Some rides for your consideration:
(a) Yellow Route - Take the four-lane US 119 south to Danville where you'll pick up WV 85. You'll see several coal camp towns, along with their treatment plants, on this route. The highlight of this tour is the ride up and over Bolt Mountain (properly called Guyandotte Mountain) between the settlements of Greenwood and Bolt (birthplace of Little Jimmy Dickens). Halfway up Bolt Mountain you'll turn left onto WV 99. This is highlighted as #10 on Map B. There is a nice pull-off area on the Bolt side of the mountain, partway down the mountain. A place to eat at a halfway point is the Dairy Queen in Glen Daniel. Turn left on WV 3 at Glen Daniel and follow WV 3 until you intersect WV 94 at Racine. Take WV 94 north to Marmet, then left on WV 61 to Charleston. Approximately 135 miles.
(b) Green Route - Just outside of Gauley Bridge, on the north
side of Rt. 60, is a nice little waterfall, if there has been enough rain.
It's called Cathedral Falls. There is a large pull-off area in front
of the falls. On route 41 south, it is worth a stop at Babcock State
Park to see the old mill. In Beckley you will catch US 19 near the Ford
Dealership. Continue south on US 19 until WV 3 joins you, then stay
on WV 3. From just past Shady Spring to Hinton is a nice series of
twisties, shown as #5 on Map B. You follow along the Greenbrier River,
then can make a choice for a longer or shorter tour.
(1) For the shorter tour, turn left over a bridge, staying on WV 3
and WV 12 to Alderson. Lunch at the Big Wheel Restaurant, right where
WV 3 turns right, over the river. You stay straight ahead on WV 12,
and take WV 12, or WV 12 and County Road 25 (see six lines below -- "Or,
after turning....), to US 60. US 60 west to Charleston. Approximately
265 miles. (2) For the longer tour, at the first junction (where
WV 12 first intersects WV 3) go straight ahead on WV 12 when WV 3
goes to your left. At Forest Hill, take WV 122 to US 219. (WV122
often has a bit of gravel in the curves.) Take US 219 north
to Union. Lunch at the Moxie Cafe (the brick building on your left,
painted pale green, and directly across the street from the big flag on
the flagpole) in "downtown" Union. Continue on US 219 to Ronceverte
where you catch WV 63. WV 63 almost to Alderson, turning right on
WV 12. Take WV 12 to Alta, where you catch US 60 west to Charleston.
Or, after turning right on WV 12, after going about 1/2 mile, bear left
on County Route 25 (Blue Sulphur Springs Road). Narrow road, gentle
curves, beautiful farmland. After you get to Blue Sulphur Springs
(the only remnant of which is the spring house over in a field on your
left), CR 25 becomes Smoot Road (nice elevation change; some twisties),
and after getting to Smoot, CR 25 becomes Sam Black Road. When CR
25 meets US 60, take US 60 west to Charleston. Approximately 325
miles.
(c) Pink Route - US 60 east to Gauley Bridge, WV 16 north to WV 39. WV 39 to Fenwick, where WV 55 joins you. The road really gets fun now. WV 55 to the Cranberry Glades Visitor Center (Worth a look; then take the boardwalk through the Cranberry Glades itself. Total stop of about one hour.) Left onto WV 150, about 23 miles of paradise. You climb to over 4500 ft elevation, cross Black Mountain and another mountain. No twisties -- great high-speed sweepers; four pull-off viewing areas. US 219 south to Marlinton and lunch at the The River Place Restaurant, just over the bridge into Marlinton on WV 39. After lunch, south on US 219 through Hillsboro (birthplace of Pearl Buck), up Droop Mountain (site of largest Civil War battle in WV), to (or past) Beartown State Park. I think it's worth a trip to Beartown. You have to turn off US 219 to the east at a point where there's an old church, and go for a couple of miles to the parking area at Beartown SP. (If you see the sign saying you're entering Greenbrier County, you've gone too far. Turn around and take your first right.) You then take a boadwalk through some really strange jumbles of rock, through what is almost a tropical rain forest area. It's usually moist. Lots of ferns, etc. Back to US 219 to US 60 at Lewisburg, and US 60 west to Charleston. Approximately 300 miles.
(a) Yellow Route - US 60 east past the intersection with US 19. 4.5 miles past the intersection with US 19, turn right on County Route 82. Follow this down *under* the New River Gorge Bridge. (At Winona, turn right at the stop sign, pass through Edmond, turn left at Lansing. You're on CR 82 all this time. After passing the Lansing Loop Road for the second time, the road becomes one-way the way you are going. The road is a little bit wider than a golf cart path at this point. Near the bottom of the gorge, the road becomes two-way again for a quarter-mile [to accommodate people coming down to get water at the spring on your left]. Cross the wooden bridge, then up the other side of the gorge. Look for the pretty waterfall on your right part way up. When you get to the Rivers whitewater rafting business, the road becomes two-way again.). At the intersection of US 19, turn right and go to the next traffic light. Turn left into Fayetteville. After the second traffic light, on your right is an old Methodist Church which has been converted into a restaurant, the Cathedral Cafe. A good place to eat. (Their three-layer carrot cake is very famous. Every time I've tried to order it, they've been sold out. Grrrrr!) Backtrack to US 19, turn left and follow US 19 south. Then left onto WV 61 (you previously passed WV 61 going to the right, into Oak Hill) to WV 41. Left on WV 41 to Danese (pronounced day NIECE), right on County Road 31 at Danese to WV 20 at Meadow Bridge. Left on WV 20 at Meadow Bridge. Follow WV 20 north to Nettie. Along the way you'll pass through Rainelle (a former timbering center; the Methodist Church, when it was built, was built *entirely* of chestnut), Quinwood (getting into mining territory again) and you'll pass a fairly large coal operation at Green Valley. Left on WV 39 when you intersect it at Nettie. Left on US 19 when you intersect it at Summersville, then right on WV 129, which goes across the top of the Summersville Dam, which dams the Gauley River. When you come to the intersection with WV 16, turn left and follow WV 16 to Gauley Bridge. Turn right on US 60 at Gauley Bridge and return to Charleston. Approximately 250 miles.
(b) Green Route - Take US 60 east through Gauley Bridge and Ansted to the intersection with WV 41 south. In a few miles you'll note the entrance to Babcock State Park on your right. It's worth a short visit to see the grist mill there -- one of the most photographed sights in West Virginia (It was actually assembled out of three other mills in the eastern part of the state). Follow 41 south into Beckley. This would be a good lunch break spot. (At the point at which WV 41 intersects US 19, you will angle somewhat to the right, onto Rural Acres Drive. [Don't turn left onto US 19 south, or *sharply* to the right onto US 19 north.] Follow Rural Acres Drive to the traffic light. Turn right at the traffic light onto Robert C. Byrd Drive. Look for United Cycle (Kawasaki/Suzuki) on your left. A couple stores past that is Macado's, a good lunch spot.). After lunch, coming out of the parking lot, turn right onto Robert C. Byrd Drive and go to the intersection with WV 3 in downtown Beckley. Turn right onto WV 3 to Glen Daniel. WV 3 turns right at Glen Daniel. Follow WV 3 to Racine where you'll take WV 94 north to Marmet. At Marmet, turn left on WV 61 and follow it back to Charleston. Approximately 175 miles.
(c) Pink Highlights. These are some of my favorite stretches
of roads in SE West Virginia.
#1 - Through the Monongahela National Forest and
over mountains at 4500+ ft elevation.
#2 - Anthony Road (County Road 21 from US 219; county
road 17 from WV 92). Gentle curves. Nice fishing/picknicking
area on the Greenbrier River. Nice elevation up on a bluff above
the Greenbrier River.
#3 - WV/VA 311 over Peters Mountain (WV/VA border)
and Potts Mountain (VA). At Paint Bank, turn beside the general store/Texaco
station onto County Road 600, and travel 3-4 miles. Hollow Hill Farm
is on both sides of the road -- award winning bison farm. There are
*lots* of babies there this spring!
WV 3 between Sweet Springs and Gap Mills is a straight run valley road,
with Peters Mountain on the east side.
Get some bread at the Kitchen Creek Bakery in Gap Mills, run by Mennonite
women.
#4 - County Road 25 in Greenbrier County.
See Map A, Green Route, for information on this road.
#5 - WV 3 between Hinton and Shady Spring.
Uphill is from east to west. Nice twisties.
#6 - US 19 between Princeton and Ghent (pronounced
"gent", as in gentleman). Twisties and sweepers. Occasional
gravel in curves.
#7 - WV 10 between Springton and Garwood.
Herndon Mountain. I prefer the northwest to southeast direction,
but both ways are good. Some *very* nice twisties -- maybe
the best of all the ones highlighted!
#8 - WV 97 between Maben and Pineville. Nice
hilly sections. Twin Falls State Park is a hidden gem!
#9 - WV 61, Deepwater Mountain. Not too long,
but fun.
#10 - WV 85 and WV 99. If you're going west
to east, you do part of the climb up Bolt Mountain (9% grade), then turn
left at the WV 99 intersection to finish the climb and go down the other
side. Both directions are good; I prefer west to east.
Prepared by "Weeble", Wilber
Jones, Princeton, WV
Biarritz Blue '03RT
