The Brown County to Ohio River Cruise

Motorcycle Route Author

By Guest (0 McR Points) on Jun 30, 2001

Rider Reviews

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Guest

August 19, 2009

IN 135 is a great ribbon of a windy, hilly road…

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Guest

June 1, 2010

I just rode Hwy 135 last week and it was honestly…

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Written Directions

From Bloomington Indiana head east on state route 46. Look for the signs to Nashville if you wish to visit that town (you will head north on route 135 for a few miles). Take 135 south for the rest of the route ... all the way down to the Indiana/Kentucky border.

Scenery

This ride will take you through the most beautiful sections of Indiana. The scenery and the roads are top notch and the amenities are very good for a Midwest rural area. Miles and miles of healthy and lush hardwood forest.

Drive Enjoyment

Sections of this route offers some of the best motorcycle roads in the Midwest. Many sections have sharp turns leading into climbs or descents. If you go in the spring or fall you will want to make sure you are careful of other scenic route travelers who may be paying more attention to the scenery than to the road.

Tourism Opportunities

Bloomington Indiana is home of one of the largest colleges in Indiana - Indiana University. You might enjoy just cruising around the campus or the town with its famous collection of limestone buildings. Indiana University has a great art museum with works from famous artists such as Picasso and Andy Warhol. Every spring (April) the college holds a local favorite bicycle race called the Little 500. The old Kevin Costner movie - Breaking Away - was partially inspired by the Little 500 and scenes from the movie were shot on the campus. An early 20th century artist by the name of Theodore Clement Steele has a state historic site built in his honor just south of the town of Belmont off or route 46. You may see some of the fine furniture and decorations he created as well of some of his paintings. The site also offers walking trails that will let you see some of the very scenery that inspired his work. Keep going south and you will find a large reservoir known as Monroe Lake. When you get back on the route and continue heading east along Rte. 46, you will come to Nashville Indiana. Nashville Indiana has grown to become one of the more popular country heritage towns in the Midwest. This town is known for its artists, art galleries, antique collections and craft shops as well as being the home of the John Dillinger Wax Museum. Further along the route you will definitely want to take a detour into Brown County State Park. Here you will find a small collection of some of the nicest motorcycle roads in the state. You will enjoy the curves and climbs even though the park has relatively slow speed limits. You could spend a nice weekend in the park. The park offers accommodations such as camping, cabins, a lodge hotel, trails, water sports and hiking. The route then heads south on Rte. 135 finally giving you a chance to open it up a bit. The road meanders through a winding coarse that takes you through southern rural Indiana. You will pass by another State Recreation Area (Starve Hollow) and through a nice country Indiana town - Salem. Next you will pass through Indiana's first capital established in 1816 in the town of Corydon. You can checkout its limestone capital building. Corydon also offers a 16-mile scenic railroad tour that travels roundtrip through the local forest and hills. Just to the south of Corydon you will find the site where Indiana's only Civil War battle took place. Here an outnumbered state home guard surrendered to a vastly larger Confederate force. The Confederate's stole fresh supplies and horses and continued on their way. At the southern tip of the route you will find Squire Boone Caverns. Squire was a brother of the famous Daniel Boone and once used a local cave to hide from some pursuing Indians. He later returned and settled in the area. Today a very small pioneer themed amusement park offers a taste of pioneer history as well as tours of the areas caverns.