Twisty Routes Collection

Feature sharp curves and elevation changes with mostly smooth clean pavement, and are preferred by riders of sport and sport-touring bikes.
Note: These routes are available for MSTA FlyBy Week attendees only-
please do not share them with others.
Note: To download GPX & ZIP files, right-click or control-click the links. Otherwise you may get a 404 error. 
 

(Do not use ZIP versions if there are last minute route changes- individual routes will be most up-to-date)
Note: To download ZIP files, right-click or control-click the links. Otherwise you may get a 404 error. 

All Road Routes GPX format
All Road Routes PDF format

Twisty Routes

MAP PDF GPX 
Route Type: DESTINATION- Includes a stop at the Big Muskie Bucket park on OH 78. Lunch stop is also very popular. TOURING BIKE-FRIENDLY, TWISTY
Navigation difficulty: AVERAGE
Distance: 269 miles. If you want to shorten the route after lunch, Norm suggests backtracking to Woodsfield and picking up the afternoon route there. That saves about 45 miles. The afternoon route crosses OH 26 multiple times, so if you are getting tired, just follow it and it takes you back to the hotel.
Lunch Stop: Historic Beallsville Diner in Beallsville, OH
Direction from Marietta: NW, N, NE, CLOCKWISE
Comments: Lots of fun, great mixture of sweepers and tighter curves and hills. Lots of great roads- OH 676, 339, 792, 377, 78, 26, 800, 260 

MAP PDF GPX
RouteType: TOURING BIKE-FRIENDLY, TWISTY
Navigation difficulty: SIMPLE
Distance: 235 miles
Lunch Stop: Grandma Joe's Polkadot Cafe, Moundsville, WV
Direction from Marietta: NE COUNTERCLOCKWISE
Comments: Lots of fun, great mixture of sweepers and tighter curves and hills. Roads- OH 26, 260, 800, 255, 7, 145, 821, WV US250, Mountaineer Highway 

MAP PDF GPX
RouteType: DESTINATION- Covered bridges along a TWISTY route. Includes a trip across the Ohio River on the Sistersville Ferry, TOURING BIKE-FRIENDLY
Navigation difficulty: AVERAGE
Distance: 228 miles
Lunch Stop: Pizza House Restaurant, Harrisville, WV
Direction from Marietta: S, SE, E COUNTERCLOCKWISE
Comments: Lots of country roads in Northern WV. Gets off I77 at Mineral Wells, heads South through Elizabeth, Spencer, North on Calhoun Highway. Lots of nice lesser-known roads, including Pullman road out of Harrisville. After lunch enjoy more great twisties all the way to the Sistersville Ferry. Once back in Ohio, it's OH 7, 260 and 26 back to the hotel.
Note about the Ferry: It runs 6AM-6PM Thur-Fri, 9AM-6PM Sat-Sun, so you might want to choose a different route Monday-Wednesday. If you find that the ferry is closed, the nearest bridges are at St. Marys 16 miles SW and New Martinsville 10 miles NE.  

MAP PDF GPX
RouteType: DESTINATION, TOURING BIKE-FRIENDLY, TWISTY with a TECHNICAL option
Navigation difficulty: AVERAGE (TECHNICAL route uses COMPLEX routing)
Distance: 210 miles, 276 miles for the TECHNICAL version.
Lunch Stop: Ridge Inn, Laurelville, OH
Direction from Marietta: W CLOCKWISE
Comments: This route has a lot to offer- it goes further West than any other route in the FlyBy Week collection. Part 1 takes you through Hocking Hills State Park, including Ash Cave, Old Man's Cave and Conkle's Hollow Gorge.

The 05 Norms RidgeInn Pt1 Tech route option offers an additional 66 miles of Norm's favorite TECHNICAL backroads, including Goosecreek, Limerick, Three Locks and Charleston Pike, plus you get to ride the wonderful, recently repaved OH 335 from Beaver to Waverly.

Lunch is at the Ridge Inn restaurant in Laurelville, a favorite of many Ohio MSTA members. The menu is filled with good stuff, and the chicken cusabi sandwich is to die for.

The return route 05 Norms RidgeInn Pt2 is taken directly from Norm's favorite route he uses to go to FlyBy Week each year- it includes Thompson Ridge road, OH 180, 664, Marietta road, Portie Flamingo road and many more.  

MAP PDF GPX
RouteType: DESTINATION- Holly River WV State Park, TOURING BIKE-FRIENDLY, TWISTY
Navigation difficulty: SIMPLE
Distance: 280 miles
Lunch Stop: Holly River State Park Restaurant, WV
Direction from Marietta: SE CLOCKWISE
Comments: The Holly River route is one of the favorites in the FlyBy Week collection- highly recommended! Route follows lots of rural highways in Northern WV, including WV 5, 19, 15, 20, 4, 119, 47, US 33. Includes Pullman road out of Harrisville.Gets off I-77 at Mineral Wells WV, heads Southeast through Elizabeth, Glenville etc. to Holly River State Park for a lovely lunch stop. From there it's North to Weston, then Northwest via lots of nice curvy highways. 

MAP PDF GPX
RouteType: DESTINATION- River City Ale Works in downtown Wheeling WV. TOURING BIKE-FRIENDLY, TWISTY
Navigation difficulty: AVERAGE, although you have to pay very close attention to the route instructions to get across the bridge and reach downtown Wheeling.
Distance: 206 miles using the Ohio return route, 231 miles using the WV return route..
Lunch Stop: River City Ale Works in downtown Wheeling WV Note: Closed Sunday
Direction from Marietta: NE, E
Comments: Great route to Wheeling via OH 821, 78, 145, 26 etc. Getting to downtown Wheeling is not too complicated, but you must turn at the right place because there are not many opportunities to cross the Ohio river. This is certainly doable with paper maps but the GPS with prompts is easier. Great food in an interesting restored downtown building that used to be a nail factory.

There are three choices for the return route. The 09 NailFact Pt2 Via OH 100 version is mostly the reverse of the morning route. The 09 NailFact Pt2 Via WV 129 version is 29 miles further and includes US 250 to the town of Hundred, WV 7 and a trip on the Sistersville Ferry to get back to Ohio. The remaining run back to the hotel is via OH 260 and 26. The third version of the return route, 09 NailFact V2 Pt2 Via WV 133 No ferry is also Via WV but does not use the ferry.

Note about the Ferry: It runs 6AM-6PM Thur-Fri, 9AM-6PM Sat-Sun, so choose route
09 NailFact Pt2 Via WV 133 No ferry to avoid it. (If you find that the ferry is closed, the nearest bridges are at St. Marys 16 miles SW and New Martinsville 10 miles NE.)

MAP PDF GPX
RouteType: TWISTY, DESTINATION
Navigation difficulty: AVERAGE
Distance: 199 miles
Lunch Stop: Historic Beallsville Diner in Beallsville, OH
Direction from Marietta: NE COUNTERCLOCKWISE
Comments: One of the most popular routes in the FlyBy Week collection- many of the fun Twisty roads in SE Ohio- OH 26, 260, 800, 255, 536, 78, 556, 145, 565, 821

MAP PDF GPX
RouteType: TWISTY
Navigation difficulty: AVERAGE
Distance: 190 miles
Lunch Stop: Kastler's Country Kitchen, Trimble, OH
Direction from Marietta: W, SW CLOCKWISE
Comments: Starts off with some lesser known backroads along the Ohio river SW of Marietta, following it to Pomeroy, OH, then heads North around Athens, stopping at Trimble for lunch. Includes OH 124, 7, 143, 681, 550, 329. Plenty of twisties in the afternoon on OH 78, 555 and 550 too!

MAP PDF GPX
RouteType: TWISTY.
Navigation difficulty: AVERAGE
Distance: 253 miles
Lunch Stop: Vito's Pizza, Clarksburg, WV Note: Closed Monday
Direction from Marietta: E, SE COUNTERCLOCKWISE
Comments: Route goes up OH 7, crosses the bridge over the Ohio river at St. Marys, follows WV 2, 16, down to Harrisville, includes FlyBy Week favorite Pullman road, then 74, 47, 18, 23, 50, 20, 180 and lots of other nice back roads before crossing back to Ohio at St. Marys and heading back to the hotel.

MAP PDF GPX
RouteType: TWISTY
Navigation difficulty: AVERAGE
Distance: 249 miles
Lunch Stop: Chatterbox Tavern, McConnelsville, OH
Direction from Marietta: W, NW COUNTERCLOCKWISE
Comments: Includes the best section of OH 555, plus a good collection of fun Twisty roads West and Northwest of Marietta, includes OH 676, 339, 550, 3, 669, 37, 78, 83, 284, 266, 792, 676.

MAP PDF GPX
RouteType: TWISTY
Navigation difficulty: AVERAGE
Distance: 239 miles
Lunch Stop: Gino's Pizza, Clay, WV
Direction from Marietta: S COUNTERCLOCKWISE
Comments: The beginning of the route uses a small non-technical portion of the 07 Hillbilly Hotdogs Tech route to take you to Elizabeth, WV. There, it picks up what is essentially the Northern half of the popular Bridge route in reverse, stopping at Clay for lunch. The afternoon leg follows WV 16 to Harrisville, then backroads up to US50 and on to the hotel.

MAP PDF GPX
RouteType: TWISTY
Navigation difficulty: SIMPLE
Distance: 276 miles
Lunch Stop: Vito's Pizza, Clarksburg, WV Note: Closed Monday
Direction from Marietta: NE, E, SE COUNTERCLOCKWISE
Comments: Starts with a run up OH 26 and down 800, crossing the Ohio River at Sistersville on the ferry. Then it follows a path similar to 12 Tour3 run in reverse order with a short extra loop through Smithville, WV before re-joining the reverse path of 12 Tour3 back to the hotel. 
Note about the Ferry: It only runs 6AM-6PM Thur-Fri, 9AM-6PM Sat-Sun, so you might want to choose a different route Monday-Wednesday. If you find that the ferry is closed, the nearest bridges are at St. Marys 16 miles SW and New Martinsville 10 miles NE.

MAP PDF GPX
RouteType: TWISTY
Navigation difficulty: SIMPLE
Distance: 301 miles
Lunch Stop: Hickory House, Weston, WV
Direction from Marietta: NE, E, SE CLOCKWISE
Comments: Goes through the same general areas as the 15 WV East route above, but runs in the opposite direction on mostly different roads. Starts with the beginning of the 02 BridgeRide down past Grantsville, then heads East to the lunch stop at Weston. After lunch it follows a winding path using bits of 12 Tour3 from time to time, winding up at Sistersville and taking the Ferry back to Ohio. A run over OH 260 and down OH 26 finishes the day.
Note about the Ferry: It only runs 6AM-6PM Thursday-Sunday, so you might want to choose a different route Monday-Wednesday. If you find that the ferry is closed, the nearest bridges are at St. Marys 16 miles SW and New Martinsville 10 miles NE.

MAP PDF GPX
RouteType: SINGLE SEGMENT SHORT, TWISTY
Navigation difficulty: AVERAGE
Distance: 60 miles
Lunch Stop: None
Direction from Marietta: NE COUNTERCLOCKWISE
Comments: Quick sampler of the sweepers, tighter curves and hills just NE of Marietta. Includes parts of OH 260, 565, 821, 26

MAP PDF GPX
RouteType: TECHNICAL, TWISTY
Navigation difficulty: COMPLEX
Distance: 220 miles
Lunch Stop: Gulla's Lunch, Bellaire, OH
Direction from Marietta: NE, CLOCKWISE
Comments: Regular attendees of FlyBy Week all know Ron Vess, who helps with the outdoor lounge and other details of our event. Ron lives nearby and grew up here so he knows all the roads and just about everything that goes on in the area. He developed this fun route that uses some "new" roads. The Southeastern part of Ohio has seen extensive oil and gas drilling and pipelines over the past few years, and to get the equipment and materials in and out, they paved and improved some of the gravel roads in the area. The work is mostly done now and we have some new curvy roads with great views and perfect pavement. Ron's route provides quite a tour!

There are a few short sections of county roads that are technical. They are shown on the map with red flags.

The route begins on OH26 but quickly diverts to twisty backroads including Dalzell road, bits of 565, 537, 800, 556, on to the lunch stop in Bellaire, OH. Gulla's Lunch has a good variety of salads, sandwiches and entrees available. I had the fish sandwich and it was to die for.

After lunch, the route takes you on German Ridge road, 556, Sykes Ridge, and a bunch of other county roads before bringing you back to the hotel. Don't miss this one!

MAP PDF GPX
RouteType: DESTINATION, TOURING BIKE-FRIENDLY, TWISTY
Navigation difficulty: AVERAGE
Distance: 223 miles
Lunch Stop: Chatterbox Tavern, McConnelsville, OH
Direction from Marietta: W, N, CLOCKWISE
Comments: This route traces a nearby section of Morgan's Raid of 1863, a Civil War incursion of the Confederate cavalry into Union states Kentucky, Indiana and Ohio. It is named for Confederate Commander John Hunt Morgan.

Covering over 1000 miles, the raid's purpose was to draw Union troops away from the Vicksburg and Gettysburg fronts by frightening the North into demanding their troops return home. The raid ultimately failed, and the remainder of the command was forced to surrender in Northeast Ohio near the Pennsylvania border.

Jim Miller, of Belpre, Ohio, spent several years tracing the Raid's path and created an adventure route from it. He also created a nice road version suitable for all road bikes that includes lots of historical sites. For FlyBy Week attendees I used the 117 mile section of Jim's route that runs from Nelsonville to Senecaville, Ohio, adding about 50 miles from the ends to get to and from Marietta. If you are a Civil War or history buff, this route's for you!

For more info and complete GPX track files of Morgan's raid, visit Jim Miller's Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/groups/694392778189363 

MAP PDF GPX
RouteType: DESTINATION, TWISTY
Navigation difficulty: COMPLEX
Distance: 186 
Lunch Stop: Ida's Lunchbox, Woodsfield, OH Note: Open every day but close at 3pm on Monday & Tuesday
Direction from Marietta: NW, NE, CLOCKWISE
Comments: Stops on the route include the historic Mound Cemetery in Marietta and the Big Muskie Shovel near Mcconnelsville.  

Ed Conde of New England Riders is a nationally recognized motorcycling routemaster and his Basecamp training tutorials are the best anywhere. In 2022, he did a group trip to Marietta and created some excellent routes for it. Ed has his own perspective on the southeast Ohio area, so I thought it would be fun to honor him and include a couple of his routes in the FlyBy Week collection. Be sure to check out his wonderful web site at https://www.newenglandriders.org/

MAP PDF GPX
RouteType: DESTINATION, TWISTY
Navigation difficulty: COMPLEX
Distance: 218 miles
Lunch Stop: Full Brooks Cafe, Nelsonville, OH Note: Closed Monday & Sunday, open 730am -330pm Tuesday - Saturday
They feature soups and sandwiches, with lots of home made baked goods.
Direction from Marietta: W COUNTERCLOCKWISE
Comments: Stops on the route include Lookout Point in Marietta, and Old Man's Cave in Hocking Hills West of Athens, OH.

Ed Conde of New England Riders is a nationally recognized motorcycling routemaster and his Basecamp training tutorials are the best anywhere. In 2022, he did a group trip to Marietta and created some excellent routes for it. Ed has his own perspective on the southeast Ohio area, so I thought it would be fun to honor him and include a couple of his routes in the FlyBy Week collection. Be sure to check out his wonderful web site at https://www.newenglandriders.org/

MAP PDF GPX
RouteType: TWISTY
Navigation difficulty: COMPLEX
Distance: 223 miles
Lunch Stop: The Fairview, West Union, WV Note: Open every day 7am - 7pm. 
Small town family restaurant. Breakfast served all day. Soups, salads, sandwiches, dinners.
Direction from Marietta: SE COUNTERCLOCKWISE
Comments: Staunton turnpike begins as WV route 47, which runs from south of Parkersburg to Lynn, WV, where it joins US 119, 33 and 250 to Staunton, VA. It was originally built in the 1840s as a toll road. WV. For many years, FlyBy Week routes have crossed and used short sections of WV 47. I discovered it this Spring when preparing a route to go to Canaan Valley, WV. WV 47 is 60 miles of hills and twisties, with good pavement and very little traffic, worthy of being featured in a route. On another weekend, I rode with Ron Vess, who took me on some great backroads he found further north in West Virginia, so I combined those two to make this route. Read more about the Staunton Turnpike HERE

 Full Disclosure: There's about 14 miles of I-77 at the beginning of the route to quickly get you to the Staunton Turnpike. You might be able to improvise a backroads route to get there but the few alternatives I checked out were pretty rough.   The last 22 miles of the route follow the Ohio river via WV route 2  and Ohio route 7. If I can find any good alternatives I will update the route in the future.

MAP PDF GPX
RouteType: TWISTY
Navigation difficulty: COMPLEX
Distance: 235 miles
Lunch Stop: Triple Nickel Diner, Chesterhill, Ohio, CLOSED Tuesday - CLOSED Wednesday - Thursday - Sunday 830 AM - 8 PM
The Triple Nickel Diner is a locally owned and locally sourced full service restaurant.
Direction from Marietta: W, SW, NW, COUNTERCLOCKWISE
Comments: If you want to experience OH 555, this is the route for you. Heads west on OH 550, south on OH 555, west to OH 144, 550, & 377. At Chesterhill you are back on OH 550 almost to Zanesville, OH. From there it's south on OH 60, 377 back to Chesterhill for lunch. Part 2 of the route takes you another 87 miles in a loop that includes parts of OH 329, 78, 376 & 676. It's a pretty demanding route, although it's easy to shortcut back to Marietta from Chesterhill after lunch.

Ed Conde of New England Riders is a nationally recognized motorcycling routemaster and his Basecamp training tutorials are the best anywhere. In 2022, he did a group trip to Marietta and created some excellent routes for it. Ed has his own perspective on the southwest Ohio area, so I thought it would be fun to honor him and include a couple of his routes in the FlyBy Week collection. Be sure to check out his wonderful web site at https://www.newenglandriders.org/

FlyBy Week Volunteers
  • (Click HERE to join our Volunteers)
  • Jeremy Riffle
  • Ron Vess
  • John Smith
  • Lou Laguna
  • Scott Lane
  • Jennie Kimes
  • Jerry Patten
  • Jeff Dolence
  • Brian Holmes
  • Allan Skinner
  • Chris Shoop
  • Jim Miller
  • Brad McFadden

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FlyBy Week is MSTA's largest regional sport touring rally, over 25 years running at Marietta, Ohio

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Norm Kern

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