The Secret Blue-Ridge Mountain Northern Stretch

Motorcycle Roads & Rides > Routes > United States > Virginia

Average Rating - This road has been rated by 6 visitors

State: Virginia
Date Submitted: November 1, 2008
Submitted by: State: Virginia Skyler
Motorcycle Road Length: 11 Miles

Written Directions

This route is easy to find and follow. You'll find the starting point in town about 15 minuets west of Leesburg, VA called Bluemont, VA. At the intersection of route 7 and route 601 just take route 601 southwest. Immediately the 601 will climb to the spine of the mountains and you just stay on this all the way till it ends when it drops down out off the mountain and runs into US Highway 50.

Scenery

This is a favorite ride of mine that I stumbled on a few years ago when my work sent me out to some FEMA command center out in just northeast of the Blue Ridge Parkway. It's about 15 minutes west of Leesburg and once I got out there and turned on to VA 601 I knew that I had stumbled on to what is a very nice little stretch of motorcycle road. The whole 11 or so miles rides along a not very well known spine of a section of the Blue Ridge Mountains (just look at the Google Maps Satellite view of the road to see how it drives right over the top ridge of the mountain range). You'll be riding through beautiful thick lush forest with a few sections were it opens up a bit for some views of fields. Another sight to enjoy along the way are the beautiful homes. Some really smart (and rich) people have built their dream homes along this stretch of mountains with what I imagine would be jaw dropping views from there back decks. Much of the road is lined with some really authentic looking (I can't tell if it's really old or just made to look that way) stone fencing traveling for miles along the road. At the very end of the route when 601 runs into US Hwy 50, make sure you take that (Hwy 50 east for just a mile or less and you'll take in a great valley view (see pics below)).

Road Quality

The road conditions are perfect in terms of quality of the road surface ... no potholes or even gravel to avoid. The turns are modest and so are the elevation changes ... this one won't require any peg dragging but the tameness of the roads will at least let you take in all the nice scenery up there. The road wasn't crowded but it wasn't empty either ... like I said before there is a FEMA center up there and homes so the workers and residents make up most of the traffic.

Roadside Amenities

I had to be honest and give this a 1 for amenities because there really isn't anything to do along the way (not even restaurants or gas stations) but DON'T TAKE THIS ROUTE BECAUSE YOU WANT TO SHOP FOR TRINKETS, TAKE IT FOR IT'S BEAUTY AND REMOTENESS.

All the below pictures were taken where the route ends at the intersection of Rt 601 and US Hwy 50. You have to travel a little east (a mile or two) on Hwy 50 to see the valley view and check out the old town with the old buildings.

Additional Info

- View the weather forecast for this area from Yahoo weather .

Nickname (optional) State: Virginia Skyler

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Reviewed by Boatrider on November 2, 2011 (0 out of 0 members found this review useful.)
Creator: Boatrider
motorcycle_year: 2007
motorcycle_make: H-D Heritage
motorcycle_type: Cruiser
Comment: This is my favorite ride, close to home,can do the ride in just under 2 hours, great stress reducer after a day of work...
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Reviewed by Guest on May 2, 2011 (0 out of 0 members found this review useful.)
Creator: Trevor
Comment: This is a great road!! I saw this on MotorcycleRoads.com and decided to give it a try (despite the fact that the ratings on it I saw were low). It really does travel along a "spine of mountains" ... little traffic and LOTS of nice scenery and nice little curves along the way. Very pleasant surprise for me and my riding partner.
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Reviewed by Guest on August 8, 2010 (0 out of 0 members found this review useful.)
Creator: Mark
motorcycle_year: 1995
motorcycle_make: Kawasaki
motorcycle_type: Cruiser
Comment: There is a country store in Bluemont, just south of Route 7. Deck and table out front. It's on Snickersville Turnpike. Coming from Rt.50 make a R on Rt.7 and a R on Snickersville/734. Nice hairpin before a straight descent past the store. Or make a L on Rt.7 and R on Pine Grove Rd./679, a curve or two and a place or two to stop for eats. Then back onto Rt.7.
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Reviewed by Guest on July 7, 2010 (0 out of 0 members found this review useful.)
Creator: Rick
motorcycle_year: 2010
motorcycle_make: Yamaha
motorcycle_type: Touring
Comment: This is indeed a nice stretch of road between 7 and 50. Uncle Sam has done a good job of keeping it nice and maintained due to the "facility" at the top of the hill. 606 that runs along the Shenandoah is a nice little run too. It's only a mile or so west on 7 or 50 depending which way you run 601.
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Reviewed by Guest on January 24, 2009 (0 out of 0 members found this review useful.)
Creator: Arica Hans
motorcycle_year: 2005
motorcycle_make: Harley-Davidson
motorcycle_type: Touring
Comment: We rode this route last May 2008, and it is awesome!! But you must go all the way to the south end of the Parkway to Tennessee. We took 3 days to do it, stopping along the way several places. The scenery is AWESOME!! It's like being in heaven. Enjoy!!
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Reviewed by Guest on January 3, 2009 (0 out of 0 members found this review useful.)
Creator: Joel
motorcycle_year: 2001
motorcycle_make: Suzuki
motorcycle_type: Sport-Touring
Comment: This was a nice ride. Just did it today 1/3/09 in combination with the 688 route. One thing about 601 though- it seemed to have a little line of gravel in the center of the otherwise nice road for most of the way. This made me slow way down on curves... but then again I've only been riding a month so maybe it was nothing to be wary of... but rather to err on the safe side eh?
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