In the upper Midwest, it is the final act of the riding season. It is the special treat nature provides when days get shorter, summertime heat dials back to cooler temps, and the humidity lowers. The green of standing timber, corn, and grain turns to vibrant shades of red, orange, yellow, and tan. It is time for your autumn color motorcycle ride or tour.
In many ways, fall riding can be the best of the year, but the hitch is, it is temporary. The spectacular splashes of those colors under blue skies in comfortable temperatures will soon give way to bare trees and chilly temps. Not long after that, it will become downright cold, setting the stage for snow and Battery Tender season.
The best time for your fall color ride depends on geography, the regional mix of species of trees, and weather conditions. In general, a dry summer seems to favor earlier colors, but all trees don’t change at the same time in any case. Trees high on ridgelines tend to change color earlier than those in valleys and river bottoms.
Autumn is an excellent time for me to head west to the Mississippi River Valley. So, I fired up my 1985 Honda VF700 Magna late last week to have a look. My route tended to meander along state highways 60, 171, 82, and 35 (the Great River Road), plus various county trunks and township back roads. It included the lowlands of three river valleys—the Wisconsin, the Kickapoo, and the Mississippi—and the highlands of southwestern Wisconsin’s Driftless Area and northeastern Iowa.
Highways 171 and 82 are among my favorites. The scenery is fantastic—a mix of wooded rolling hills and highlands, sweeping farmland, and plenty of elevation changes. Plus, they have more curves than a bait box full of angleworms.
There are lovely river towns in the Wisconsin River Valley, such as Muscoda and Lone Rock (where I live). The Kickapoo offers Gays Mills and Viola. Prairie du Chien, Genoa, and La Crosse are on the Wisconsin side of the Mississippi River, with Lansing on the Iowa bank. Other fine towns for stops in the region include Viroqua, Boscobel, Mount Sterling, Readstown, and Richland Center.
The Internet offers plenty of resources for timing your trip just right. These seven states—Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio, and Wisconsin—have excellent websites to assist you on your fall excursion.
Before you hit the road for your autumn motorcycle ride, you’ll need to pack. Bring good walking shoes, if your riding shoes or boots aren’t quite up to it. You’ll need riding gear that can handle wet conditions and a broad range of temps. Binoculars, a camera (if your phone isn’t quite it), and drinking water are all bringing along, and know that there are network gaps where your phone may not connect to civilization.
Photography by Gary Ilimnen
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