Blue Ridge Country - March/April 2015 - 25

Maryland: Dirt Bikes and Amped Tractors

Kentucky
Every third Saturday April through September, Main
Street in the small eastern Kentucky town of
Paintsville is full of woodies, wagons, rat rods or race
cars. Paintsville Cruiz'n events, featuring live music
as well, are supported by the East Kentucky Gearhead
Car Club (ekygearheads.com), a noncompetitive
group that gets together solely for the purpose of
socializing over a well-tuned carburetor. The Pit Stop
BBQ in nearby East Point gets high marks for its ribs
and sides.
Also in Paintsville is the U.S. 23 County Music
Highway Museum, which features memorabilia from
many of the country stars (Ricky Skaggs, Tom T. Hall,
the Judds) who were born or lived along a 144-mile
stretch of the scenic highway. From Greenup County
at the northern end south to Letcher County, U.S. 23
passes through towns, fields and ridges where Native

MONROE COUNTY, TN, DEPARTMENT OF TOURISM

Motorcyclists (and others) can plot their course along
Maryland's Panhandle by following U.S. 40 and U.S.
40 Alt from Frederick through Middletown and
Boonsboro, Clear Springs and Indian Springs
through Cumberland. Just past Grantsville, turn
south on U.S. 219 to the Panhandle's southwestern
most tip, to Backbone Mountain, at 3,360 feet the
highest point in Maryland. Passengers on the
Western Maryland Scenic Railroad (wmsr.com) in
Cumberland travel through mountain scenery in
vintage train cars.
Off-road enthusiasts have lots of trails to ride
in the state forests in the western Panhandle,
including runs in Potomac, Garrett and Savage
River state forests, including the latter's Meadow
Mountain Trail system, a six-mile trail open to
dirt bikers and Jeep riders. Camping is available in
the parks, but for a decidedly more comfortable
accommodation, there's Carmel Cove Inn on Deep
Creek Lake (carmelcoveinn.com) or the Castle Bed
& Breakfast in Mount Savage (castlebandb.com).
Check with the state forest office to make sure
trails are open. Permits are available at the parks.
Amped-up tractors bristling with power pull
outrageous loads during the regular tractor pulls
at Washington County Agricultural Education
Center in Boonsboro (washco-agcenter.net).
These aren't the tractors from down on the farm.
Rather, they're what would happen if NASCAR
got hold of them. The results are earth-shaking.
Boonsboro, founded by Daniel Boone's cousins, is
close to the Appalachian Trail and the C&O Canal
Towpath, a 184-mile byway reserved for bikers,
joggers and walkers.

The Tail of the Dragon, near Robbinsville, North Carolina, packs more than 300
twisting turns into its 11-mile length.

Once a month during the warm months,
Pikeville draws testosterone-fueled
street cars to its "Muscle on Main"
weekend auto shows and block parties.
Americans, pioneers, Civil War soldiers and coal miners tramped. On the southern end, the mountain
gateway city of Pikeville is a put-in point for the 8.5mile Hatfield and McCoy River Trail System.
Once a month during the warm months,
Pikeville draws testosterone-fueled street cars to its
"Muscle on Main" weekend auto shows and block
parties. Kids like the Hot Wheels drag racing event,
while parents like trying their luck on the grown-up
drag strip at Riverfill Arena. Couples looking for
luxe will consider staying at the Pikeville Historic
Mansion (pikevillehistoricmansion.com), a century-old inn built on a riverboat fortune. Pub-style
eats await at Blue Raven and Bank 253.
From Pikeville south, you can get on U.S. 119,
as close to a straight line as Kentucky highways
come. Wind north to the West Virginia line, and
you'll be on the Tug Fork River, near the 700-mile
Hatfield-McCoy ATV trail system. Go south and,
from Oven Fork to Harlan, it's a near straight shot
past Kingdom Come State Park (with its natural
sandstone bridge) and Kentenia State Forest (with
hiking and horse trails). 
MARCH/APRIL 2015 | 25

http://www.wmsr.com http://www.carmelcoveinn.com http://www.castlebandb.com http://www.washco-agcenter.net http://www.ekygearheads.com http://www.pikevillehistoricmansion.com

Blue Ridge Country - March/April 2015

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