United States

Mar/Apr '23 Premium Content

Hot Springs, North Carolina Shamrock Tour®

I was wrapping up another season of selling pumpkins and staring down the barrel of an open calendar when the Yamaha Ténéré 700 began to take on a life of its own from the bits and pieces I was adding to it for the trip. October is the month to

Travel Guide

5 Great Motorcycle Rides in California

California boasts many fantastic motorcycle-friendly roads. Motorcyclists can enjoy riding year round with mild winters and limited rainfall. Here are five great rides in northern California. You can find the GPS files and map at the bottom of this article. Pacific Coast Highway (SR 1)—San Simeon to Carmel Whether

Destinations

Destination: Rome, GA

Resting on seven hills, with the Etowah, Oostanaula, and Coosa Rivers running among them, Rome’s topographical layout is believed to have inspired early European-American settlers to name their city after the capital of Italy. Owing to the location’s geographic advantages, earlier inhabitants were the Creek people, who were

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Lost Sierra

It was the most exciting newspaper story I’d read in a long time—a group of outdoor enthusiasts had gathered sufficient capital and government support to begin carving 600 miles of multi-use, single-track trails through the Lost Sierra. To me, this was catnip. I already had a friend connected

Destinations

In Pursuit of Wildness: Cabrillo National Monument

The Pacific Ocean is jaw-droppingly beautiful as I ride my motorcycle along Highway 1 from Monterey, CA, toward San Diego. It’s easy to allow your imagination to run free along each curve on this scenic highway, envisioning sailing ships exploring new lands. Albert Einstein said that “imagination is more

Destinations

In Pursuit of Wildness: Petrified Forest National Park

I’m on historic US Route 66 heading east for a small village nestled next to the Rio Grande in New Mexico called La Joya. Each year, I make this journey across the wild west, past little communities and towns with interesting names: Newberry Springs, Oatman, Cool Springs, Valentine, Peach

Travel Guide

Americana: Round Barns

Riding cross-country in rural America, you may have happened upon round barns with conical roofs and wondered, “Why?” Several scientific theories suggest that round shapes are more calming and pleasing to the observer’s eyes than shapes with corners, which may explain why you noticed and remembered those barns in

Jan/Feb '23

City Escape: Marietta, Georgia

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Destination: Grants Pass, OR

The town was “named in honor of General Ulysses S. Grant’s 1863 victory at Vicksburg. Originally named Grant’s Pass’s, the apostrophe was dropped after 1900. Grants Pass was a stagecoach stop in the 1860’s. It became a rail head when the Oregon-California Railroad (now Southern Pacific)

Jan/Feb '23

Snowville, Utah Shamrock Tour®

Snowville, UT, is located off an unassuming truck stop exit along I-84, about 110 miles north of Salt Lake City. I glided into the Earp and James Hitching Post RV park, pulling my ATC travel trailer with my 2017 Honda CRF250L Rally secured inside. This type of moto hauling is

Destinations

Destination: Acoma Pueblo, New Mexico

The picturesque desert landscape some 60 miles west of Albuquerque, NM, is home to one of the oldest continuously inhabited communities in America—Acoma Pueblo. The pueblo, founded in 1100, is a component of the Acoma Indian Reservation and is perched atop a 357-foot-tall shear-walled sandstone mesa. Before modern times,

Jan/Feb '23

City Escape: Henderson, Nevada

This City Escape northeast of Henderson, NV, offers some of the most striking rock formations and desert landscapes in the Southwest. The loop ride includes the stunningly beautiful Valley of Fire State Park, and a great return route through Lake Mead National Recreation Area. This is a four-season ride that

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A Thousand Shifts

The strange, quiet noise of travel. When you have nothing but time to think—about the past, about all the good and the bad times, about the things that lie ahead, for now unknown but certainly there, approaching on that smooth ribbon of pavement. I was somewhere between my home

Classic Roads

Classic Roads: Enchanted Circle Scenic Byway

Destinations

In Pursuit of Wildness: Abo Ruins

In the 2009 documentary The National Parks: America’s Best Idea, Director Ken Burns spoke about the grandeur of a world known as Yellowstone National Park, as well as less familiar National Park Service areas, such as Abó Ruins, an integral part of Salinas Pueblo Missions National Monument in New

Jan/Feb '23

Classic Roads: Kentucky's Alpine Road

Heading west out of Burkesville, KY, you’ll find Rte 2276. On the map, it’s named Hill St—but it’s better known by the locals as Alpine Road. This treacherously crooked stretch of pavement traverses Big Hill Mountain which is one of the highest points in the Cumberland

Jan/Feb '23 Premium Content

Texas: The Mysteries of Caddo Lake

Caddo Lake sits on the border between Texas and Louisiana, a maze of tight waterways, cypress trees, and abundant wildlife. It’s often called the only natural lake in Texas, but as with all Texas tales, that may or may not be accurate. Regardless, it’s a perfect spot for

Roundtrip Tour Premium Content

A U.S. Bucket List on a Budget

Slurping a coffee at Burnout Cafe in Vancouver, Canada, the butterflies in my tummy were doing barrel rolls. This was it! The start of our big ride from Canada to the southern tip of Argentina. With no house to sell and no apartment to rent out while we are gone,

Destinations

Destination: Old Fort Niagara, New York

The flags of three different nations have flown over Old Fort Niagara—France, England, and the U.S. over more than 300 years. Located at the mouth of the Niagara River and Lake Ontario, Fort Conti was a preliminary fortification established here by the French in 1679. A permanent French

Destinations

Yellowstone National Park

Its natural magnificence inspired the United States Congress to establish Yellowstone [https://www.roadrunner.travel/tours/yellowstone-national-park/] as the world's first national park in 1872. Kathy and I were so thrilled by the area that we decided to return for an extra day after completing our tour of

Destinations

In Pursuit of Wildness: Canyon de Chelly National Monument

The rain is hard and relentless. The gas station ahead, a few miles from Window Rock, AZ, offers shelter. In seconds, the parking area is flooded, but my motorcycle is safe and dry. “Do not go out further just yet,” the old Navajo man says. “The roads will be full

Nov/Dec '22 Premium Content

Snowbiking Serenity in Kalispell, Montana

I felt the crunch of compacting snow under my boot and before I knew it, I was face down—sunk to my hip in fresh powder with a Husqvarna TE 300 towering over me. The snow around my leg instantly solidified like concrete, locking my boot into place some 33-odd

Nov/Dec '22

City Escape: Southeast Columbus, Ohio

Columbus, OH, is on a roll. Just at the beginning of the year Intel announced a $20 billion initial investment for two new leading-edge chip factories. Ohio’s capital is becoming quite the tech hub. With a growing city, you’ll want to get out and smell the roses. This

Destinations

Zanesville, Ohio’s Historic Y-Bridge

A motorist who asks for directions from a Zanesville, Ohio, resident might hear something like, “Go to the middle of the Y-Bridge and turn left.” After a visibly confused motorist leaves, the local resident might be sporting a big grin because after all, turning left in the middle of a

Destinations

Black Canyon of The Gunnison National Park

Motoring east on US-50 from Montrose, I’m enjoying the expansive Rocky Mountain landscape of western Colorado. A left on SR-347 has me quickly gaining altitude until finally arriving at the Visitor Center on the South Rim of the Black Canyon of Gunnison National Park. At an overlook, I peer