Top 5 Best Motorcycle Rides in Alabama (2021 Riding Season Year-End Review)

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We looked at a full collection of 2021 motorcycle riding season data when millions of riders visited MotorcycleRoads.com to find the best motorcycles rides and routes in the USA, Canada, and abroad.  For over 20 years now, MotorcycleRoads.com has been documenting the best/most-popular motorcycle roads, routes, and rides and for about a decade, we have published annual reports after diving into the website's statistics (which routes are riders researching the most, which routes are getting the most photo/video/comment uploads, etc., etc.) to determine which of the motorcycle routes have risen to the top in motorcycle rider popularity.  We look at a complex set of factors (see Note 2 below) to determine which of the motorcycle rides in each of the states and US regions are the most popular and rated to be the best by motorcycle riders just like you.  Our very popular annual "Top Motorcycle Rides per Region" guides cover the best rides for each of the four official riding regions of the USA: the Northeast, the South, the Midwest, and the West.  This year we took things a step further and decided to gone one level deeper and develop guides outlining the Top 5 Best Motorcycle Rides in for the US states and so you are seeing one of those such guides on this page.   

Alabama's most popular motorcycle roads tend to be in the northeastern section of the state where the state has the most dramatic hills and mountains are and it also shares a small portion of one of the most popular motorcycle rides in the entire USA - The Natchez Trace Parkway.  We've compiled a list of the top motorcycle roads in "the Heart of Dixie" and posted them in this guide.  So, starting from #5 and working our way down to the #1 best motorcycle ride in Alabama .

 

After reviewing an entire year of activity of Alabama motorcycle riders, here are the results:

Top 5 Most Popular Motorcycle Rides in Alabama!

 

#5 AL State 25

State Highway 25 connects Vincent, Alabama to Leeds, Alabama. You can stop at a few places to stop and observe the beautiful scenery. The route, which runs for 18 miles, features Alabama's rural areas, which are mostly hilly and winding. Alabama State Route 25 is one of the state's longest and most diversified roads.

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#4 Cheaha Mountain Skyway

This road begins just south of the little hamlet of DeArmanville, AL. Take US Highway 431 south from DeArmanville. After about a mile or so, you will come to the intersection of Route 281, where you should turn right and drive west towards the state park on Route 281. Route 281 rushes along the backside of Cheaha Mountain at breakneck speed. There are many slower curves and decreasing radius curves that will make even the most seasoned rider smile from ear to ear.

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#3 Gulf Coast At Its Best

Alabama's picturesque and culturally significant Gulf Coast area is most known for its beaches, but it has much more to offer. This 106-mile long route will take you from southern Alabama to the Gulf Coast of Southern Mississippi and into the tip of Louisiana, where you will pass the Mississippi/Louisiana border and proceed into New Orleans.

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#2 Little River Canyon Parkway (AL Hwy 176)

You would not want to miss seeing the 12-mile picturesque drive located on the canyon's western side along AL Highway 176. This location is close to Fort Payne, Alabama. The picturesque route begins with the Little River Falls Boardwalk Overlook and concludes with the Eberhart Point Overlook.

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#1 Natchez Trace Parkway

This 400-mile picturesque parkway connects Natchez to Nashville and passes through some of the most magnificent landscapes in Mississippi, Alabama, and Tennessee. The roads are in good shape and mostly straight with a few hills thrown in for good measure.

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Note 1:  All facts and figures below were gathered in Dec of 2021 and will change over time as new motorcycle roads are added to the collection.  For an update listing, you can go to MotorcycleRoads.com at any time, search on a state of your choosing, and you'll be presented with a list of the best motorcycle roads in that state.  You can also search on the newest motorcycle routes to be registered in that state as well as sift through the routes based on other filters.  Some examples of filtered searches you can do is to filter results based on - only the routes in your state that have 5-star scenery ratings, or only routes with a 5-star driving excitement rating and at least a 3-star rating for scenery, etc. etc.

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.


Conclusion

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!!! 

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McR - Great motorcycle roads lead to great motorcycle rides!