Update!
The trip was a lot of fun! A lot of our plans had to change along the way, but everyone handled a good time. I posted a lot of pictures to Instagram and I have written up a trip summary and lessons learned that can be found here.
When to Go?
According to this Fall Foliage Prediction Map, peak foliage in the Shenandoah region will be between (Monday) October 12th and 19th. The weekend of (Friday) October 16th, 17th and 18th seems like it would work OK.
Where to Stay?
There are quite a few hotels in the Waynesboro area. Some places look super fancy with a spa and everything which sounds nice. I'm not really a spa person but I've gone to a couple with my wife and have enjoyed the experience. With that said, there is something about hopping off your Harley at a place where they put cucumber slices on your eyes while you sip a cosmo that just seems wrong. On the flips side, I'm not interested in staying at a motel that doesn't have enough self respect to charge more than $70 per night. I mean come on, have some pride!
After a bit of consideration and reading reviews on the web, we decided to set up camp at the Comfort Inn in Waynesboro. The location looks good with lots of restaurants, a Target and an ABC store nearby. It is also directly next door to Plaza Azteca which has good food and better margaritas.
Day One
Day one is Frederick to Waynesboro. It's about three and half hours of riding not counting pit stops along the way. There are planned stops in Front Royal (gas and leg stretching) and Sperryville (lunch) along the way. The route down 340 & 522 purposely avoids Skyline Drive so that can be taken on the way home. Lunch in Sperryville will be at Headmaster's Pub to get something called Balls of Fire which are Sriracha infused fried macaroni and cheese balls. From Sperryville we will cross over the mountains and go under Skyline Drive and on to Luray. I don't know what is in Luray aside from the famous Luray Caverns but we will see! From there we get back on route 340 which will take us all the way to Waynesboro.
After we check into our rooms, we can check out the country roads in the Waynesboro area.
When I searched on "Waynesboro VA Motorcycle Rides", Google took me to the Visit Staunton website.
The Crabtree Falls Loop looks awesome and the overlook is only 700 feet from the parking lot.
"Crabtree Falls, the highest vertical-drop cascading waterfall east of the Mississippi River."
Day Two
Day Two will be spent riding the Blue Ridge Parkway.
The Blue Ridge Parkway can't be properly explored in a single day, so a lot depends on how far people want to ride. This drive-time map gives a good idea of how far we can go. We just need to figure out our limits and set a destination that fits. Click on the map to visit the Blue Ridge Parkway website with a ton of resources.
Possible destinations:
- Roanoke, VA.
- Roanoke is about a 2.5 hour ride from Waynesboro. There is a Harley Dealer in Roanoke and lots of places to eat.
- Fancy Gap, VA.
- Fancy Gap is a 3 hour ride from Waynesboro. There are a few carry-out type places that are easy to get to. One of them is called Mayberry Station Grill that I like just because of the name.
- 12 Ridges Vineyard
- This place is only about 40 minutes away from the hotel. I think it would be a great place to stop on our way back and have a glass of wine.
- Devil's Backbone Base Camp
- I can't find any breweries that are located directly on the BRP but this one isn't too far off. I don't know if this is a good destination though because it looks like we need a reservation to stop there for food and drink.
Day Three
Day Three will be hotel check-out and riding the length of Skyline Drive with plenty of stops at overlooks to admire the views.
According to the Shenandoah National Park website, most of the park is now open including the lodges and other places to get food.
There are lots of places to stop and visit in the park depending on what people want to do. Check out this
interactive map on the
park's website. There are hiking trails that lead to waterfalls which would be fun. There are educational
exhibits that are mostly open and a couple of restaurants and other food places to grab something to take
along to a picnic area or overlook.
If everyone is up for it, A stop at Harpers Ferry Brewing seems like the perfect way to end what will hopefully be a fantastic weekend of riding, laughing, eating, drinking, etc...
