jakeSaadoun

Hi, I road cycle but live near philadelphia pennsylvania. Theres little to no quiet roads around my area, but I want to take a road trip to a state or multiple states and ride accross quiet rual countryside roads, does anyone have any reccomendations to where I ahould go to, I dont want to be biking on trails but rather roads that have little to no traffic. Thank you!

gt3racerich

Unless you just want to take a road trip, there are plenty of nice quiet roads north of Philly. I live 55 miles north of Philly and I always ride about a 50 mile circumference from there.

Iride01 

Try the Natchez Trace Parkway. End to end it's about 444 miles. B&B's, hotels and camping off the Trace available near by. Some or all camp areas on the Trace itself may be closed for Covid so check with the Park Rangers.

https://www.scenictrace.com/why-you-...trace-parkway/

https://www.natcheztracetravel.com/b...the-trace.html

There are only a couple areas where you have to worry about heavy motor traffic. One of them being around me in the Jackson MS area. From just NE of Ridgeland to SW of Clinton during morning, noon and evening motorist going to and from work, it's quite busy. But a 11 mile long bike trail paralleling it will let you bypass some of the worst part. But if you time it to miss the rush hours, it's not bad then.

How far you wanting to go? I know you said you didn't want trails, but there are rails to trails routes that are fairly nice and scenic too. And they are just about long enough (40 and some odd miles) for a decent slow day of traveling. Two are in my state and I've seen some others elsewhere that look interesting.

Tanglefoot Trail

https://www.longleaftrace.org/

Being old railroads, they don't have any hills to even consider hills. Just a 1.5 to maybe 2 % steady grade.

datlas 

I live in Chester County, which is likely not far from you. There are so many quiet roads here, it’s cycling heaven if you know where to ride. No need to look too far away unless you want to.

Velo Vol 

On weekends/after hours I sometimes hit the office park to avoid traffic.

indyfabz

Hunterdon & Warren Counties in NJ.

Dirt Farmer

The Driftless Area.

mstateglfr 

Gravel roads. They are all over. They are roads, they have little to no traffic, they are great.

MidTNBrad

Another vote for the Natchez Trace. No commercial traffic, low speed limits, excellent pavement. On Saturday mornings you'll see more cyclists than you will cars. The northern terminus is about 10 miles from my house. There are plenty of opportunities to ride back country roads too. If you plan a trip down this way I can give you some good routes.

Jim from Boston

Quote:

Originally Posted by jakeSaadoun

Hi, I road cycle but live near philadelphia pennsylvania. Theres little to no quiet roads around my area, but I want to take a road trip to a state or multiple states and ride accross quiet rual countryside roads, does anyone have any reccomendations to where I ahould go to, I dont want to be biking on trails but rather roads that have little to no traffic. Thank you!

I have previously posted about my riding experience in Boston:

Furthermore, I have posted an informal cycling guide to Metro Boston with this method for finding the best roads:

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jim from Boston

For some generalities, my favorite map is the AAA road map of metropolitan Boston [and other cities]. The size is large enough to plan century rides, yet the scale is small enough to find excellent cycling roads nicely defined by the road color and weight of the line.

JohnJ80

Anywhere around the Twin Cities but out of the city. We have more gravel roads and paved quiet country roads than almost any place I’ve been. Western Wisconsin is also another good place. Back in the day, roads were paved and kept very smooth so dairy farmers bottles didn’t clink together and chip. So there is a lot of lightly traveled pavement that is very smooth. We’ve cycled in far Northern Wisconsin a lot and we’re always impressed with the smooth roads and virtually no traffic. Try Boulder Junction, Presque Isle, Manitorwish Waters area - many many roads with no cars.

jim_pridx

This is a beautiful area to ride! In addition to the quiet roads, this area also has quite an extensive system of paved trails that are primarily built for cyclists.

mstateglfr 

last year I rode 70mi in the driftless region of WI and was continually surprised at all paved roads. Identical roads just over the river in NW IA's drift less region are all gravel. It was an odd feeling to ride such remote and dead paved roads. Great fun, but odd.

wipekitty

Yeah - I live around those parts at the moment. Good riding: small hills, usually 400'-600' with fast descents, paved roads, and pretty much nobody around.

Wisconsin has paved roads due to the dairy industry. The unpaved roads over in MN/IA are also fun, though.

joejack951

I’m not far from either of you and agree that it is quite easy to find quiet roads to ride, especially if you are willing to drive 20-30 minutes. Drive from Philly to West Chester. Start riding on 162 and just head west. You’ll quickly be surrounded by nothing at which point you can head any direction for more of the same. Be prepared to climb lots of short but steep hills.

philbob57

Check out the East Coast Greenway. I know only a minuscule part of it, but it looks like it may be very ggod. They were planning an NYC-Phily ride for 2020, but something interfered with it. https://www.greenway.org/

joejack951

There are also signed bike routes that bisect PA: https://www.penndot.gov/TravelInPA/R...le-Routes.aspx

njkayaker

Are you a member of a cycle club? That might be a way to learn about better routes.

JohnDThompson 

You can thank the dairy lobby for that. Dairy farmers need to get their milk out while its fresh, all year 'round, regardless of weather or anything else. So almost all the secondary roads in Wisconsin are paved (far northern Wisconsin is a notable exception). Makes for nice, low traffic riding.

redcon1

Take this advice with a large grain of salt.. some of the marked PA Bicycle Routes are terrible. For example, I live right near route PA Route JS and there are sections of twisty road with limited sight distance, and no shoulder. I cringe, then say a little prayer for safety, when I see riders on fully loaded touring bikes riding JS.

topflightpro

OP, take a day trip up to Allentown. The roads west of town - past Trexlertown - are fantastic for riding.

gt3racerich

Could you be a little more specific? Perhaps some links to various routes? Thanks.

Kabuki12

I have no idea about the area you live in, but , in Southern California the traffic and noise can be overwhelming. I live in the eastern part of Ventura county which is , for now, agriculture. Miles of citrus(smells great) and some avocados , flowers , and veggies. Then I have a few miles of city to get to the beach area. After cruising about 8 or 9 miles through the ag land the city riding is cool, especially old downtown. I think finding a ride that has a balance of both is optimum . I feel blessed to live where I have that.

force10

LWA does a ton of group rides in that area if you are interested in those. You can find them on meetup.

Bob Ross

You're already pretty close to some of the sweetest, quietest roads I've ever had the pleasure of cycling on...and you don't even have to cross state lines!
Check out State College, PA.