ the lake from the south as well.
It's just so dense. ~Um, ~just like so many of these roads that run next to lakes and rivers, you don't see that much of it most of the time. Yeah. Yep. I've been on this. It's been a little while, but yeah, it's, it's a great road. That was number five, by the way, I just had to check. Thanks. We didn't put our numbers next door.
We didn't do a good numbering job. We were so excited about the roads, right? Right.
Number 4: Natchez Trace Parkway
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So number four, then. Uh, Natchez Trace Parkway. Uh, so this starts in Natchez, Mississippi and goes to Nashville, Tennessee. Now, we rode this road, and it is quite interesting. ~Um, ~it's the only national park road. Is that correct?
I believe so, yeah. Yeah, I think so, yeah. A lot of times you'll hear them refer to it as the Trace. And this was a road that was [00:10:00] first created by, you know, Native Americans, explorers, traders, but commercial, or excuse me, consumer traffic only. So it's a wide two lane with wide Shoulders shoulders. Yeah that you you know you when we were talking about you said like I just remember him being like manicured I yeah, I felt like they'd like had mowed the entire 400 some miles that we rode It's kind of like driving through a state park it is yeah, but the whole thing well, I guess it technically it's a federal National Park, but so his name for not just trace.
It was a historic path You Long time used by indigenous early settlers and that's kind of where the name came from. But~ um, ~You know, it's a bittersweet road in my opinion Like i'm so excited to try it because it'd be they kind of sell it Well, like I feel like if you were into motorcycle camping, this might be the perfect road for you.
Yep We're not really into that. So at times It's so beautiful [00:11:00] and like almost so isolated. I would say. Mm hmm that it almost Gets boring. Would you agree? Like I mean, well it does and it's a it's a slow road, too I think the top speed is 50 miles per hour, correct? And for a lot of it, it's 40 miles per hour And it it I don't know how to describe it for me.
It had this feeling of I feel like I'm on someone's private driveway approaching their house. But I mean, it's 444 miles, but it had this strange, like slow manicured on both sides of the road feeling, and we didn't, you know, you don't see restaurants, there was no stop signs, there's no stop signs, there's no stop lights, no stop signs, no restaurants, it's not commercial at all.
Correct. And you exit, like you exit from the road. Yeah. So like. It's a two lane interstate like more or less slow, but it's beautiful. Like it's so nice. ~Um, ~I don't think that I would try to ride the 400 miles. No. ~Um, ~[00:12:00] I would take a section and I think, like we rode it into Nashville, I think from somewhere, I can't remember exactly where we got on.
Mm hmm. And that was pretty awesome. Like, you kind of just ride yourself right into Nashville and that was pretty cool. Like, so I think I would highly recommend that part. Mm hmm. And it is great to experience. It's just,~ um,~ it's just not thrilling. I mean, it, it, But if you want to stop and do trails, if you want to stop and do fishing, if you would want to stop and camp, that, that would be the ticket for this.
Yeah, and I, if I remember right too, like, you guys were running low on fuel and There's just not fuel stops on the road. So you, you gotta plan ahead and be ready to exit somewhere and, and drive a little ways to find fuel or food or correct. Yep. There's very little right next to her. Cause I think we're, you're in an, you're in a federal park.
So like, I'm sure that's part of it. Like you have to kind of, so again, we've talked about this dozens of times, but if you're planning on the not just trace, get a little plan once you want to make sure you have your, yeah, [00:13:00] have a good plan for that one. Yeah.
Number 3: The Cherahala Skyway
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All right. The Cherahala Skyway, Tennessee, North Carolina.
So this is Telecom Plains, Tennessee to Robbinsville, North Carolina. ~Um, ~it's just beautiful in the Appalachians. ~Um, ~Cherahala combines Cherokee and Nottahala, which is part of the Cherokee heritage. So it passes through the Nottahala National Forest. ~Um, ~really kind of known, uh, I don't, this might be a road you have not been on though, I can't recall.
I feel like I was on it with you. Maybe we did go on it that year in the 2020 ride. It's amazing, but it can have the same problems that we talked about on the last episode with the PCH. The elevation is so drastic and you're in the mountains that you can get some fog and clouds. Yeah, clouds. I think even.
~Um, ~but the views are stunning. There's great places to pull over and,~ um,~ and really, uh, just. Gosh, you really, [00:14:00] because of the way it's situated in the Appalachian mountains, you really do feel like you're kind of on top of all, you can just look out and see all this stuff. The first time we were there, when we were riding up, it was so dense fog, and then this This, this woman on this like crotch rocket just went, like just smoking by us and we're like, well, gosh, like here we are, you know, I mean, this was one of our first long trips.
I mean, both Brad and Mike were riding,~ um,~ V Star 650. So we didn't, I mean, and I was riding a 1978 Goldwing. So, I mean, we didn't have a hundred horse between us. So, yeah, it was awesome though. I mean, but, but yeah, again. Absolutely. Absolutely. Something to be careful of is thinking ahead about, about the,~ um,~ about the, uh, the weather.
Number 2: The Blueridge Parkway
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Alright, our number two road. This road is amazing. Uh, the Blue Ridge Parkway. Uh, Virginia, North Carolina. Again, still in the Appalachians. It's been named America's favorite drive. Uh, [00:15:00] 460 miles, 69 miles of the Blue Ridge Mountains.~ Um, ~and it comes, Blue Ridge comes from,~ um,~ the blue hin, like it looks blue when you're kind of looking at that.
And I did a little research to figure out what that is. There's some of these native trees in the area have isoprenes. And when those react with sunlight and like kind of the morning air, it creates a bluish haze. So that's kind of why the Blue Ridge Parkway is called that. So what a beautiful piece of road.
I mean, What I think most I remember about the Blue Ridge Parkway is, it's almost like an accident when you're getting on there, you're just like, is this, is this the road? Like, it's like, the bridges are very historic looking. I mean, they're very cool. And everything is very well grown up. ~Um, ~so you're, you just see a lot of vegetation.
And such. I don't, I don't know if you remember writing that. I, I do. I just, I think I, what I remember most is there weren't bridges going over. That's correct. Yeah, overpasses. Like you were always at the top. You [00:16:00] were always on the top. And when you exited, you went down. Yep. They designed it specifically that way.
~Um, ~and that was kind of the whole point is to enjoy the mountains and do that. And now I know that this area, there's pieces of this that are closed in. And maybe close for a long time that last big storm that happened in 2024 here took out Some pieces of both the blue ridge and the chair hollow highway Yeah, i'm pretty sure and you know The kicker is some of these are like maybe it was only like 50 or 100 foot of road that got damaged But it was, you know, 50, a hundred feet down too.
So I don't know how they're going to fix that. I mean, how do you do that? Do you put a bridge in then like in that section and leave it, you know, like I, I just, so be careful here if you're traveling or thinking about this, you want to plan ahead and make sure you check the locals. Yeah. So yeah,
Number 1: Tail of the Dragon
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our number one road, I think, uh, no surprise tale of the dragon.
~Um, ~Deals Gap, it's North Tennessee and North Carolina, [00:17:00] really flirting around with the Great Smoky Mountains there, so. Sounds like, you want to say miles, 318 curves in 11 miles. Uh, wow. And then the reason why it's called the Tail of the Dragon, if you kind of zoom out and look at it, It looks, it looks kind of like a dragon, the shape of the road, so.
Wow, what a cool, cool place. Yeah, it really is. You know, and I don't know that this has to be a multiple time thing, but you really do have to ride this road at least one time. I mean, go there once. It's just, it's cool. I mean, it's only mostly like what I think is just like. It's a motorcycle road, right?
Like, I mean, everyone that rides a mo There's so many motorcycles there when you go, and people are just fun and cool to talk to. Uh huh. What were your thoughts when you've been there? Oh, I agree. The very first time we rode it, I remember just this feeling of like, Who designed this road? What were they thinking?
Like, you can't get anywhere fast. ~Um, ~but, yeah, it's It's [00:18:00] just a dream to ride because yeah, you're never just standing up going straight on us It's constantly just yeah left and right left and right always working it. Yeah You know, the unfortunate thing is you have to be really careful. Don't get too close to the middle lane but yeah, I love the lane because There's plenty of people out there that are trying to break the land speed record on that road and they're coming across the center Mostly motorcyclists across the center, but cars cars occasionally do as well.
Oh, yeah Hit it midweek if you can't avoid the weekend, that's true. Yeah, but you know at one end of the road There's you know, some great shops and yeah, that's deals gap Yeah deals gap has you know, just fun things to do and the tree of shame is there too. Oh, yeah, that's right So they kind of pick up all the parts That get in get hurt when people wreck which they wreck a lot.
Yeah ~Um, ~and they hang them in the tree of shame. ~Um, ~and then one of my favorite other parts is there's a couple,~ um,~ my favorite one is kill [00:19:00] boy and they're doing pictures,~ um,~ all the time there too. So like you can then log on later and say, I was here on this date and you can see the picture, they take professional style pictures.
And I always buy their pictures too. It's nice to have a few pictures of me riding my motorcycle and they just, they're standing in the perfect spot. They've got, Great cameras. They know exactly what they're doing and they get great shots. So I'm happy to give them 25, 30, 50 bucks. It's worth it. It's totally worth it.
I've got those on my phone and someone said, what do you ride? And I'll just show a picture of me riding tail of the dragon. They're like, well, that's cool. It's such a great place. I always do it. And kind of like, like bonus, bonus bucket list is there's so many great roads in this area. Oh gosh, yes. I know we rode little Switzerland that time and that was just insane.
I mean, it was. Probably the slowest road that we've ever rode. Cause it was so. It was so crazy and interesting. So just do your research, take your time. There's a motorcycle specific places to stay. [00:20:00] You can stay right at deals gap. They've got little cabins that are there. And I don't know, like just do your research and have some fun and stick around and Isn't moonshine 29 real close by?
Oh, yeah moonshiner 29 is in there. I mean, they're just 29 or 129 Yeah, they're all in there. You just got to do the research back of the dragon The snake there's six six six I think is in there, too It's just there is a ton of great roads, but it's all kind of this is the tale of dragons What makes it makes it it so yeah, yeah look up some motorcycle specific air B& Bs in the neighborhood, too
This is a section we call the toolkit. We share motorcycle gear, gear review, and other riding tips. In the toolkit today, Todd, I know we've talked about this a lot, but it's so important,~ um,~ with this kind of normal toolkit stuff, the battery pack, the mini tire kit, and the flashlight, just to keep those things, I thought, just is good, but anytime you're riding in some of these areas, you're going [00:21:00] to, we talked about the elevation, right?
Right. You need to bring up some extra layers of clothes. ~Um, ~you know, we've talked about this for a while But if you don't have layers man, it can really like when it gets cold it's really nice to kind of be able to kind of Regulate yourself a little bit. ~Um, ~we just I just got I talked to the bond body armor people and got that in and oh My gosh, i'm actually in love with that gear ~Um, ~it's kind of like I call it long underwear with armor in it ~um ~It's got a base layer and then you can put pants over the top and then you wear a shirt and then a Armored and then you can just wear whatever you want over the top if you want a hoodie or something so I when I think of layering now, I really think of that because it allows you to just Two, two or three layers if you need it, throw rain gear on top.
~Um, ~it's really great because some days when you're hitting some of these mountainous areas, you're going to get a cold day and you're gonna have a warm day. Yeah. And it is the stuff that you bought set up for warm weather or cold weather. What I have is for cold, but what's cool about it is, is they actually have a set of [00:22:00] warm weather gear as well.
And then you can take the armor from one and put it into the So it's not The armor's not permanent, you can move it around. So what's really nice about that is, as you're getting towards winter, you can grab the winter shell and kind of fill the armor with that as well. So, yeah, it's, it's, it's brilliant.
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