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.
Virginia is home to one of the most popular motorcycle (and automobile) rides in the entire USA as the Blue Ridge Parkway's northern half is in the western portion of Virginia. This classic Americana road trip road has been among the most coveted rides in the USA for decades and naturally is a big draw for motorcycle riders in Virginia. But, there are many other great motorcycle rides in the state, albeit lesser well known but great in their own rights. So, starting from #5 and working our way down to the #1 best motorcycle ride in Virginia.
After reviewing an entire year of activity of Virginia motorcycle riders, here are the results:
Top 5 Most Popular Motorcycle Rides in Virginia!
The Back of the Dragon is the best riding route in the country, with 32 miles and over 300 turns! This route is ideal for sports vehicles or motorcyclists and offers some of the most stunning vistas in the Appalachians.
State Route 16 runs across the state's southern region. This road, which avoids major interstate traffic, runs from the North Carolina border to the West Virginia border via some of Virginia's most beautiful little communities. As you go down this route, you will come across beautiful scenery and even a State Park.
US 250 is a north-south highway that connects Richmond, Virginia, with Wheeling, West Virginia. Panoramic valley landscapes from two large mountain ranges, idyllic farmland, and lush greenery along flowing rivers characterize this route. It has challenging switchbacks, elevation changes, and tight corners.
The Skyline Drive is the sole public route in Shenandoah National Park, running 105 miles north and south along the top of the Blue Ridge Mountains. On a clear day, traveling the whole length of the Park takes roughly three hours.
The Parkway runs 469 miles from Shenandoah National Park in Virginia's northern Shenandoah Valley to the Great Smoky Mountains National Park in North Carolina, following the Appalachian Mountains and boasting some of the world's most beautiful scenery. It has many gentle curves with very few flat sections.
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.
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