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Last weekend we had members of the Northeast Ohio, Central Ohio and Cincinnati clubs join up for a drive on Ohio Route 26. This road is in the southeast part of the state and has been listed as "one of the top 10 drives in the U.S.A.". I can tell you from personal experience that whoever does these rankings was NOT exaggerating! I'm sure the folks on the left coast have quite the drive up the PCH, but this one is pretty darn good too. It is roughly 80 miles of twists, turns and hills all surrounded by wooded areas, covered bridges and a river. There was virtually no traffic to deal with. A number of us stayed overnight in Marietta which is right on the Ohio River at the Ohio/WVA border. We hit the Marietta Brewing Co. for dinner. The next day we did the trip all over again. Below are some pics and we also have a small video available if you want it. You'll need RealPlayer to view it. The initial version is a little rough as it had to be compressed. We all highly recommend this drive.
It was a great drive and a perfect day trip from Columbus!!! Here's a map (click for the full sized view) of the best part of the trip. The yellow line is the tracking output from my GPS. We had lunch at Woodsfield near the top of the map and continued on down into Marietta. The map shows a lot more curves when you zoom in, but this should give you a good idea of the general route we hit. I highly recommend it!
Here are some more pics. This was absoutely the best drive I've had in my 5000 miles of ownership (of course, spending almost all my time in NE Ohio makes that not too surprising).
Well said guys, this is simply the best drive i've ever taken in my life period! This is the road that i've always wished I could drive on, but was never able to find till now. The best part is that it's a roller coaster that simply doesn't end. It's nearly 80 miles of nothing but hills, twisties, tight hairpin curves, sudden elevation changes, broad sweeping curves, and of course at times all of the above combined together with occasional straightaways to work up some speed on before smoking the brakes into the next curve. This is the ride that simply doesn't end, and when you think it's over, there is still more left. Just think about it, 90-120 minutes of pure excitement! Long after I got home after the second night, I was still able to feel the curves and the g-forces as I laid in bed smiling after what had been the best 2 days of driving in my life! The best part, was that traffic was fairly light, and the few people we did run into were nice enough to pull off the road and let us pass.
The best part of the Route 26 drive, is how convenient it is no matter where you are located. At the bottom end in Marietta, it starts just a few blocks away from I77, and at the very top, it located about a mile or less from I70. Until now, I have never known that such wonderful driving roads exist here in this region!
The Pa26 drive sounds wonderful, and next year after the spring thaw, maybe we can have a regional event that combines the best of OH Rt 26 and PA Rt26 since PA isn't that far away anyway..............
The Taurus SHO group has been holding annual conventions for 9 years now, maybe we can do something similar..........
10-16-2002, 04:14 PM
Ohio Route 26 Drive
for dinner. The next day we did the trip all over again. Below are some pics and we also have a small video available if you want it. You'll need RealPlayer to view it. The initial version is a little rough as it had to be compressed. We all highly recommend this drive.
