Have you ever asked the question: Where are the best motorcycle rides near me in Washington (WA)?
Whether you are simply looking for new motorcycle rides & roads in Washington to try or if you are specifically trying to find the very best motorcycle rides in Washington, learning of all your motorcycle ride options may be more difficult than you understand. Even the most experienced motorcycle riders with years of riding in the Evergreen State can stumble on to a great motorcycle ride that they rode past a thousand times. Or, these riders happen to talk to a fellow motorcycle rider and find out about a local/great motorcycle road in an area that they’ve never thought to check out. So, MotorcycleRoads.com (McR) has put together this complete guide to help you solidly answer the key question: “What are my best options for Motorcycle Rides Near Me in Washington?”
*Rankings for Washington motorcycle rides were accurate at the time this guide was published/updated in Feb of 2020 (for more information, see Note 1 at the bottom of this article). Additionally, McR uses a proprietary algorithm to calculate motorcycle ride popularity (for more information, see see Note 2 also at at the bottom of this article).
Closest US Motorcycle Riding Hotspot to WashingtonFirst, if you are an Washington motorcycle rider that is willing to travel to wherever the best motorcycle rides are, then I need to tell you about some motorcycle riding HOTSPOTS across great country. After 20+ years of collecting data on 1,000s of great US motorcycle rides, rider reviews and ratings of those motorcycle roads, and literally thousands of photos and videos, I have discovered that some regions of the United States are simply motorcycle riding Hotspots. Each of these hotspots act like “magnets for motorcycling” and are depicted in the map image below. And, if you are interested in learning more about these hotspots and the high quality motorcycle rides they offer, check out the Motorcycle Rides Near Me Guide. Now, let me take this opportunity to introduce you to a particular motorcycle riding hotspot that is the nearest to the state of Washington. It is located a few states away in Colorado and is a particular section in the Colorado Rocky mountains. I'll provide you some specific information about that hotspot below but you need to realize that there are other hotspots located in different regions of the US that you may want to consider traveling to at some point in your "motorcycle riding lifetime."
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Iconic US Motorcycle RidesNow if you are interested in not just hotspots but the USA's hottest individual motorcycle rides that are generally considered to be the very best motorcycle roads in the entire USA, then I need to tell you about the motorcycle rides that have reached iconic status. And, fortunately for you, one of these iconic motorcycle rides is located in your state of Washington! Overall, these are rides that all die hard motorcycling riding enthusiasts should add to his/her motorcycle riding bucket list. The short list of these legendary motorcycle rides in the USA are as follows:
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So far I have told you about Washington's nearest motorcycle riding hotspot as well as some iconic US motorcycle roads that are spread out around the USA. Yet if you are not up for a motorcycle trip of that magnitude (but if you really love motorcycle riding, then you really should plan a trip to venture out to some incredible motorcycle rides at some point) and instead you simply want to find the answer to the question: "Where are motorcycle rides near me in Washington?", then read on as I describe what have come to be known as 5 of the very best motorcycle rides in Washington State below. Keep in mind that all of these rides have been highly ranked motorcycle rides in Washington for many years as our McR ranking algorithm (see note 2 below) doesn't let an newly added motorcycle ride jump right up to the top of the list but instead factors in the route's popularity over time by looking at a variety of different factors that indicate a motorcycle road's true overall popularity (e.g., page views for that motorcycle road, the number of motorcycle riders following that route, the number of times that route has been saved to riders' To Ride list, the number of times that motorcycle ride has been saved to a riders' Rode It list, the number of motorcycle ride photos or videos that have been uploaded to that page, etc, etc.). But also realize that even though we use a somewhat involved rating algorithm to keep 'undeserving routes' from undeservedly rising to the top, certainly the ratings can & do change over time and so the list you see below of the best motorcycle rides in Washington was current at the time of the publication of this guide: the best motorcycle rides near me - Washington (date of last update is found towards the top of this guide below the intro section). At the time of this guide's publication, there were 59 Washington motorcycle roads registered on McR which puts Washington way above average for the number of registered motorcycle roads per state (for your reference, the average US state has about 35 registered motorcycle roads). But Washington is also definitely above average when we look at the quality of its motorcycle roads as many of Washington motorcycle rides are ranked in the Top 100 Motorcycle Rides in the USA and two of its roads made the list 10 of the best motorcycle rides in the West.
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The Top-5 Best Motorcycle Rides in Washington:
This 87-mile Washington motorcycle route starts in the town of Marblemount. An amazing stretch of 65 miles takes you through the North Cascade National Park and climbs up 8,000 feet up. It’s a thrilling, twisty ride, but watch out for the falling rocks and deer on the roads. You can continue the route after the National Park on Route 20 to go up to Lake Chelan and return via Stevens Pass near Everett. There are over 40 waterfalls you can view from the road!
This route has enough scenery throughout! It follows the Snake River to Asotin and begins to ascend to the top of Butte to offers some spectacular views of the south east. Cliff-tops showcase the northern end of Hells Canyon till the landscapes change from grasslands to wooded forests by the time you approach the Rattlesnake Pass. Here onwards, quite a few majestic peaks and ranges are seen till you get to the Grande Ronde River. You can continue on the dirt road to find camping sites or overnight accommodation at the Hells Canyon.
These 40-miles of riding bliss begins in Bingen, WA on Highway 14. The author calls it one of the best rides of the region. It has got a nice balance of fast sweeping turns, long straights, tight twisties and enjoyable switchbacks. It is a ride in the open range, so watch out for cattle on the roads. The loop offers 3 gas stations and a few eateries. The best part is it isn’t loaded with traffic and cops.
Widely described to be equivalent to an “amusement park roller coaster”, this Washington motorcycle ride heads west, turns around at the chain up area and heads back east to Chewelah. Make sure the roads are clear before you go as it can have snow well into May and even in September. The scenic views of the Inland Northwest Mountain road makes the diligent trip planning worth your while. Enjoy the twisty mountain roads!
This enchanting route goes from Castle Rock to the Spirit Lake Highway and ends at the Johnston Ridge. It has several water bodies like the Silver Lake, Spirit Lake, and Coldwater Lake among others. The views of Mt. St. Helens and the destruction it brought (can be seen from the Johnston Ridge Observatory) are worth a watch. Castle Rock offers some restaurants and there are some places you can go to near Mt. St. Helens. It’s the perfect spot for sweeper lovers!
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Interested in more motorcycle ride articles like this?
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The Top 10 Motorcycle Rides in the Midwest | ||
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The Top 10 Motorcycle Rides in the Northeast | ||
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The Top 10 Motorcycle Rides in the South | ||
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The Top 10 Motorcycle Rides in the West |
Note 1: All facts and figures below were gathered during early Jan 2019 and will change over time as new motorcycle roads are added to the collection.
Note 2: How were these popularity ratings calculated?
A motorcycle road’s popularity can be based on a wide variety of factors. Our analysis considered some obvious indicators of motorcycle road popularity such each roads’ “Rider Rating” scores (star ratings) and which motorcycle road description pages were visited the most. But, the analysis dug deeper and looked at some less obvious yet valuable indicators of a motorcycle road’s popularity such as how often a given motorcycle road was added to riders’ “To Ride” lists, how often a given motorcycle road was added to riders’ “Rode it” lists and enthusiasm indicators such how often photos and/or videos were uploaded for a given road and which roads are attracting the most buzz among motorcycle roads indicated by those roads that are receiving the most number of new/recent comments. For the sake of being consistent and as objective as possible we use a popularity algorithm that “crunches those number” and allows us to develop a ranking of the popularity of each of the motorcycle roads used as a basis for this guide.
As always, I hope to provide you with insightful & valuable motorcycle riding community information to help you get the most out of all of your motorcycling experiences. I'm always looking for ways to make MotorcycleRoads.com better and more helpful so if you have any suggestions to improve the website, just contact me through the Feedback button you'll find near the top of every page. And as always, if you have a favorite motorcycle road of yours that is not yet registered on MotorcycleRoads.com, please get that favorite of yours "on the map" by registering it at MotorcycleRoads.com. Registering a motorcycle road (or event, or club, or place) is quick and easy and you'll be helping out our motorcycle riding community!!! Lastly, if you are interested in having a monthly summary of motorcycle riding community updates/new information sent straight to your email box, sign up for our monthly (or less) eNewsletter. Or, if you are into social media, follow me at Facebook and/or Twitter. |