The best motorcycle roads in Iowa
The twistiest paved roads in Iowa, from State Forest Road in Allamakee County on down. Distances, how twisty each one is and how to string them into a ride.
Plenty of roads in Iowa go from A to B. These ones take the scenic way around every hill, creek and bluff. We checked 3 of them.
The headliners
State Forest Road
In Allamakee County. 6.3 miles, about 10 minutes at a relaxed pace.
Twistiness: ●●●○○ Properly twisty
Pleasanton Road
In Decatur County. 6.4 miles, about 10 minutes at a relaxed pace.
Twistiness: ●●○○○ Flowing and curvy
Cumming Road
In Madison County. 6.7 miles, about 10 minutes at a relaxed pace.
Twistiness: ●●○○○ Flowing and curvy
How we picked them
We looked at the shape of every named paved road in Iowa and measured how much each one bends along its length. Then we ranked them by bends per distance, so a short hairpin road and a long mountain highway are compared fairly. Gravel, tracks, residential streets and anything under about 6 miles are left out.
What this does not tell you: how nice the scenery is, how good the surface is, how busy the road gets, or whether it is closed for snow. Check before you go, especially in the mountains and in winter. Then ride it and see for yourself.
Turn it into a ride
Open the MotoRidez planner and link a few of these into a loop, or hit Surprise Me and let it pick a twisty route from wherever you are. Every ride you record is remembered, so next time it can send you down roads you have not tried yet.
Questions riders ask
What is the twistiest motorcycle road in Iowa?
State Forest Road in Allamakee County. It is 6.3 miles long and bends more for its length than any other named paved road of that size in Iowa.
How do you work out which Iowa roads are twisty?
We measure how much each road bends along its length from its shape on the map, then rank roads by bends per distance. Gravel, tracks and residential streets are left out.
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