Part 4 | the Best Motorcycle Routes In Southern Ohio

A Local Guide to the Best Motorcycle Routes In Southern Ohio

Breath Taking Beauty with Some Cautionary Insight

If you’ve ridden in Southern Ohio, you already know.

You know what it feels like to come over a rise on State Route 32 and see the hills roll out ahead of you for miles. You know the feeling of riding beside the Scioto River on a cool morning, or the way the light hits the Wayne National Forest in late afternoon. You know the backroads of Pike County, the feeling of a perfectly banked curve on SR 150 around Ferrill Hill on a warm day with nothing else on the road.

Southern Ohio is legitimately one of the best motorcycle regions in the Midwest. The roads are varied, the traffic is light compared to the cities, and the scenery is the kind you can’t get from inside a car window.

But those same roads have real teeth. And every spring, some riders find out the hard way.

Here’s a local guide to the roads that define riding in our region — the best of them and the honest risks that come with each.

State Route 555 — The Triple Nickel

If you’ve ridden in Ohio, you’ve heard of SR-555. Stretching 62 miles from Zanesville down through Washington, Morgan, Perry, and Muskingum counties to the Ohio River near Little Hocking, the Triple Nickel is considered one of the finest motorcycle roads in the entire country. Motorcycle publications rate it alongside legendary routes. Riders come from multiple states just to ride it.

And they come in spring, fresh off winter — which is part of what makes it dangerous.

SR-555 has been described by experienced riders as offering “a masterclass in constantly changing elevation and an unrelenting progression of curves with fluctuating radii.” One longtime rider put it simply: “When I ascended that hill, I had no clue of what direction the pavement would go.” That is not an exaggeration.

The road demands full concentration from a fully warmed-up, fully skilled rider. It is not a road for the first ride of the season. According to local reporting, three out of five motorcycle accidents on SR-555 involved out-of-town riders- people who came for the experience without enough local knowledge of what the road actually demands.

If you ride the Triple Nickel this spring, go in with realistic expectations. Warm up on easier roads first. Ride it at a pace that lets you respond to what’s on the other side of every blind crest — because you won’t see it coming until you’re already in the curve.

Also worth knowing: SR-555 has been subject to chip-seal road repairs in recent years that leave loose gravel on the surface — particularly dangerous in corners. Conditions change. Check local rider forums before you go.

US-23 — The Main Artery

US-23 is the spine of Southern Ohio. It runs through Chillicothe, connects the region to Columbus in the north and Portsmouth in the south, and carries a mix of commuter traffic, commercial trucks, and motorcycles through the heart of our area.

It’s also one of the most commonly cited corridors for serious motorcycle crashes in the state.

The risks here are different from SR-555. This isn’t about blind curves and elevation changes — it’s about traffic. Distracted drivers. Trucks changing lanes. Vehicles pulling out from side roads and driveways onto a highway-speed road. Intersections where cars turn left across oncoming lanes without seeing the motorcycle approaching.

Left-turn crashes are the number one cause of motorcycle fatalities in Ohio. A car that doesn’t see you and turns left across your path at an intersection is responsible for more rider deaths than any other single scenario. US-23, with its mix of speeds and its many commercial driveways and intersections, is exactly the kind of road where this happens.

Ride US-23 with your head up, your speed managed, and your escape routes planned at every intersection. Assume the car at the side road is going to pull out. Be wrong most of the time. Be right when it counts.

US-35 — Fast, Flat, and Unforgiving

US-35 cuts across Southern Ohio east to west, connecting the region and carrying serious speed. It’s a highway-style road and it moves fast.

The danger on US-35 is speed differential and distracted drivers. Motorcycles blend into highway backgrounds for inattentive car drivers in a way that other vehicles don’t. Lane changes happen without signaling. Drivers drifting toward the shoulder don’t notice you until it’s too late.

Ride US-35 with your lane position deliberate — stay where you’re visible, not tucked in a blind spot. Keep buffer space in front of you. Watch for the car whose driver is looking at a phone.

State Route 32 — Scenic and Surprisingly Demanding

SR-32 runs east-west through Ross and Scioto counties and offers some genuinely rewarding riding through the rolling terrain southeast of Chillicothe. It’s beautiful and it’s local, and a lot of Southern Ohio riders use it as a go-to warm-weather route.

Spring brings specific hazards on SR-32 and roads like it. Winter runoff washes gravel and debris onto pavement, particularly at curves and the bottom of hills where water channels. You may hit a corner that looks clear and find loose stone in exactly the wrong place.

Spring also means deer. Ohio has one of the highest deer collision rates in the country, and the period around dawn and dusk in April and May is peak deer movement season. On a motorcycle, a deer strike is catastrophic. Ride with that awareness, particularly on the more rural stretches.

The River Roads South of Portsmouth

The roads that run along and near the Ohio River in Scioto County — some of the least-traveled, most scenic riding in the region — attract riders who want beauty without the crowds. They deliver on that promise.

They also deliver narrow lanes, limited sight lines, and road surfaces that take longer to repair than high-traffic routes. After winter, some of these roads have patches, frost heaves, and edge deterioration that you won’t see from a car but will absolutely feel on a bike.

Go slow until you know what the road is doing. Scrub speed before corners, not in them.

The Windy 9

Ohio’s Windy 9 is a motorcycling destination comprised of 9 routes that begin and end in Athens, Ohio. The abundance of curves and elevation change along these roads make this a popular destination for motorcyclists. You can find information about them on their website, including maps and events!

What All of These Roads Have in Common

Southern Ohio’s motorcycle roads are genuinely special. The people who live here know that, and so do riders from across the region who make the trip to experience them.

They also share some common spring hazards that are worth keeping in mind on every single ride:

Sand and gravel on pavement- especially at the apex of curves and the bottom of hills, where water carries it during winter runoff.

Frost heaves and pavement cracking– winter freeze-thaw cycles crack and shift road surfaces. What was smooth last October may have a new lip or dip this April.

Reduced visibility from budding trees– beautiful, yes. But spring foliage fills in quickly and eliminates sight lines on curves that were open all winter.

Cold morning pavement- in early spring, shaded sections of road — particularly in valleys and under tree canopy — can remain cold and lose traction well into the morning hours.

Deer- every rural road, every dusk, every dawn.

When the Road Isn’t the Problem

Sometimes you do everything right and someone else does everything wrong.

A driver who doesn’t see you. A vehicle that pulls out from a side road. A truck that clips your lane. A car that rear-ends you at a stop because the driver was looking at their phone.

Ohio law protects you when that happens. The at-fault driver’s insurance is responsible for your injuries, your medical bills, your lost wages, and the other losses that follow a serious crash. But insurance companies don’t just write checks. They investigate, they dispute, and they minimize wherever they can.

Warren Law Firm has handled motorcycle injury cases across Southern Ohio for more than 20 years. We know these roads because we drive them too. If you’ve been hurt on any of them — the Triple Nickel, US-23, SR-32, the river roads, or anywhere else in our region — call us for a free conversation about what happened and what your options are.

No pressure. No obligation. No fee unless we win. 740-660-2745

This is part of a four-article series on motorcycle safety and the law in Southern Ohio. Read the full series at buckeyelegal.com.

Sources:

Ohio State Highway Patrol Motorcycle Safety Bulletin 2023 · Ohio Department of Public Safety crash corridor data · Marietta Times, “Ohio 555 Rated Area’s Deadliest” · Wikipedia, Ohio State Route 555 · RoadRunner Travel, “Classic Roads: Ohio’s Triple Nickel” · Ohio Department of Natural Resources, deer collision data · Ohio Revised Code § 4511.53

You pay nothing unless we win.

Call Warren Law Firm: 740-660-2745

Trust the lawyers who drive the same roads you do!

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Want to go deeper? Read our follow-up articles: 

Shaking Off the Rust | Spring Is Here, Time to Ride!
Shaking Off the Rust, Part Two: How to Ride Safely After a Long Ohio Winter
Shaking off the Rust, Part Three: What Ohio Motorcycle Riders Need to Know About the Law
Shaking off the Rust, Part Four: Southern Ohio Roads: Beautiful to Ride, With Some Real Dangers

Southern Ohio Motorcycle Accident Lawyer

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Special thanks to Vinit Gupta for the featured image. Also thanks to Joel Prince for the inset photo.