West Virginia Bikers - Kanawha County

     First thing you may want to do is check the weather here.
     Now that you have that out of the way we can talk about roads. All roads lead away from the Capitol, and the really crooked ones are just outside the county.
     Charleston is less than an hour away from some of the best riding roads in the country. To the East there is US-60 that gets you to the Hawks Nest, and Babcock State Parks, and the New River Gorge Bridge in Fayette County.
     For a real treat try WV-16 just off US-60 from Chimney Corners to Fayetteville just south of the New River Gorge Bridge. Mostly new twisty asphalt, and the waterfalls are spectacular. You can catch Hawks Nest's famous twisties on the way back from the Gorge via US-19 N to US-60. Bacock State Park is just a few miles East on US-60 then South on WV-41. Hawks Nest is back to the West.

     US-119 North following the Elk River out of Charleston is another favorite route. At Clendenin US-119 leaves the river, but WV-4 follows it most of the way to Sutton thru Clay, and Braxton Counties. Now this is the route for those that like long sweepers. No real twisties here, but the road is far from straight. Any rider, no matter how little experience can negotiate these curves, and the scenery will knock you out. The road is in decent shape even after all the rain we had this spring.

     WV-622 from Cross Lanes to Pocatalico is another twisty monster. Really nice for a little afternoon putt. From Pocatalico you can pick up WV-21 North to Ripley, or South back to Charleston.

     US-119 South out of Charleston is a little congested, but leads to a ton of twisties in the southern part of the state. Just about any State Highway taken from there is worth exploring. Another good one to try to the south is WV-94 out of Marmet. This one will end up outside Madison in Boone County on US-119.

Hi, my name is Don Smith, but people call me "DUCK", and this is my riding companion "KRUSTY" We reside in Northern Kanawha County in the town of Clendenin.
Charleston is the State Capitol, and there is a lot to see, and do there if you like city riding. "KRUSTY" don't care much for that, and neither do I. We ride all the roads in the county together, and take a lot of them to amazing places in other counties.
I am currently serving as the Editor/Webmaster Biker Bulletin www.wvabate.org , ABATE of West Virginia's monthly newsletter (print, and electronic editions). Hope I can make your ride through Kanawha County a little nicer with my suggestions. If there is a special point of interest that you would like to take in feel free to contact me at: editor@wvabate.org or phone at 1-304-548-6044 I might even find time to take you there myself.