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

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.   

Georgia, is a state with great hill and mountain riding in its northern portion near particularly in where it borders South Carolina and Tennessee. Most of the best motorcycle rides in Georgia are in this northern region but it does have some popular rides that are further south around central Georgia and it's border with Alabama to the west.  So, starting from #5 and working our way down to the #1 best motorcycle ride in Georgia.

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

Top 5 Most Popular Motorcycle Rides in Georgia!

#5 Northern Georgia Scenic Byway Loop

The Northern Georgia Scenic Byway Loop is the first stop on this list of the greatest scenic drives in Georgia. The route is approximately 90 miles northeast of Atlanta, off Interstate 85. From the starting location in Helen, Georgia, take Route 17 north.

#4 Columbus GA To FDR State Park Loop

This is Georgia's beautiful route from Columbus GA to FDR Park (which is a hiker and backpacker's paradise!). More than 60 miles of curvy trails weave through hardwood and pine forests, rivers, small towns, mountains, farmland, and tiny waterfalls. The route has many walking trails as well.

#3 Extended Suches Loop

Locals call the route "Georgia's Dragon," and the extended Suches Loop is an exciting and demanding ride with over 100 miles of twisties! The Suches Loop, with its delightful twisties and stunning scenery, is without a doubt one of Georgia's top motorcycle routes, located right in the heart of the majestic Chattahoochee National Forest and the Blue Ridge Mountains.

#2 Highway 28: Tri-State Tour

Highway 28 is a lovely, picturesque route that passes through waterfalls, mountains, woods, and rivers. This road begins in Walhalla, South Carolina and heads north. Continue on Hwy 28 from Walhalla to the South Carolina/Georgia state boundary, then pass into North Carolina and finish at Highlands.

#1 Georgia's Dragon - The Suches Loop

Georgia’s most popular motorcycle ride is about an hour-and-a-half route and is one of Georgia's most picturesque fall drives. This is a beautiful, quick trip north of Gainesville that loops on US-19 and US-180. It is also possible to combine it with the Dahlonega Loop, making it a terrific day adventure. 

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.