Virginia Tourism Guide - Your complete motorcycle touring guide Weather Wise

Blue Ridge Parkway (Virginia, North Carolina)

The Parkway provides spectacular mountain and valley vistas, quiet pastoral scenes, sparkling waterfalls and colorful flower and foliage displays as it extends through the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia and North Carolina.

Colonial Parkway

The Colonial Parkway not only illustrates the English colonial experience in America, but is also an outstanding example of American parkway design. Retaining its original scenic and historic integrity to a remarkable degree, the 23-mile route connects the historic sites of Jamestown, Williamsburg and Yorktown.

George Washington Memorial Parkway

This scenic grand gateway and greenway to our Nation’s Capital offers the opportunity to experience the historic story of the birth of our Nation. See Mount Vernon where George Washington lived, sweeping views of our Nation's Capital, and the breathtaking Great Falls of the Potomac.

Skyline Drive

During its over seventy year history, Skyline Drive has offered travelers the opportunity to view many of the most scenic vistas in the eastern United States. The experience combines the protected setting of Shenandoah National Park with two visitor centers, miles of hiking trails, and opportunities for wildlife viewing.

Virginia Motorcycle Touring - Appomattox Court House National Historical Park - Appomattox, VA
The First Day of Peace by Stanley Arthurs  On Palm Sunday, 1865 Lees surrender at Appomattox Court House, Virginia signaled the end of the Southern States' attempt to create a separate nation. It set the stage for the emergence of an expanded and more powerful Federal government. In a sense the struggle in Philadelphia, over how much power the central government would hold, had finally been settled.

Virginia Motorcycle Touring - Arlington House, The Robert E. Lee Memorial - Arlington, VA
Photo of Arlington House  Arlington House was the home of Robert E. Lee and his family for 30 years and is uniquely associated with the Washington and Custis families. George Washington Parke Custis built the house to be his home and a memorial to George Washington, his step-grandfather. It is now preserved as a memorial to General Lee, who gained the respect of Americans in both the North and the South.

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Virginia Motorcycle Touring - Assateague Island National Seashore - MD,VA
Wind and waves continually reshape the shoreline of Assateague Island. 21kb  Want to live on the edge? Visit a place recreated each day by ocean wind and waves. Life on Assateague Island has adapted to an existence on the move. Explore sandy beaches, salt marshes, maritime forests and coastal bays. Rest, relax, recreate and enjoy some time on the edge of the continent.

Virginia Motorcycle Touring - Booker T Washington National Monument - Hardy, VA
Reading of Emancipation  On April 5, 1856, Booker T. Washington was born a slave on the 207-arce farm of James Burroughs. After the Civil War, Washington became founder and first principal of Tuskegee Normal and Industrial School. Later as an adviser, author and orator, his past would influence his philosophies as the most influential African American of his era. Come explore his birthplace.

Virginia Motorcycle Touring - Cape Henry Memorial - Fort Story, VA
Memorial Cross and Battle of the Capes Exhibit at Cape Henry  HERE AT CAPE HENRY FIRST LANDED IN AMERICA, UPON 26 APRIL 1607, THOSE ENGLISH COLONISTS WHO, UPON 13 MAY 1607, ESTABLISHED AT JAMESTOWN VIRGINIA, THE FIRST PERMANENT ENGLISH SETTLEMENT IN AMERICA. Upon this inscription rest the granite cross erected by the National Society Daughters of the American Colonists on April 26, 1935, memorializing the wooden cross erected near this spot by the English colonist ...

Virginia Motorcycle Touring - Cedar Creek & Belle Grove National Historical Park - Middletown and Strasburg, VA
Men in field during 2005 battle reenactment  Cedar Creek and Belle Grove National Historical Park preserves and interprets key historical sites and the rich cultural heritage of the Shenandoah Valley. At present there are no National Park Service operated visitor facilities. Instead, almost all park lands and buildings are owned and administered by the park's partners: local landowners, county governments, and nonprofit organizations.

Virginia Motorcycle Touring - Claude Moore Colonial Farm - McLean, VA
Claude Moore Farmhouse  Step back in time and experience life on a small farm in northern Virginia.  Living history programs and demonstrations offer a glimpse of what life was like for a poor farm family, just before the Revolutionary War.

Virginia Motorcycle Touring - Colonial National Historical Park - Jamestown and Yorktown, VA
3rd Infantry Old Guard passing in review  It began on the swampy marshes of Jamestown in 1607. It ended on the battle scarred landscape of Yorktown in 1781. It was one hundred and seventy-four years of hope, frustration, adventure, discovery, growth, and development that saw a lonely settlement of 104 men and boys grow into a nation of 13 colonies of 3 million people, of many races and many beliefs. Jamestown and Yorktown mark the beginning ...

Virginia Motorcycle Touring - Fredericksburg & Spotsylvania National Military Park - Fredericksburg, VA
Richard Kirkland Monument at Fredericksburg  Fredericksburg, Chancellorsville, Wilderness, and Spotsylvania - more than 85,000 men wounded; 15,000 killed. No place more vividly reflects the Civil War's tragic cost, in all its forms. These places reveal the trials of a community and nation at war. The park is closed on Thanksgiving Christmas and New Year's Day. Call (540) 654-5532 for information on park closure during inclement weather.

Virginia Motorcycle Touring - George Washington Birthplace National Monument - Westmoreland County, VA
Orignial birthsite with Memorial House in the background.  George Washington, America's first and greatest hero, was crucial to the establishment of the United States as a nation founded on the principles of liberty. George Washington Birthplace preserves the heart of the Washington lands and a memorial plantation. Here, in the peace and beauty of this place untouched by time, the staunch character of our hero comes to the imagination.

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Virginia Motorcycle Touring - Great Falls Park - McLean, VA
Great Falls in winter  At Great Falls, the Potomac River builds up speed and force as it falls over a series of steep, jagged rocks and flows through the narrow Mather Gorge. The Patowmack Canal offers a glimpse into the early history of this country. Great Falls Park has many opportunities to explore history and nature, all in a beautiful 800-acre park only 15 miles from the Nation's Capital.

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Virginia Motorcycle Touring - Green Springs - Louisa County, VA
??? house in Green Springs  Green Springs National Historic Landmark District encompasses over 14,000 acres in the piedmont of central Virginia. The homes and farms are a continuum of Virginia rural vernacular architecture, reflective and respectful of their location, preserved in their original context with little alteration. Here the landscape has been enhanced, rather than despoiled, by the presence of civilization.

Virginia Motorcycle Touring - Jamestown National Historic Site - James City County, VA
Ambler Mansion ruins  Come, walk in the steps of Captain John Smith and Pocahontas as we explore America's beginnings. Here is where the successful English colonization of North America began.  Here is where the first English representative government met and where the first arrival of Africans to English North American was recorded in 1619. Jamestown, the Beginning of America.

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Virginia Motorcycle Touring - Lyndon Baines Johnson Memorial Grove on the Potomac - Arlington, VA
Lyndon Baines Johnson Memorial Grove  Formerly known as Columbia Island, this park was renamed in honor of Lady Bird Johnson and her campaign to beautify Washington D.C. The Grove, a site chosen by Lady Bird herself, is the site that the Johnsons often stopped to admire the city. Today, the Grove is relaxing spot for people to watch the river, view Washington D.C., and to recreate.

Virginia Motorcycle Touring - Maggie L Walker National Historic Site - Richmond, VA
Buildings on Leigh Street, Maggie Walker's home has green and white striped awnings.  Richmond, VA. is home to many famous Americans including one of the nation's great entrepreneurial spirits, Maggie Lena Walker. Come visit her home in the Jackson Ward community. Through exhibits and guided tours you will experience the life of this great African American woman, who was born during slavery and achieved success despite segregation and the limited opportunities offered to her race.

Virginia Motorcycle Touring - Manassas National Battlefield Park - Manassas, VA
Rickett Header  In the summer of 1861, enthusiastic volunteers in colorful uniforms gathered to fight the first major land battle of the war. Confident that their foes would turn and run, neither side anticipated the smoke, din and death of battle. Nearly one year later, both sides met again on the same battlefield with the Confederates winning a solid victory bringing them to the height of their power.

Virginia Motorcycle Touring - Petersburg National Battlefield - Petersburg, VA
Union soldiers sitting in camp  "Dear Mother, we remained in the broiling sun in little pits the size of a common grave though not half so well furnished. There we lay and everytime a man Show his head Zip would come a minnie." This pressure was central to a soldier's experience in a 292 day siege. Here, Union forces slowly cut off Petersburg from the world and brought the fall of the Confederacy.

Virginia Motorcycle Touring - Prince William Forest Park - Triangle, VA
Bridge over South Fork Quantico Creek.  Prince William Forest Park is an oasis of natural beauty and human history located only 35 miles south of Washington, DC. 37 miles of hiking trails and 21 miles of bicycle-accessible roads and trails traverse this 15,000 acre piedmont forest. Beneath its canopy lies evidence of human history reaching back to 8,000 B.C.

Virginia Motorcycle Touring - Richmond National Battlefield Park - Richmond, VA
Sunlight filters through the trees above a trench at Cold Harbor  Richmond's story is not just the tale of one large Civil War battle, nor even one important campaign. Instead, the park's resources include a naval battle, a key industrial complex, the Confederacy's largest hospital, dozens of miles of elaborate original fortifications, and the evocative spots where determined soldiers stood paces apart and fought with rifles, reaping a staggering human cost.

Virginia Motorcycle Touring - Shenandoah National Park - the Blue Ridge Mountains near Luray, VA
Two trillium blossoms in brillian white bloom next to an old log.  Gazing across the horizon from the peaks of Shenandoah National Park it's hard to believe you are just 75 miles from the bustle of our nation’s capital. Take Skyline Drive along the crest of the mountains through the woods and past spectacular vistas. Hike in the shade of oak trees along the Appalachian Trail, discover the stories from Shenandoah’s past, or just relax in the wonder of wilderness.

Virginia Motorcycle Touring - Theodore Roosevelt Island Park - Arlington, VA
Theodore Roosevelt Island footbridge  One of Theodore Roosevelt's greatest legacies was his dedication to conservation. Today, this island stands as a fitting memorial to the outdoorsman, naturalist, and visionary who was our 26th President.

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Virginia Motorcycle Touring - Wolf Trap National Park for the Performing Arts - Vienna, VA
A view of the lawn at the Filene Center with patrons watching the show.  No matter what your age or taste in shows, you'll find something you like onstage at Wolf Trap. Multiple amphitheaters in the park present performances from May - September such as musicals, dance, opera, jazz, popular music, and country. A good time to explore the beauty and history of the park without the crowds is October - April.

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Virginia Motorcycle Touring - Yorktown National Cemetery - Yorktown, VA
Grand French Battery  On October 19, 1781, a British army under General Charles Lord Cornwallis was forced to surrender to General Washington's combined American and French army. Upon hearing of their defeat, British Prime Minister Frederick Lord North is reputed to have said, "Oh God, it's all over." And it was. The victory secured independence for the United States and significantly changed the course of world history.

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