Forgotten River Towns Tour
Send this Article to a FriendWe left on a cool Sunday morning in April. I packed all the cold weather gear I owned because I was sure it was going to be cold once we got some altitude. We decided to stick to the two lane roads as much as possible and stay well east of Atlanta. We left Tallahassee going north on US 319. We bypassed Thomasville, Georgia on a good two-lane road that took us all the way to Camilla. We decided earlier to ride hard in the morning and do at least two hundred miles before we stopped for a real rest.
We gassed up and got some home made beef jerky at the Salt Lick in Warwick, Georgia and left the four-lane road at Cordele. We rode through a dozen small towns until we got to Eatonton, Georgia, where we gassed up again and had breakfast. We did 230 miles with only one stop and were feeling pretty proud of ourselves.
From Eatonton we rode northeast on 44 to 77, then threaded our way north on Highway 22. This part of the ride was better then I expected. We rode through dozen of little towns with great old courthouses and nostalgic looking main streets. My favorites were Maxeys, Lexington and Danielsville. We finally got to US 441, near Taccoa, and headed north into the mountains.
Never ride up 441 without stopping at the old overlook at Tallulah Gorge. This is one of the deepest gorges in the east and a great spot to take a break.
When the new four-lane US 441 was built, it bypassed the overlook, so you need to watch for the turnoff to Old Historic 441. The overlook is an old building hanging over the gorge, with a nice view of the gorge and a great gift shop. They sell lots of old tourist crap you can't find anywhere else. I bought a Moon Pie T-shirt and a Peach Nehi. They also have an interesting selection of books about the region, including a couple of books about motorcycle roads in the area. It's also a good place to get local maps.
After a couple more Nehi's, we got back on 441 and continued north to Dillard, Georgia, where we planned to spend the night. We arrived late Sunday afternoon and the only open place we could find to eat was a barbeque joint that I will not name or recommend. Furthermore, you can't get a beer in Dillard on a Sunday so I had to wash my barbeque sandwich down with ice tea.
After dinner we got our first taste of riding twisting mountain roads. The house we were going to stay at was in Sky Valley, which is a lot higher then Dillard. The road was fairly straight for a time, then started to climb dramatically and switched back on itself about six times. Not knowing the road, we were pretty conservative and didn't drag floorboards or make any sparks. I was feeling pretty good about it until we got to Sky Valley. The grades there are far steeper than the county roads and the house sat at almost 4000 feet. This was a totally new experience for us and I have to admit, we grannied our way up. The night ended by watching the sun set over the mountains while polishing off a few cool ones.
