I had a great drive today. I went up to the Allegheny National Forrest today and took on some of the mountain roads that it has to offer. Sure, they're weak competition compared to the Dragon, but they're also a LOT closer.

Maybe we (PittStopMINI) can organize a rally along some of my route. Here's where I went:

I started in Hermitage, PA (about an 1.5 hours north of Pittsburgh) only because I live very near there. The real drive starts in Franklin, PA (also about 1.5 hours north of Pgh).

Short Version:

• Take Rt. 62 East through Franklin, PA.
• Downtown Franklin is historic and quaint (stop at Daffin's Candies for best chocolate around!)
• Follow Rt. 62 to Oil City, PA (following the Allegheny River)
• Continue on Rt. 62 to Tionesta, PA
• A couple miles north of Tionesta, turn off Rt. 62 onto Rt. 666.
• Rt. 666 is a fun road for motoring. (twisties and scenery)
• Follow Rt. 666 to Sheffield, intersecting Rt. 6.
• Follow Rt. 6 to Warren, PA (grab a meal in Warren, get gas, whatever)
• Backtrack out of Warren on Rt. 6, and turn onto Rt. 59 toward Kinzua Dam (very picturesque, and you can stop at the Dam for pics and look around).
• On Rt. 59, just before the bridge over the reservoir, turn onto Long House Scenic Drive.
• Long House Scenic Drive is a great drive. (not as twisty as Rt. 666, but beautiful)
• LHSD ends onto Rt. 321, very close to a bridge overlooking the reservoir (very pretty).
• Then head south on 321.
• Here it gets sketchy, as the path I took from there was kinda boring. I need to explore more in the area and find a more fun way back to Rt. 62.
• rejoin Rt. 62 via Rt. 157 near Oil City (stop for ice cream at intersection)
• Stop for Coffee in Oil City at Spilling the Beans (on rt 62 near Petroleum Dr. Bridge)
• Follow Rt. 62 back along the Allegheny River to Franklin. (very scenic and lots of places to stop for fuel or restrooms or drinks)

What do you guys think? Could this be a fall event when the leaves are changing? That would be gorgeous!




Long Version with notes:
Downtown Franklin is picturesque. There's a historic section that runs for several blocks that is quaint, and it has shops and stores and such. It's a good place to stop and look around. There's even a Daffin's Candies store there, which has THE BEST milk chocolate you'll find anywhere. Forget Godiva, this stuff is better.

Anyway, following Rt. 62 East through Franklin takes you across the Washington's Crossing bridge and along the Allegheny River. Rt. 62 follows the river all the way to Oil City. It's a beautiful drive with the river along side and mountains on each side. I'm sure it would look fantastic in the fall when the leaves change.

You cross the river in Oil City, PA on the Petroleum St. Bridge, and about a block from the bridge (on Rt. 62 west bound) there's a nice coffee house called Spilling the Beans. It's right next to the river and looks like a great place to stop for a drink.

Continue following Rt. 62 East, and there's another great place to stop just outside of Oil City (at the intersection of Rt. 157 and Rt. 62. The place is called Strawberry Delight, and is an ice cream stand. Looks good, but I didn't stop to find out. You lose the river for a while, but meet back up with it before you get to Tionesta, PA.

After crossing the Allegheny River again and into Tionesta, Rt. 62 East heads north along the river towards Warren, PA. But you'll want to turn off before you get very far onto Rt. 666. (The devil's highway?!? The highway of the beast?!?)

Rt. 666 is mentioned in a couple motorcycle sites as being a fun road to drive. And that it is. For the most part Rt. 666 is curvy and well maintained. There's a stretch in the middle of the 30 mile length (about 5 miles long) that is poorly maintained, but still very drive-able and enjoyable. The road is practically free from traffic (there are a few little "towns" on the road that consist of a group of ten or less houses), but other than that, it's all yours. The latter half of Rt. 666 follows another river (a tributary to the Allegheny, but I don't know what it's called).

At the end of Rt. 666 (near Sheffield, PA) it turns from asphalt to concrete, and that section is in poor repair too. It's bumpy, but not ridiculous. Bear with it, it only last a mile or three. Finally, Rt. 666 dead-ends into the "Grand Army of the Republic Highway", which is a very fancy name for Rt. 6. Rt. 6 is neither a highway nor is it grand. It's a two lane road through the Allegheny National Forrest, and it is in excellent repair. It's not very twisty, nor does it provide grand scenery, but it will get you to Warren, PA where you can stop for a meal at the Pepper Mill restaurant.

You'll follow Rt. 6 (west which heads north) about 12 miles to Warren, PA. Just before you get into town, you'll pass Rt. 59 which branches off to the right and heads up to Kinzua Dam. (We'll come back to that.) Following Rt. 6 into Warren, you'll cross the Allegheny River again and as you come into town, you'll see a nice restaurant on the right called the Pepper Mill. (between Grant and Hammond Streets). The place is very diner styled inside, so you're not gonna find caviar or a wine list, but the food was good and the service great. I had a turkey dinner, and it was tasty. (I wouldn't try the pasta or other Italian dishes, as I didn't see a single Italian person in the place! LOL) Then I backtracked back down Rt. 6 to Rt. 59 (There's another ice cream shop there on the corner that tempted me, but I resisted.)

I followed Rt. 59 up towards Kinzua Dam. (about 8 miles) Where Rt. 59 followed along the Allegheny River, there were some fabulous scenic spots, and you can stop at the Dam and take pictures and look around. If you follow rt. 59 past the dam, you'll come to a bridge that crosses the reservoir. Just BEFORE that bridge is a right turn that you WANT to take, onto Long House Scenic Drive.

Long House Scenic Drive was a beautiful road. It's not quite as fantastic as the drive along Rt. 129 near the Dragon (in Tennessee), but it's as good as you'll get in Allegheny National Forrest. There's some twisties along here to enjoy too - nothing like the Dragon, but the road is well maintained and you can keep a good pace even through the curves. There aren't any designated spots to pull over and snap photos, but there are a couple places that you'll want to do it anyway. About three long straight aways have room for you to pull over and enjoy the view, but be careful of potentially muddy berms.

I followed Long House Scenic Drive to it's end where it meets Rt. 321. If you turn left onto 321, there's a bridge with a fantastic view a couple hundred yards along 321. After the bridge there are gravel turn-arounds with ample space to park and walk back onto the bridge for a look-see.

After checking the view, backtrack south on 321. About 3/4 of a mile past Long House Scenic Drive, you'll find a right turn onto Bliss Hill Road. (There's a store right on the corner of 321 and Bliss Hill Rd.) I followed Bliss Hill Road west until it turned into Gibbs Hill Road. It was one of the best maintained roads I've seen in the area - perfect! And it was a fun drive - not as scenic as the Long House Scenic Drive, but still fun, and it connects you over to Rt. 6 again.

At this point, I decided to start heading for home. So I followed Rt. 6 to Sheffield, which was a boring drive compared to Long House Scenic and Rt. 62 along the Allegheny. But it was an easy jaunt and only a couple miles. Then I retraced my steps along Rt. 666, unfortunately a few miles of it was that messed up concrete road. I followed Rt. 666 to Lynch (I couldn't tell it was a town!) and took Byromtown Road south. The beginning of Byromtown Road is a bridge across the "unnamed" river (maybe a big creek). On Google Maps, it is called Blue Jay road, but the sign in real life reads Byromtown Road.

Byromtown Road was nice, and well maintained. The area is residential, so be wary of that. Scenic, but not so much as Long House Scenic Dr, but it was a nice drive. Byromtown Rd dumps you out on Rt. 66 in Pidgeon, PA.

Rt. 66 is a good road, but there's nothing real special about it. It's just another 2 lane road through the Allegheny National Forrest. There is a nice town of Marienville on Rt. 66. There's a Microtel that looked clean and nice, some restaurants and gas stations in case anyone needs to stop. Other than that it is boring all the way to Rt 36. I follow Rt. 36 to Rt. 208. Rt. 36 is nothing special, much like Rt. 66 with more traffic, but there are a couple of spots where the trees open up and you can see for miles - pretty nice. Rt. 157 is much like 36 and 208, and lead me right back to Rt. 62 in Oil City (along the river) and right at that ice cream place (Strawberry Delight).

From there, I retraced my path along Rt. 62 through Oil City, Franklin, Sandy Lake, and Mercer, even following Lamor Road from Mercer to Hermitage again.

It was a great day-trip. I left at about 1:30pm and got home at 7:30pm. So I spent about 5 1/2 hours driving and about 1/2 hour eating dinner at the Pepper Mill. Aside from the fact that it was a beautiful day for a drive, I think I've found some great roads (Rt. 62, Rt. 666, Long House Scenic Drive) that are worth the trip and I definitely want to revisit them in the fall when the leaves are changing colors.

If you're feeling a need for a trip to the Dragon and can't make it, this is a weak, but acceptable substitute. It's not as challenging as the Dragon, but almost as scenic and about 9 hours closer (for me!)

I hope you enjoy your drive if you decide to try it out, and keep me posted if you find any nice roads in the area or great places to stop along the way.

 

The Franklin is about 2 hours from Cleveland. So maybe this could be a joint event between PittStopMINI and the Cleveland MINI club?

 

very interesting...