Elkins WV & Johnson City TN
Miles = 1,182
Having ridden to Franklin NC and that general area in our last few trips we wanted to try something a little different. We set our sights on Elkins WV as they have a Hampton and a brewery. Pretty much a recipe for success. It was late April and the weather looked pretty good so we hit the go button.
Day One
Our exit strategy out of the Cincinnati area was to run up I-71, go through Washington CH on US22 and then into Lancaster. We rode through Lancaster very slowly looking at the birthplace of General William Tecumseh Sherman, and even doing a loop through the historic district. I made a mental note of this nice quaint town, and I'll have to take a day trip there sometime. On the other side of Lancaster we began riding OH37 east over to OH555 where we began riding due south. We stopped at a little pullover on OH555. Nothing much but it was a nice little stop in the middle of nowhere in the rolling hills of Southeast Ohio. We continued on toward Marietta stopping once along the Ohio River to take a pic. In Marietta we stopped for lunch at Marietta Brewing Co. After leaving Marietta we were on OH26 riding along the Little Muskingum River with two two covered bridges on our radar. The first was Hune Covered Bridge. This one was built in 1879 with a span of 129'. It is still in operation and we rode over it but the other side leads to a series of gravel, so it was just over and back for us. We continued on OH26 and just a few short miles down the road sat Rinard Covered Bridge. It was built in 1876 but was destroyed by a flash flood in 2014 and rebuilt two years later. It no longer carries any traffic. We broke away from the Little Muskingum River on OH260 as we rode down to the Ohio and looked to cross the river at Sisterville on the ferry. Unfortunately the ferry was out of service so we had to run up to New Martinsville to cross and then we had to do a little navigation work to get back on the route. We stopped just outside Middlebourne WV on WV18 at a small set of man made falls on Middle Island Creek at the entrance of the The Jug Wildlife Management area. We continued on the backroads and stopped again at Audra State Park on WV11 on the Middle Fork River. This is a rather large park and seemed well kept. We were soon in Elkins and stopped on the way in at Big Timber Brewing Co. We struck up a conversation with some of the locals and they asked us if we were in town for the ramp festival. We had no idea what they were talking about. As it turns out Ramps are an onion like vegetable that grows locally and every spring there are festivals throughout the area where drinks and different food recipes include Ramps. We tried one of the drinks but it really was not to our liking. We rode to Hampton and called it a night.
Day Two
We rode into town for a breakfast at Scottie's. Very nice local place, with good food and service. We rode US219 all the way down to Indian Creek Covered Bridge which was built in 1898 and refurbished in 1965 and 2000. As we reached the New River we jumped over into Virginia and rode VA61 down to Burke's Garden. We rode the whole loop inside Burke's Garden which I don't think we had ever done before. It's really a nice ride but you need to take it a little slow. We stopped at the entrance and the top of the loop on the bridge overlooking the little set of falls. We next rode down VA16 which is now referred to as The Back of the Dragon. Great road that ends all too soon at Hungry Mother's Park. Next we rode up to the top of Whitetop Mountain that sits just over 5,500 ft. It was very windy up top and very much on the cold side. We didn't stay long. We rode down into Damascus and through Backbone Rock and on to Shady Valley. We were tempted to ride over a portion of The Snake but I wanted to ride TN91 from Shady Valley to Elizabethton. I don't think we had ever ridden this road, and parts of it were ok, but some of the road was really in need of repair. I'm glad we did it but I hate to miss an opportunity to ride The Snake. Once we were in Elizabethton it was a short ride to Johnson City. We stopped at Yee-Haw Brewing Co on the way in and had dinner.
Day Three
The Waffle House was next door so we walked there for breakfast. We rode TN81 and TN347 and started over the mountains in Mooresburg first going over TN31 or Flat Gap Road which is really a great road but there's just not very much of it, before you know you are over the mountain. Through the valley and then over Newman Ridge but we bypassed going to see the Mullins Cabin. We made a brief stop on Powell River before continuing on through Cumberland Gap. At Middlesboro we headed due west on some true KY backroads coming back into TN before reaching Jellico and I-75. Pretty boring after that but it was Monday and I had to be back in the office on Tuesday.