Last summer, I took a long day trip to visit the legendary Pine Creek Gorge – also known as the Grand Canyon of Pennsylvania - and became enchanted with another Pennsylvania legend: Route 6.  I did some online research into the scenic roadway, which enters PA in the northeast near Milford, expands into a section of highway as it passes through the Scranton area, and eventually becomes a sweeping two-lane scenic byway most of the way to Ohio.

Rolling through light traffic on I-476 on a Saturday morning, I noticed some dark clouds looming over the Wilkes-Barre area.  The weather forecasts for the weekend had been hopeful, and so I took Route 315 to Route 92 north under an optimistically light drizzle.

Winding along the Susquehanna River, Route 92 was showing signs of a recent storm, or so I thought.  There was plenty of loose foliage in the road, including a log the size of my leg in the middle of my lane near Exeter.  A few miles up the road, I caught up to the actual source of the carnage: a double-wide trailer being hauled by a small crew, knocking off the branches of low-hanging trees.  Eventually, the crew decided to stop and assess the damage to the trailer, giving me and the other waiting drivers a chance to pass.  A few more minutes of twisty-road goodness without having to dodge tree limbs, and I was turning west onto Route 6.

A few miles down the road, some construction forced a detour onto Route 187.  Detour or not, Route 187 was a great diversion from the relatively straight Route 6.  An exciting series of tight twisties eventually brought me back to Route 6, continuing as a 2-lane highway with local traffic clogging things up and no room to pass.  The spare tire cover on a Jeep in front of me proclaimed “Life is Good” and despite the traffic, I had to agree.  Past Wysox, the road opened up to a more rural two-lane with lighter traffic and the sweeping curves appeared with more frequency, as did little red barns.

In Wellsboro, I stopped at Memorial Park to admire the statues and memorials dedicated to local and national veterans.  Route 660 leads south out of town and winds its way into the forest to terminate at the eastern rim of Pine Creek Gorge.  One can spend hours just looking at the scenery over the local Grand Canyon, or spend all day walking the trails that lead down into it.

After a few quick photos of the scenery, as well as the wedding taking place in the park, I jumped back on my trusty Honda just as the gray skies began to open up.  Backtracking on 660 through Wellsboro and picking up Route 6 west, the rain steadily increased, coming down heaviest as I passed through Paradise.  The name didn’t seem fitting at that moment.

As the rain began to let up, I discovered that wildlife abounds along Route 6, and sometimes it a-bounds across the road.  From the woods on my left, a fawn leaped onto the roadway in the oncoming lane, matching my trajectory and nearly matching my pace.  I rolled on the throttle just as the wee deer deked to its right and across my lane.  In the mirror, it looked like he had tried to jump over the back of my motorcycle, as he was at least three feet in the air over top of where I had been just a second earlier.  Eventually he ran into the trees on the north side of the road without further incident, but his antics had me riding much slower the rest of the day.

I arrived at the Kinzua Bridge under a light rain.  In 2002, during overdue renovation, the century and a half year old railroad bridge was struck by a passing tornado and much of its span toppled to the ground.  Already a landmark for its age and local history, the Kinzua Bridge is now a fascinating testament to nature’s destructive power over man’s creations.  The rain let up just as I found my way back onto Route 6.

A $16 fee rented me a tent spot way in the back of the Foote Rest campground on Rt 219, just north of Route 6.  I carefully navigated my loaded-up VFR through the RV area, trying to avoid the hundred or so bunny rabbits that shared the campground with the visitors.  After setting up camp, I took the 20 mile ride north to Bradford for dinner at Fitelli’s 50s restaurant.  Later that night, I awoke in my tent to the sounds of twigs breaking underfoot outside.  I quickly fell back asleep, assuring myself “it’s only the rabbits, it’s only the rabbits.”

After sleeping-in until 7:30am the next day, I emerged from my tent to a sky that just looked wet.  The clouds swirled in a dozen shades of gray, all looking to put a damper on the day’s activities, which started with a visit to Kinzua Dam.

By mid-morning the clouds had burned off from the summer heat, and Route 6 turned into 4-lane highway between Warren and Youngstown, allowing me to stretch the VFR’s legs a little.  Instead of following the main Route 6 to the Ohio border, I opted for the northern route, 6N towards Erie.  Route 6N terminates at Route 20, where I headed north to Presque National Park and snapped a few pictures as I relaxed on the edge of the beach.

After a few hours of twisting through central PA and zipping east on the Turnpike, I was home.  The weekend surely didn’t allow me enough time to explore more than a little of what northern Pennsylvania has to offer.  With so much more to see along Route 6, there is no doubt that I will be spending many more weekends in northern Pennsylvania.

See the full route and some pics on my SpotAdventures page: Motorcycle Weekend - Route 6 in PA at SpotAdventures