Written Directions
Take your best/favorite route to the intersection of Hwy 100 and Fiddle Creek Rd. (3.9 miles east on Hwy 100 from I-44). Take Fiddle Creek Rd for 1.7 miles. Turn slightly left onto Grand Army Rd. for 1.7 miles. At the fork, stay right to remain on Grand Army Rd. Continue for 1.4 miles. Turn right onto Hwy T. In 4.4 miles, turn right onto Little Tavern Rd. In 3.3 miles, turn left onto Old Manchester Rd. In 1 mile, turn left onto Bassett Rd. In 2.7 miles, turn right onto Hwy T. In 1.1 miles, turn right onto Melrose Rd. In 3.3 miles turn right onto Manchester Rd. Route ends at the intersection with Hwy 100 (9.8 miles from the intersection of I-44, 3.9 miles from the intersection of Hwy 109).
Scenery
This route travels through heavy woods over and along several ridges and creeks, past several farms.
Drive Enjoyment
These roads are an interesting combination of roads, ranging from very twisty and technical to open and flowing, with very few straight stretches. The initial Fiddle Creek section is mostly good chip and seal pavement, and is legitimately two lanes. Grand Army and Little Tavern are narrow (barely a lane and a half) with less well maintained chip and seal pavement, very twisty, and with a few lingering gravel washouts across the road from drives and ditches - be careful with blind apexes/crests. Bassett is asphalt, more flowing, a legitimate two lane road with a center stripe, without the tight turns of Grand Army and Little Tavern. Melrose is (as of 2020) almost brand new asphalt, and barely a lane and a half, with a lot of tight turns.
Tourism Opportunities
Grey Summit, at the southern end of the route, features the Roadhouse 100 tavern and Point Labadie Brewery. Just south of the intersection of Grand Army and T is the town of Labadie, with a couple of buildings on the National Historic Register. Between Bassett and Melrose on Hwy T is the St. Albans Country Club, A short distance past the northern end of the route on Manchester Road (the original route of Route 66) is the Big Chief Roadhouse, originally established in 1929.
Motorcycle Road Additional info
This is a very challenging set of roads, especially Grand Army and Little Tavern. Additionally, the roads are heavily wooded, so I would not recommend riding them during mid to late fall, when there will be lots of leaves (and potentially wet leaves) on all of the roads. While there is generally not a lot of traffic on any of the roads, there are a number of farms, so the potential for encountering farm vehicles is always present. To shorten the ride a bit, you can continue on Fiddle Creek Rd. to Hwy T (eliminating Grand Army Rd), turn right, and then continue the route at Little Creek Rd.
