Routes in Penn, NY, etc

[Texpaul]

After the MOA and RA rallies we're headed north, probably to Quebec, then the Adirondacks.
Looking for your favorite roads thru Penn, NY, Mass, Conn, Ver. (headed in the general direction of our travel). We're campers so usually avoid larger cities (excepting Quebec of course) and interstates for the countryside and less traveled roads.

Thanks in advance.

[TED]

Here is one of my favorite PA rides (you can GoogleMap "Streetview" a lot of it to get an idea of what it is like):


View Larger Map

[glenfiddich]

Buy me a beer at the National and you've got a campsite in Vermont on your way home. We're about 12 miles off Rte 100. Pond, seasonal streams, 150 acres of hardwood forest and three very friendly golden retrievers. Garage and tools if you need to do some maintenance. If you're into camping, just find a spot in the meadow with no sheep poop and sleep tight.

Pete

[statdawg]

http://maps.google.com/maps?f=d&sour...7,2.471924&z=9

You could get to Harrisburg, Pa many different routes from the Rally Site. You have the Blue Ridge Parkway, Rt 81, or my favorite take Rt 16 in North Caroline into Virginia and West Virginia. From Rt 16 you can come north on Rt 19 WV to Rt 50 WV east then 220 North into Pa., Rt 30 east through Gettysburg is nice on your way to the northeast. Rt 15 north from Gettysburg will take you to Rt 11. Expect tourist traffic and rush hour near Harrisburg.

The route above link gives you a relaxed variety through Pennsylvania. It begins www.ferryboatcampsites.com on Rt 11 north of Harrisburg. There is an old paddle boat ferry that will take you across the river to Millersburg. From there it is a long farmland valley east with a few Pa Dutch Farms, horse drawn buggies along the road and plenty of crops. In Higins you take Rt 125 north which is one of the top motorcycle roads in Pa. It takes you across two mountains of woods and well kept farmland in between, and lots of twisties and switch-backs. Shamokin is part of the coal region and from there it puts you on Rt 61 which was at one time one of the best USA motorcycle roads that now is lined with stripe malls and businesses around the nice sweepers. Rt 487 is a nice road traveling through farmland, it crosses the river into the small college town of Bloomsburg ( once a state teachers college now one of the top drinking schools in the country that provides respectable degrees ).

The town of Bloomsburg is prosperous with a restored downtown thanks to the McGee carpet company pumping money into the economy over the past century. McGee once made the carpets for the auto industry. Russells is worth a good lunch or a pricey dinner and it has a 100 beers from 100 countries available. And you can sit outside next to your bikes.

North on Rt 487 is nice twisty low traffic road of farmland and woods once you get past the Rt 80 junction north of Bloomsburg. Camping is available at Ricketts Glen State Park, if time permits the water falls are worth a look at least the one just off of Rt 118 past the intersection at Red Rock where you turn north on 487. There is a General Store at this intersection for camp supplies and Moto gas.

Continue Rt 487 towards Dushore then Rt 87 to Mehoopany. Its all mountain woods and lakes with fewer well kept farms. In Mehoopany there is a huge Proctor & Gamble plant that makes tiolet paper and diapers the only industrial complex on your whole trip and why you maybe seeing lumber trucks every once in a while. From there take Rt 6 east around Tunkhannock to Rt 92 through Nichelson which has a huge Railroad viaduct.

Rt 92 North from there take Rt 374 heading east crossing under Rt 81 then Rt 106 east to Clifford. From here it gets rural with bumpy local roads so a GPS would help. Its a quick left turn in Clifford past the bridge under construction then at the end of that country road its a quick left then right to Crystal Lake. Near the end of the lake is a quick left turn north to Union Dale. From here the routes are sorted easier.

The area puts you into the Delware river highlands with nice views, forests, and farms all the way to NY. When you get to Hancock NY there is Rt 17 slab going east to Rt 30. Rt 30 New York. Rt 30 is a great road with forest, the east branch of the Delaware river, sleepy little towns filled with historical buildings, twisty challenges, and more farmland. Once you get to Amsterdam, New York you can decide to head east into Mass, north into the park or northeast into Vermont. Rt 30 has many available campsites and the east branch of the Delaware is some of the best trout fishing in the US.

Be careful with your speed in the small towns and have enough gas on board between Higins to Shamokin, Red Rock to Tunkhannock, and parts of Rt 30 NY because it gets long without seeing communities with services. Please Google the route numbers for more detail.

As time nears I will be able to help / guide if need be and I may even show up at National. Currently I am scouting other Pa roads. Avoid Rt 81 due to stimulus construction in Pennsylvania.

[glenfiddich]

Avoid Rt 81 due to stimulus construction in Pennsylvania.

All of 81? I was planning on slabbing it most of the way from VT to just above Lancaster, using 81 to just past Harrisburg in order to make good time on Day 1. Bad idea?

Pete

[statdawg]

Pete, which way are you coming down ?

Check sources :

http://www.dot7.state.pa.us/construc...ry/altMain.htm

http://www.dot.state.pa.us

Click on Design and Construction.

Click on Regional Information in middle of page.

Click on Map ( your region of travel ).

When the region appears click on Roadwork.

Next page click on Current Projects.

Pick your route.

Even some of the back escape roads are being worked on. I will scout I 84 this week and I have alternate routes around Scranton / Wilkes-Barre to Hazleton ( they are old Indian paths).

[gsjay]

Here is one of my favorite PA rides (you can GoogleMap "Streetview" a lot of it to get an idea of what it is like):


View Larger Map

Without a doubt one of the best roads in the state.
jason

[pffog]

Without a doubt one of the best roads in the state.
jason

Wycoff on a weekday is at least an equal. You have to try the 445 and narrows road as well, more technical IMHO