Burgers and Saddlebags on Kentucky 338

This was one of those roads that I found while poking around on the motorcycle on a different road, of course in the end aren't most rides that way? While riding KY 536 to Rabbit Hash Kentucky (see separate route listing for details on that ride) I ended up at KY338. I made a mental note to check the road out later - I would have ridden it then and there but I was running out of daylight quick! That next morning, I woke up to a forecast of upper 60's - perfect riding weather and I had a road that I wanted to try. We started KY338 from I75/71 - follow along on the map above. Let's get to it!



KY338 for the first 5 or so miles goes through residential areas, then eventually gets into a lot of horse farms, goes through the boonies, and then back to civilization near the end of the route (with a quick drop back to the boonies before the road ends.) This is the first hint of what the road had in store for us after we got out of the residential areas:

Remember those horse farms I was talking about above? You can expect a lot of scenes like this as you roll through them. Roads are pretty straight but be prepared to see some pretty impressive houses. I don't know much about horses but apparently they require a lot of money to own. I think I'll just stick with my steel steed. :)


Here's where I started getting out of the horse farms and into the rural areas. Don't let this shot fool you, the route is pretty flat to rolling hills - this was the biggest hill on the whole route.


You can expect lots of sweepers like this through the rural areas...


About a quarter of the way in you'll run into Big Bone Lick State Park. Don't ask me who names these places. It's worth a stop to see the Bison that roam the park. The Bison were apparently all sleeping when I visited. So, no pictures of Bison, just a picture of a sign.



This is pretty representative of what you'll find through the rest of the ride.


A slightly different angle...


Shortly after Big Bone Lick park, you'll see a small sign for something called Jane's Saddlebag. Being intrigued on whether this was some kind of biker destination or a cruel sign targeted at a large-thighed woman named Jane, I decided it deserved a short detour to explore. Here's the road leading up to Jane's Saddlebag - pretty plain jane. Harhar..


Here's what I found at Jane's Saddlebag. It looks like some type of biker friendly tourist destination.


I'm not real sure what these were?? To the left of them there was a small ampitheatre.


They also had this cool barn with a bunch of signs and biker related sayings painted on it.


I'm not real sure what Jane's Saddlebag was, but it looked like a pretty interesting place that gets a lot of bikers. It's worth checking out just to see it. Be prepared though there are quite a few goats in the vicinity that are VERY vocal. If you do decide to checkout Jane's Saddlebag, you don't have to ride back on the same road you came in on to get back to KY 338. If you take Ryle Road you'll basically just do a small loop that ends up back on KY 338. Just follow the map to see what I mean. Plus, Ryle road is pretty interesting... here's a few pictures.


Ryle's pretty narrow and run's right along the river.


Ahhh... back on KY 338.


For the most part KY 338 is pretty smooth, except this section. It looks like the road might have just washed out and someone did a bad repair job.


Here's the road leading up into the little town near the Boone County Fairgrounds (I think it might be called Idylwild but I can't remember)..


Slightly zoomed out...


Once you get to the town with the name that I can't remember (its on the map right before the Boone County fairgrounds) I would highly recommend taking a break for lunch at this place and get one of their burgers!


After lunch, there is maybe only 10 more miles of 338 left to go, so you can either finish it out and turn around or just head back from there. Here's what that last section looks like...



Here's my take overall, KY 338 is a pretty fun little road to ride with some pretty good curves/sweepers throughout. Most of the road is sweepers, so don't be expecting a sportbike twisty paradise. But, If you're looking for a fun, relaxed half day ride with some interesting places to stop along the way, and a great option for lunch at Gracie's Grill you should try this road out.

This is a motorcycle ride in the state of Kentucky. This motorcycle route has 7 scenery characteristics and other road conditions to help you plan your road trip. This motorcycle map was created by OpenRoadRider in January. Click here to see other Motorcycle Roads by OpenRoadRider