Shamrock Tour®

4 routes, 1 base location.

May/Jun '16 Premium Content

St. Robert, Missouri Shamrock Tour®: Ozark Odyssey

A ruggedly elegant karst landscape, replete with caves, crystal clear springs, sheer-walled high bluffs, and verdant valleys greets us in central Missouri’s Ozarks. Inviting two-lane tarmac winds through much of the picturesque topography. Bob Brown, my wingman, is astride a 2016 Indian Chief Vintage and I’m piloting the

Mar/Apr '16 Premium Content

Madison, WI Shamrock Tour®: Mixing it Up

Green Acres is the place to be. Farm livin’ is the life for me. Land spreadin’ out so far and wide. Keep Manhattan, just give me that countryside. The opening lines to the old “Green Acres” show, starring Eddie Albert and Eva Gabor, come to mind as I begin this

Jan/Feb '16 Premium Content

Wytheville, Virginia Shamrock Tour®: Virginia Really is For Lovers

It’s my favorite time of the year. The main season is over, life is a little less hectic, and I have some time to take deep breaths and reflect on an eventful summer. Yes, fall is here. Gone are the humidity and high temperatures. The first trees have started

Nov/Dec '15 Premium Content

Jefferson, Texas Shamrock Tour®: Bayou Chiefs

It is 1901. Dirt roads are evolving from indian trails and wagon routes to connect a country in the midst of a technological revolution. George M. Hendee and Carl Hedstrom have just completed their first 1.75-horsepower prototype of the Indian Motorcycle in Springfield, MA. More than 114 years later,

Sep/Oct '15 Premium Content

Folkston, Georgia Shamrock Tour®: Sand in the Swamp

Stretching across the Florida-Georgia border lies an impenetrable wall of stoic old oaks draped with Spanish moss and rooted in the dark, murky waters of the Okefenokee Swamp. With rumors of unexplained and supernatural phenomena, the swamp is full of secrets to be discovered. Sand Belongs on the Beach Folkston,

Jul/Aug '15 Premium Content

State College PA Shamrock Tour®: Roads Less Traveled

It’s early October in central Pennsylvania as days grow shorter, temperatures decline, the air is crisp, and fall foliage blooms. I’m reminded that it’s been 11 years to the month from when I did my first tour here for RoadRUNNER under the tutelage of magazine founder, Christian

May/Jun '15 Premium Content

Sedona, Arizona Shamrock Tour®: Mountains High and Valleys Low

I wake to a beautiful fall morning, and standing on the terrace of my room at the Matterhorn Inn, I am afforded a spectacular panoramic view of the red rock formations that characterize this city. I wanted to explore Sedona and the surrounding area by motorbike since I first passed

Mar/Apr '15 Premium Content

Snowshoe, West Virginia Shamrock Tour®: Adventure Times Two

Snowshoe is centrally located in Pocahontas County, and virtually any road here is a motorcyclist’s dream. It doesn’t matter what type of motorcycle one is riding, the never-ending curves mixed into the serene landscape make for an adrenaline-packed vacation. Webster and Greenbrier Counties, and neighboring Virginia’s Bath

Jan/Feb '15 Premium Content

Brainerd, Minnesota Shamrock Tour®: Classic American Getaway

We are riding north to Brainerd from Minneapolis through the northwestern part of the Midwest, where people are genuinely friendly, always have time for chitchat, and cherish beer and cheese as it was intended. My wife, Sarah, and I already feel right at home, at least in July (cold winter

Nov/Dec '14 Premium Content

Oneonta, New York Shamrock Tour®: City of the Hills

“The Neuhauser gang is on the road again.” I’m almost certain that’s how my dad would have started this tour article. The last time we were on a family tour it was 2003, and it was four of us. Now more than ten years later and only three

Sep/Oct '14 Premium Content

Tallahassee, Florida Shamrock Tour®: Prospecting in the Panhandle

Reportedly searching for the Fountain of Youth, Juan Ponce de León landed on North America’s most prominent peninsula in 1513. He named it La Florida, or the flowery land, as he arrived around Easter. Roughly 500 years later, we’re not here to look for any magical waters; we’

Jul/Aug '14 Premium Content

Midway, Utah Shamrock Tour®: Where the Swiss Settled

It’s the fourth day of our adventure in Utah. We skip breakfast to get an early start as meteorologists are calling for thunderstorms in the afternoon. Highway 40 takes us out of Midway past Heber City and Daniels Summit Lodge toward Strawberry Reservoir. The low sun provides warm light.

May/Jun '14 Premium Content

Deadwood, South Dakota Shamrock Tour®: The Black Hills and Beyond

“My hat is off to South Dakota Treasures … Go to South Dakota, but drive there. It is so near to us all and yet I never knew, nor had ever heard much about its southwestern treasure house ….” — Frank Lloyd Wright Motoring west across the Great Plains, we see the dark

Mar/Apr '14 Premium Content

Little Switzerland, NC Shamrock Tour®: The Parkway's Hidden Gem

Western North Carolina is a mountainous area where the Blue Ridge Parkway slices through the state on a northeast to southwest diagonal. An ideal setting of endless curves and fun in these mountains creates a natural playground for motorcyclists. Fifty miles east of Asheville, NC, right on the route, is

Jan/Feb '14 Premium Content

Salem, Oregon Shamrock Tour®: Over the River and Through the Woods

Dense stands of old-growth conifers line ribbons of smooth asphalt that climb from the crashing waves and rolling fog of the Pacific Ocean to the desolate lava fields and craggy peaks of the Cascade Range. Despite 30-degree temperature swings, the weather is perfect. Welcome to Oregon. Early on a July

Nov/Dec '13 Premium Content

Huntsville, Alabama Shamrock Tour®: Rocket City Road Trip

The Deep South is a region of rich history, agriculture, and charm. But there’s more here than you may know. One southern city has been reaching into the solar system for more than a half century. As motorcyclists go, we’re a bit of an odd couple. My good

Sep/Oct '13 Premium Content

Lake Tahoe, California Shamrock Tour®: Gold Rush Country

Lake Tahoe is best known for being a world-class ski area. Those rugged mountains also provide some of the best motorcycle roads in the country. Numerous passes, dense forests, and streams make this worthy of a Shamrock Tour®. Circumnavigating the Jewel of the Sierras Walking to our motorcycles, we can’

Jul/Aug '13 Premium Content

Roanoke, Virginia Shamrock Tour®: Dirty Dancing Through the Curves

As summer ends and autumn approaches, the days get shorter. While we get ready for winter by cleaning out the garage and servicing our motorcycles, trees use up the last of their food supply in a way that attracts millions of tourists. And what better way to see nature’s

May/Jun '13 Premium Content

Longview, Washington Shamrock Tour®: Volcano Craters to Foggy Seashores

Scanning my map, I quickly realize what an incredible motorcycling wonderland I’ve arrived at. There are not many locales where you can visit the ocean, the rain forest, the mountains, and the desert in a few hours. Oh, and did I mention that three national parks and one monument

Mar/Apr '13 Premium Content

Exeter, Rhode Island Shamrock Tour®: Twisting the Throttle through the Ocean State

Although Rhode Island is the smallest state, it offers lots of historic sites to make it a good Shamrock Tour® base. This tiny piece of America is only 37 miles wide and 48 miles long, so trips into neighboring New England are unavoidable and certainly well worth it. Some interesting

Jan/Feb '13 Premium Content

Warm Springs, Georgia Shamrock Tour®: FDR’s Backyard

It’s early in the season, the end of April, when we leave home on two very agile, comfortable, and fun-loving sport-touring bikes to go on our first long trip of the year. Christa rides a 2003 BMW F 650 GS, and I’m on my 2007 Kawasaki Ninja 650R.

Nov/Dec '12 Premium Content

Bowling Green, KY Shamrock Tour®: Caves, Corvettes, and Cool Roads

Millions of years ago, a shallow sea covered south central Kentucky. Deposits of tiny marine animals and plants formed layers of limestone. Over many millennia the sea receded, leaving thick layers of limestone. Rainwater mixed with carbon dioxide in the air and soil to form a mild acid, which dissolved

Sep/Oct '12 Premium Content

Rhinelander, WI Shamrock Tour®

Unlike most Shamrock tours, this one has a prequel. Instead of flying into the closest Wisconsin airport, I flew into Utah and then inaugurated the new 2012 Victory Cross Country Tour for a three day trip to Sturgis. There, I met up with Ken Engelman, and we enjoyed the Sturgis

Jul/Aug '12 Premium Content

Edgar Evins State Park, Tennessee Shamrock Tour®

Life’s a beach, but not after a hurricane. Our Atlantic beach trip quickly turned into a Tennessee camping tour after Irene scrubbed our plans along with most of the East Coast. It’s just as well, I suppose, since my memories of Tennessee involve blue highway “Trading Posts” stocked

May/Jun '12 Premium Content

Hot Springs, Arkansas Shamrock Tour®: The Valley of Vapors

The Ouachita (wah-shi-tah) River runs through it: the largest mountain chain between the Rockies and the Appalachians. The gentle folds of the ancient Ouachita Mountains offer some of the best motorcycle roads in America. We’re based in a place that Native Americans called the Valley of the Vapors, so