VA/PA route

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sabjku

sabjku

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I’m wondering the same thing. Being in the DC area, this is very attractive. Could at least pick it up west of Front Royal.


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justjames

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I did a little of it in March right after it was made public. I started in Damascus and headed north to just west of Blacksburg. That section was mostly pavement and while it was very scenic, I won't repeat it. From there to Covington looked promising but most of the NF roads were gated until April 1. There was a warning on their site about this and I just didn't heed their warning. After spending the entire day looking for go-arounds, I gave up and returned home.

I have a friend who did the entire route from north to south in May on a motorcycle. There are a couple of sections that are designated as difficult for motorcycles and he did all of those but one and suggested a 4wd take the easier bypasses as some of these sections are single track. Otherwise, he says it would be pretty easy in a 4wd. He did the entire route in 4 days or approximately 250 miles per day so they were not wasting any time. His opinion was the northern most sections were the best. He said their first day was 90% dirt, second day about 70%, third 50% and it continued to be more and more pavement as they drove south. They were staying in B&B's or hotels so he wasn't really viewing it from the standpoint of dispersed camping so no input on that end.

I'm going to give it another try in August so I was hoping to get some addition info prior to my departure.
 
WE ROME

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I just completed the MABDR with two friends on our BMW R80G/S motorcycles. As has been said, the southern parts are more dirt and as you go north, there is less dirt.
The terrain varies of course, and as always, if it rains, "things" get more interesting. I would not want to ride this on a big dual sport, such as a BMW R1200GSA, but most any decent 4 wheel drive will drive it handily.

The terrain is very beautiful, good sightseeing all around, whether on dirt or pavement. State parks abound.

AND you can start anywhere and just travel a portion of the route, from very southern VA where it meets up with TN up to the NY border in Lawrenceville, PA.

Hotels, camping and restaurants are available in enough places for sure.

Fun and not to miss :-)
In Romney, WV, you will see a "Horn Camp Welcomes MABDR Bikers" sign on a tree, with a spoof "Mayor's Office and Police Dept" and an outhouse. It is a welcome spot set up by a farmer and his wife across the road HORN CAMP WELCOME SIGN.jpg FARMER'S WIFE PICTURE.jpg OUTHOUSE, PO SIGN.jpg from the sign, so stop and go see the old school house with old farm implements, the hosts are VERY welcoming, and it is fun. Sign the log book too.
This is VERY similar to the same basic set-up that is on the Trans America Trail, where you are invited to sign the log book, and some local farmers come by to see you and talk.

Small town America at its best, with beautiful scenery all around. Prolly do-able in two wheel drive as well; although momentum may have to be your friend in several places.

Recommended for sure!
 
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sabjku

sabjku

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WERome, thank you for the write-up! Being that I'm in NOVA this looks very appealing. I love getting out to Small Town America, especially being trapped around DC all week:)
 
justjames

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WE ROME said:
I just completed the MABDR with two friends on our BMW R80G/S motorcycles. As has been said, the southern parts are more dirt and as you go north, there is less dirt.
The terrain varies of course, and as always, if it rains, "things" get more interesting. I would not want to ride this on a big dual sport, such as a BMW R1200GSA, but most any decent 4 wheel drive will drive it handily.

The terrain is very beautiful, good sightseeing all around, whether on dirt or pavement. State parks abound.

AND you can start anywhere and just travel a portion of the route, from very southern VA where it meets up with TN up to the NY border in Lawrenceville, PA.

Hotels, camping and restaurants are available in enough places for sure.

Fun and not to miss :-)
In Romney, WV, you will see a "Horn Camp Welcomes MABDR Bikers" sign on a tree, with a spoof "Mayor's Office and Police Dept" and an outhouse. It is a welcome spot set up by a farmer and his wife across the road View attachment 62834 View attachment 62835 View attachment 62836 from the sign, so stop and go see the old school house with old farm implements, the hosts are VERY welcoming, and it is fun. Sign the log book too.
This is VERY similar to the same basic set-up that is on the Trans America Trail, where you are invited to sign the log book, and some local farmers come by to see you and talk.

Small town America at its best, with beautiful scenery all around. Prolly do-able in two wheel drive as well; although momentum may have to be your friend in several places.

Recommended for sure!
Click to expand...
Thanks for the report, the wife and I are going to do south to north in a couple weeks.
 
WE ROME

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A caution:
The GPS I used on the MABDR, a Garmin Zumo 550 (old) could not keep on the MABDR trail because , I was told, it is not capable of processing GPX files.

I am NOT knowledgeable about "files" and all that, and my GPS is old, so maybe a new one can handle it and it won't be a problem for others.

I had the same problem while riding the Trans America Trail. A friend uses a Garmin Montana GPS and loves it, and it processes GPX files.

I am now arranging to use my iPhone as a guide when off road, both on my motorcycle and my 4 wheeler (Land Cruiser FJ60).

To hold my phone securely:
I am told the "Perfect Squeeze" is a VERY good phone holder, and indeed it held my buddy's phone on his motorcycle through all the bumps off road, on the MABDR, over 1,000 miles, see
http://www.hondogarage.com/index.php/catalog/devicemounts

And
I am told the Lifeproof Fre is a very good waterproof case for a phone.

In any case that is what I am doing; this info might help someone.
 
justjames

justjames

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WE ROME said:
A caution:
The GPS I used on the MABDR, a Garmin Zumo 550 (old) could not keep on the MABDR trail because , I was told, it is not capable of processing GPX files.

I am NOT knowledgeable about "files" and all that, and my GPS is old, so maybe a new one can handle it and it won't be a problem for others.

I had the same problem while riding the Trans America Trail. A friend uses a Garmin Montana GPS and loves it, and it processes GPX files.

I am now arranging to use my iPhone as a guide when off road, both on my motorcycle and my 4 wheeler (Land Cruiser FJ60).

To hold my phone securely:
I am told the "Perfect Squeeze" is a VERY good phone holder, and indeed it held my buddy's phone on his motorcycle through all the bumps off road, on the MABDR, over 1,000 miles, see
http://www.hondogarage.com/index.php/catalog/devicemounts

And
I am told the Lifeproof Fre is a very good waterproof case for a phone.

In any case that is what I am doing; this info might help someone.
Click to expand...
Interesting. I have a 550 and a 590. Both operate on GPX so my guess is your mapset is old. I will have the 590 with me as well as GaiaGPS on either my phone or an iPad mini so it will be interesting to see which does best. I have a PerfectSqueeze for the iPad and it works great.
 
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