Suches and Wolf Pen

Scenic road chapters

Waypoint introductions and full write-ups

1. 1. Dahlonega

   Planning note

   Dahlonega is where the day begins. Next is Turners Corner.

2. 2. Turners Corner

   Turners Corner is a crossroads, and in this corner of Georgia that is enough to make it a landmark. Where several of the old mountain roads meet in the foothills of the Blue Ridge, a small store and a gravel lay-by have served as a meeting point for riders for a long time, and on a Saturday morning there are always a few bikes parked in the lot, with their riders arguing amiably about which loop to take. It is not a place to spend an afternoon, but it is a good place to be at nine o'clock.

   Read the complete Turners Corner write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   Turners Corner comes up about 23 km into the recorded legs. Next is Suches.

3. 3. Suches

   Locals call Suches the valley above the clouds, which is both accurate and a good piece of marketing. It is a small high basin in the Blue Ridge, ringed by mountains and cool in summer, with a hamlet at its centre, a school, a few shops and not much else. It sits at an elevation that makes it one of the few places in Georgia where snow regularly lies, and in winter the surrounding roads can be icy long after the lowlands have thawed.

   Read the complete Suches write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   about 72 km into the recorded legs you reach Suches. Next is Wolf Pen Gap.

4. 4. Wolf Pen Gap

   Wolf Pen Gap is a notch in the Blue Ridge of north Georgia, and the road that goes through it is a favourite of southern motorcyclists, with good reason. Georgia 348, the Richard B. Russell Scenic Highway, climbs out of the valley of the Chattahoochee watershed in a tight series of bends, shaded by hardwoods and rhododendron, then drops down the other side toward Suches. At around 900 metres, the gap is not high by western standards, but the road feels a lot more serious than the number, because the curves come quickly, one after another, with little straight in between.

   Read the complete Wolf Pen Gap write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   The high point of this section, 900 m up. Nothing on this route is higher. Next is Blairsville, mostly downhill.

5. 5. Blairsville

   Blairsville is a small mountain town, the seat of Union County, and it sits in a bowl of the north Georgia hills at about 570 meters, in country that Georgians think of as the high mountains. The town square has an old courthouse and a few shops, and the surrounding roads lead to some of the best scenery in the state. In October the town holds the Sorghum Festival, a local tradition with syrup-making, music and crafts that draws crowds from across the region.

   Read the complete Blairsville write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   Finish at Blairsville. That is the ride.