West Virginia Bikers - Preston County

Preston County Roads
WV 26
From Bruceton Mills, WV to Fellowsville WV

WV26 from Bruceton Mills is a road that is enjoyable to ride. It has enough turns to keep from boring the experienced rider, but is not so aggressive to be hard on someone new to the motorcycling scene. I68 intersects WV26 at Bruceton Mills and this is where this ride begins. If you get to Bruceton Mills around lunch time, the town does offer places to eat. Little Sandy's restaurant is a good place to fill up, both your stomach and your bike's gas tank. A BFS Foods BP Station and Convenience store is right next door, you do have choices both in food and gas.

Bruceton Mills is a quaint little town. With many small businesses which give you the option for a longer break if needed. Slow down and stroll through town before continuing on.

As you depart Bruceton Mills, WV26 offers up some nice sweepers with a couple of tighter turns added for some spice. Then things stretch out some for a few miles. Rolling along over rises and dipping into lower areas with more gradual turns mixed in with the straight sections.

A few miles before getting Albright, home of Albright Power Station, you will drop down and run along a valley with the Cheat River. This section has some nice rolling terrain with oscillating turns which are a joy to ride through at a steady pace.

In Albright you will cross the Cheat, and climb the hill into Kingwood, WV. Kingwood is named after the trees which at one time were abundant in this area. As with any town of this size there are many choices for food and gas. Food comes in a wide variety, from the world of fast food, to fine dining in places such as the Kingwood Inn.
As route 26 exits the town down a long gradual grade and you quickly return to the rural setting. The terrain is more like it was near Bruceton Mills with more turns and rolling country side.

About 10 miles on we come to the town of Tunnelton, WV. Things slow down as you move through this and the next small town. If you hit Tunnelton at lunch or dinner time checkout Bubba's Beastrow. It will be located on your right as you climb the hill out of town. You have to look for it because it is in a building which reminds me of a row building in larger towns and is easily missed. If you stop here you will find a quaint atmosphere, with many antiques adorning one wall and paintings which were done by one of the owners. You will also find a good menu with many choices which includes sandwhiches. You'll not be disappointed with the stop.

Once you depart from Tunnelton you will only have 7 more miles to go on this ride. Fellowsville, WV will be the ending point of this ride. WV26 intersects with US50 at this point, and the ride I've been explaining here will end. I will write about US50 in the future.

To close the comments on the WV26 ride, I'll say that this is an enjoyable ride. The road condition I would rate as good to excellent. Depending on your pace, a novice rider will love this ride, while the experienced rider can increase their pace to keep it interesting. However, I would suggest traveling a pace that allows you and a passenger (if you have one), to take in an enjoyable country road. This ride covers about 32 miles.

God Bless & Ride Safe,
Tony Sullivan a.k.a. WVWingRider

Preston County Roads
Aurora to Kingwood

Using Aurora, WV as a start point. Travel US-50 west. Go past Cool Springs, which will be on you left.
Proceed through the hairpin turns approximately 1 mile after the hairpin turns continue up the hill you'll be climbing and begin looking for Frog Hollow Road (CR 50-8) and at the next Y in the road bare right. This road is enjoyable. It eventually brings you out in Tunnelton, WV. at the intersection with WV26.

Turn right onto WV26 for about 4 miles to Howesville, WV. Here turn right onto CR26-32 this road is about 3 miles long and terminates onto WV92.

Follow WV92 for approximately 2 miles before turning right onto CR58-2 Irish Run Road. Follow to the T intersection and turn left onto CR26-30.
Continue on turn right at the next intersection CR7-7 Dogtown road. This road will bring you out to WV7 just a couple of miles west of Kingwood, WV.

The ride in this posting will take most of an afternoon. These roads are less traveled by-ways, but they are in good condition for the most part. Be careful for the normal road hazards such as gravel in some turns.

My wife and I really enjoy this afternoon ride and we think many of you will also.

Latest Ride - Sunday, June 10, 2007

We proceeded from our home in Amboy, WV to Terra Alta, WV to get on WV7 West. We followed 7 to the
bottom of Caddell Mtn. to WV26 North. Following 26 to Valley Point, WV.

At Valley Point we turn left onto Hudson Rd. CR-15 West to Hudson, WV. Travel for a little more
than 4 miles.

Just past Hudson you reach an intersection. Turn left (there are no markings on the following
roads). CR 14 for about .6 miles without knowing it we ended up on CR 14-3 which was eastbound for
about 2.4 miles. We turn onto CR 26-16 Little Sandy Creek Rd. travel 1.2 miles and you are back on
WV 26 North a few miles closer to Bruceton Mills, WV.

After returning home and looking at my West Virginia Atlas & Gazetteer, I deduced the road numbers
and distances.

There was some beautiful scenery on this short 7 or 8 mile loop. The way we find these roads is
just start riding and pick a road we want to find out where it goes turn onto it and just ride.
Some areas on this loop I have mentioned seem like the hardtop is going to disappear. There are
short sections of gravel but I had no trouble at all on our 850+ lb. Gold Wing.