Top 5 Best Motorcycle Rides in Massachusetts (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.   

Massachusetts has an impressive variety of great motorcycle riding areas.  In the western part of the state you'll find thick and lush forest areas to ride through while on the eastern section you can take in great Atlantic coastal motorcycle riding as well as a collection of great historical stops (particularly from the Revolutionary War period) in Boston and surrounding areas.  So, starting from #5 and working our way down to the #1 best motorcycle ride in Massachusetts .

 

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

Top 5 Most Popular Motorcycle Rides in Massachusetts!

#5 Route 119

In Northeastern Massachusetts, Massachusetts State Route 119 is mostly an east-west roadway. It connects the states of New Hampshire and Massachusetts, starts in Groton, MA, and ends in Concord. The journey will take you through some pretty farmland and towns and takes less than two hours.

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#4 Mohawk Trail (Route 2) - North Adams To Greenfield

Mohawk Trail, also known as Massachusetts Highway 2, runs through the Berkshire Mountains and Mohawk Trail State Forest between the towns of Williamstown and Orange. The most popular portion is the one from North Adam to Greenfield, which is 35 miles long and takes more than an hour to complete.

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#3 Nothern MA And Southern NH Ramble

This 125-mile route passes through some of the most picturesque villages northwest of Boston. Aside from Rt 2, there is little traffic and plenty of spots to pause for a photo. You can find lots of farms, forests, and orchards on this scenic ride.

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#2 Quabbin Reservoir Loop

Quabbin Reservoir Loop Trail is a 64-mile lightly populated loop trail near Amherst, Massachusetts that includes a lake and is suitable for hikers of all ability levels. The route is open all year and is popular for hiking, walking, jogging, and nature walks.

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#1 The Shelburne Falls Loop

The Shelburne Falls Loop travels through Amherst, Pelham, and Shelburne Falls, as well as skirting the western shore of the Quabbin Reservoir. The 132-mile route offers a wide range of landscapes and generally acceptable road conditions. However, there are a few lengthy, steep uphill slopes and rougher areas to be wary of.

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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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