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SWriverstone

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Years Contributed: '06, '08, '10
Years Supported: '11
Motorcycles: '07 Wee-Strom Past: '06 VFR800, '06 KLR650
GPS: Morgantown, WV
Miles Typed: 4011

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The Virginia 600's: SR678 and SR654

« on: January 09, 2008, 08:14:48 AM »

Virginia has one of the largest secondary highway systems in the country, with 48,305 miles of roads. The system was created in 1932 when the Great Depression caused the state to take over most county roads. In 1932, only 2,000 miles of the system was paved. In 1972, only 400 miles remained unpaved. The roads are numbered in the 600s and higher, and though there is no specific logic to the location of road numbers, they are often clustered in a given area, and the road number is roughly indicative of the road's age (the lower the number, the older the road).

When I first began motorcycling, I noticed that many of the "600's" were great to ride and began seeking them on maps. I recently decided to begin riding as many of them as possible and document the best ones. With the incredibly warm weather and sunny skies yesterday, I decided to take the day off and go exploring. I'd targeted a few 600's in Bath and Highland counties, but had no idea what I'd find. Happily, I hit the jackpot!

With winter daylight in short supply, I got an early start and was on the road by 7:30am...

I fueled up in Charles Town, then rode over to I-81. My plan was to slab south as far as possible, then head west and return via backroads. At 8am, the temperature was already 51F degrees. Even so, I wore my electric jacket just to stay comfortable at interstate speeds. 120 miles later, I took a coffee break in Staunton, Virginia—right next to the ominous remains of the former Western State Hospital. Once called the Western State Lunatic Asylum, I couldn't think of a better place to film an episode of "Ghosthunters."

I rode another 30 miles south on the interstate, then exited at Lexington and headed west on Rt.39. A well-known motorcycle road, Rt.39 runs through Goshen Pass along the Maury River. It's undoubtedly one of the best roads in Virginia, and I had it all to myself on this Tuesday morning.

As a whitewater kayaker, I've run the Maury several times. It's an extremely challenging, solid class 3-4 run for experts only. It's worth noting too that the river level seen in these photos is far below what's considered a good runnable level. Still, looking at all the rocks, you can imagine what a boiling cauldron it becomes in higher water. The image below shows one rapid in particular where I received a serious thrashing on my first run—when I wasn't ready for it.

I appreciated the stonework around the huge boulders along the road...

It was around 11:30am and had warmed up into the 60s. I pulled over to remove a few layers, then spent a few minutes trying to capture some of the beautiful detail in the pass...

Halfway through the pass is a monument to Virginia-born explorer Matthew Maury (after whom the river is named). I love the caption: "Pathfinder of the seas—the genius who first snatched from ocean and atmosphere the secret of their laws" — excellent! Thumbsup

Though the view is partially blocked by trees, the image below shows the biggest, scariest rapid on this river: Hell's Kitchen. And I can tell you from personal experience that in high water, it is truly solid class 4 hell. Crazy

Many paddlers (including myself) have gotten trashed here, partly because there is no clear line through—it's just a jumble of car-sized boulders, sluices, drops, and holes! When the river is up, this section is awe-inspiring.

Just outside the town of Goshen I saw this neat old truss bridge...

I continued west a bit farther on Rt.39 until I reached one of my target 600's: SR678. As soon as I turned north onto 678, it looked like a winner.

The pavement was smooth, clean (no gravel anywhere), and the absolute desolation of this part of the state was almost mystical. For two hours I never saw another vehicle...and at every stop by the road, the only sound I heard was the wind in the trees and the flowing water in the Cowpasture and Bullpasture rivers. The road just went on and on, and seemed to flow through a perfect combination of straights, sweepers, rollers, and twisties.

Continued in next post...


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