Folks in the S. PA/MD/WV/N. VA Area

[Mhanis]

I am driving with my son to DC in about a week. He has stuff to do there for several days and I have nothing to do so I am going to haul my bike with us in the bed of our truck and unload in DC and ride for a few days. I'll have about 4 days/3 nights to ride so I was going to head West from DC towards Cumberland MD. I was thinking about making Cumberland my "base", returning there at least a couple of nights, but I have no definite PLAN at this point. The only thing I know is that looking at that area on the map there are a TON of very curvy roads!

Is there anyone that is from the area or is familiar with the area that could tell me of things to not miss, things to avoid, just general stuff?

I'll return to DC on Friday or Saturday and we'll load back up and head back towards Texas.

Any input would be appreciated!

Mark



I will be using lodging and not camping. Even tough I would love to camp my body desires a bed more than I desire to camp!

[ducpainter]

Might want to post in CAM also.

http://www.ducatimonsterforum.org/index.php?board=20.0

[Mhanis]

Good thinking Painter, thanks!

Mark

[OT]

You mean West of DC, no,?

If you like architecture, visit Frank Lloyd Wright's Fallingwater (not Falling Waters, which is a town off I-81 east of Cumberland) located near the Maryland border in southwestern PA, about 1-1.5 hours "west" of Cumberland  (just make sure to book a reservation before you go). Besides the house, the facility has a nice cafeteria with good food, and I've seen bikers there.

Fort Necessity, where the French & Indian War began in 1754 and where George Washington 'made his bones', is south of Fallingwater and pretty much "on the route".

Roads in this area of both states (Google 'Laurel Highlands' for info)  are wonderful biking roads, too  

In general (very general), from my experience, the roads in the Laurel Highlands area (e.g., 20-25 mile radius around Fallingwater) tend to be more towards twisty 2-lane roads thru wooded areas and farmland with moderate elevation changes.  Roads closer to/around Cumberland might be more of the 'switchback' type, as the mountains in the vicinity are largely long, rocky ridges running NE-SW and the roads tend to zig-zag up/down the sides of the ridges via switchbacks.

Only caution is that this past winter was long and cold (for this part of the country) and many of the road surfaces are spotty with stretches of pot holes and ruts.  They're not too difficult to ride around or between, but paying lots of attention to the road surfaces may dampen the usual "sight seeing" while in the saddle.

[Mhanis]

Thanks for the input OT. And I did mean WEST, I changed the first post.

Mark

[jduke]

Be sure and run south on US 219, especially from Elkins to Marlinton.
US 33 (east or south, not sure of which) of Elkins to Seneca Rocks.
US 250 from Mill Creek on US 219 (again east or south, not sure of which) to Monterey.
WVA 39 from Marlinton to Warm Springs has plenty of curves too.
If you look at a map of these roads you can easily run them between US 219 and US 220 and make a route that lets you run all of them. Avoid US 220 except for getting to the next leg of the run, 220 runs in a valley and has a lot of traffic and is basically flat and straight.

[Mhanis]

Thanks jduke. It is funny you mentioned Seneca Rocks, just looking strictly at a map I saw the roads around there and told myself, "I am going there!", I had even picked some of the same roads you mentioned.

I appreciate the heads up on avoiding 220.

Mark

[lazylightnin717]

That area of WV has some of the best roads I've ever ridden. Seriously. Go there

[Mhanis]

That area of WV has some of the best roads I've ever ridden. Seriously. Go there

I cannot wait to get there, Bubbles!

Mark

[corey]

Route 33 around the Elkins area is particularly awesome. 

[DesmoDiva]

B and I were just down in the Laurel Highlands area over Memorial Day.

We based out of Ohiopyle. 

It is a very beautiful area.

We visited Kentuk Knob, the other Frank Lloyd Wright house in so. PA.  It's only a few miles from Fallingwater and just as nice.  The view from the overlook is amazing.

If you are going to go to Fallingwater, I would definitely recommend the more $$ in-depth tour.  You get to see a lot more than is shown on the regular tour.  Plan on a spending at least half a day.

We didn't ride south into VW, but the roads north to pick up the 219 in Somerset were beautiful.  Lots of elevation change and nice sweeping corners with farmland views to boot.

Enjoy your trip.   

[Kev M]

FallingWater was surprisingly worth it... (I still don't know how to get the new formatted Google Photos links to work in image tags):


https://goo.gl/photos/Hj1q2wWDphKQJL1e6

https://goo.gl/photos/9mk6pj7adcLnYwdv6

[OT]

Another thought.....what bike are you bringing?

If you want really fast sweepers; just ride I-68 and I-79 between Cumberland, Md. and Charleston, WVa....mostly, the only straight sections between Morgantown and Charleston are the on/off ramps, especially south of Clarksburg, WVa.

It's about 500-miles R/T, but you could turn back anywhere on I-79 and still have lots of fun...

[Mhanis]

I'll be on my '09 M1100.

Mark

[Rudemouthsky]

That area of WV has some of the best roads I've ever ridden. Seriously. Go there

I concur! And it should be absolutely gorgeous there this time of year. Just be careful, that area is about as remote as you're going to find on the east coast and cell service, including Verizon, is still very poor.