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Roads Home > Pennsylvania Motorcycle
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| Title:
Grand Army of the Republic Highway - Route 6 (PA) |
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State:
Pennsylvania
Submitted
By: George Hooper
Date Submitted: Aug 04
Motorcycle Type: 02 Honda Goldwing
Motorcycle Road Length: 350 Miles
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Motorcycle
Road Scenery: 
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U.S.
Route 6 passes through towns and villages whose boarded
up buildings and rough exteriors could easily deceive those
who rely on hasty first impressions. It requires a short
visit, a cup of coffee in the diner, a walk in the square,
and a chat with passers by to find the proud, hardworking
communities that still exist. These are communities whose
labor fueled the industrialization of this nation - Mining
towns that were populated by immigrants from all regions
of Europe. And judging by the long lists of names on monuments
in each town square, these are patriotic communities who
sacrificed dearly to support their new country, all the
way back to the Civil War. Travel across Pennsylvania's
portion of the Grand
Army of the Republic Highway for an excellent ride,
not just because of the long sweeps and turns as it crosses
the state, but because this historical highway offers a
chance to rediscover a time gone by. Eat in 1930's diners,
walk on the
famous Kinzua Trestle bridge, ride a steam train, descend
into a coal mine, and above all, meet a proud people with
stories to tell--All on Pennsylvania's Grand Army of the
Republic Highway.
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Motorcycle
Road Quality:
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Leaving
the eastern Pennsylvania town of Milford, you will begin
to climb a long, winding road out of the Delaware River
Valley. You will soon be treated to a series of sweeps
and winds as the two-lane road crosses the first of many
hills and ridges along the route. Heading west, the Grand
Army of the Republic Highway begins to wind its way through
hardwood forests, past small lakes, typical of the glacier
worn Pocono Mountains.
Ages ago, grinding glacial ice smoothed the once rugged
peaks, partially filling the valleys. The result is a
highway that trades large differences in elevation for a
road that continually rises and falls, and turns in long
flowing sweeps--A delight for any motorcyclist.
Gearing down near Carbondale, a decision has to be made--take
the new Route 6 expressway along the ridge above the town,
or follow the original highway down into the valley. The
expressway by-passes Carbondale and several other small
towns. It has a pull-off that provides a panoramic view
of the valley, including a small mining operation below.
If you opt for the valley ride, a quick right turn will
put you on Business 6, which immediately starts a long descent.
It soon becomes obvious why numerous signs warn truckers
to choose the expressway. After Route 6 passes to the north
of the city of Scranton, the road slowly climbs towards
the town of Clarks Summit. Before long, it road changes
direction and descends into the Susquehanna River Valley.
For forty miles, Route 6 stays with the river, rising and
falling as it follows the hillsides to the north. The Susquehanna
can be seen below winding its way across Pennsylvania?a
swift moving, shallow, and generally un-navigable stream.
As you follow the river, at times the highway leaves its
side to climb a series of five long grades. Fortunately,
each grade has a passing lane, so getting around those heavily
laden lumber trucks and other freight haulers is quickly
accomplished. After the town of Wellsboro, you will be surrounded
by dense woodland as you pass through the Allegheny National
Forest. Eventually you will come back to civilization as
you descend the Allegheny Plateau near the village of Sheffield.
We are not yet out of the mountains. U.S. Route 6 now winds
its way through a series of valleys, following the Allegheny
River and its tributaries. Nine miles west of Union City,
U.S. Route 6 joins with Route 19, and heads south to Meadville..
South of Saegertown, traffic increases and the highway becomes
four lanes. It soon joins with Route 322 as it becomes a
commuter highway. Near Conneaut Lake, U.S. Route 6 leaves
Route 322 and once again becomes a two-lane country road.
It travels northwest, winding around the Pymatuning
Reservoir to the small village of Pennline, the last
Pennsylvania town along U.S. Route 6.
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Motorcycle
Roadside Amenities: 
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Visit
the old coal mining towns of Honesdale and Carbondale then
take a small detour to Scranton. Route 6 approaches the
northern edge of the city. A short side visit down Route
11 will offer you two world-class attractions, Steamtown
and the Lackawanna
Coal Mine. A National Historic Site, Steamtown is operated
by the National Park Service. It houses numerous steam locomotives
and includes an operating roundhouse where these steam giants
are restored. Visit the museum, tour the restorations in
progress (it's loud), and ride on a steam train. Nearby
is the Lackawanna Coal Mine. Descend 300 feet into this
anthracite mine to explore first-hand the hard lives of
the deep shaft miners who toiled daily in what can only
be described as grim conditions. For more information on
the lives of these immigrant miners who came from 36 ethnic
groups, you can also stop by the Pennsylvania Anthracite
Museum while in Scranton. Much of Wellsboro could easily
pass for a well-kept 1930s town. Its picturesque Main Street
includes a park-like median, complete with gaslights. Eat
at the famous Wellsboro
Diner. A porcelain-shelled beauty, it's an excellent
example of the diners of the '30s, transported, in pieces,
to its current location in 1939--it's cash only. Just eleven
miles out of Wellsboro on Route 660, is one of the most
beautiful views in the area - the spectacular Pine Creek
Gorge, better known as The Grand Canyon of Pennsylvania.
Created by glacial action over 10,000 years ago, the gorge
is 47 miles long and drops almost 1500 feet at its deepest
point. The Pennsylvania
Lumber Museum is located along Route 6 near Galeton.
It includes a number of restored buildings that replicate
a lumber camp of the 1800s. In this area of Pennsylvania,
the lumbering of white pine and hemlock was a major industry
that rivaled coal mining. Smethport, "Home of the Hubberburger."
We can't pass that by. A stop for lunch at the old Smethport
Diner. The diner is an old roadside eatery, similar to Wellsboro's
Sterling Diner, except that the years have not been as kind
to it. Turn right at Mount Jewett and travel slowly down
a heavily patched road, heading for the famous Kinzu Bridge.
It's just a twelve-mile detour from U.S. Route 6, but well
worth the time. The Kinzu Railroad Viaduct was originally
built in 1882 to ship bituminous coal across the Kinzu River
Valley, north to New York. Rebuilt in 1900, the bridge is
over 300 feet high and 2053 feet long. For many years, it
held the record as the highest and longest railroad bridge
in the world. Once listed as the Eighth Wonder of
the World, the viaduct is still on the National Register
of Historic Places and has been designated a National Historic
Civil Engineering Landmark.
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Route
6 crosses the northern tier of Pennsylvania. It can be reached
from the east at the town of Milford,
PA and at the western boundary, from the town of Pennline,
PA. It is north of I-80 and is an excellent alternative
to that super slab.
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Additional
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