2026 Rally Location Ideas

[emptysea]

Google Maps

This is a route in my neighborhood that we take often. You follow the St. Croix River on the Minnesota or Wisconsin side. Gorgeous views, a couple of areas go through deep twisty roads between canyons/forest. This route can go all the way down the Mississippi and gets more interesting the further south you go towards the driftless region.

The Ferret, Offroad, my wife, and I rode this exact route on our way to North Dakota a couple of years ago. Beautiful.  And my wife and I have ridden both sides of the Mississippi from Minnesota/Wisconsin to Iowa/Illinois.  You are correct that it's a beautiful ride.  

I will post a couple of links of routes, or portions of routes, that are easily accessible from New Glarus to see if that piques any interest.  I'll just need to get through the 200 emails I had waiting for me upon my return from Kingsport.

 

[the Ferret]

Here's some pics that I took on that N Dakota trip

 

[Lunchbag]

For me, New Glarus is 15+ hrs and Eureka Springs is 19+ hrs.  In either case, I think I would have to rent a uhaul motorcycle trailer and budget two-days to drive each way.  Not sure how many days that would leave me to attend the rally.

Pikeville is 8+ hrs which is probably close to my limit, but I think I could start early and ride there and back in one day each.  Part of the attraction of Kingsport for me was that I could get there and back on the bike in one day each (7+ hrs).  The trip was part of the adventure, unfortunately my adventure didn't last very long this year.

Overall, I would say I have a much higher likelihood of making Pikeville than the other locations.

 

[misterprofessionality]

This is how i think it would go for most people, except maybe the canadians. Its 15 hours for me as well, except im sure i could do that drive in one day without issue.

If youre thinking about how much time it would leave you for the rally, remember we always hold them Monday-Friday so that most people would have saturday and sunday for travel on each end.

 

[emptysea]

Here's a route that I just tossed together. About 150 miles. Note that I would take us down WI-131 and not WI-27, but Google wouldn't let me lay a way point down there. If you're so inclined, you can do a street view of any of the county roads in the center of the route loop to see what most of the roads in the area look like. Google Maps

Note that this is not an actual route I have planned for a trip, although 171 and County Trunk C (bottom left of the route) are roads that you should ride if you're there.

Note 3 - you will see that this route starts/ends in Spring Green. This is my second choice for Rally HQ. I'm concerned about the lodging costs in New Glarus, but I have not heard back from a couple of places with their group rates. I do have other towns that could serve us well that might be ever so slightly closer to people, but I figure that if you're in with a 15 hour drive, then a 15.5 hour drive is not going to be a bridge too far.

At the end of the day, I realize that Pikeville or someplace like it is far more geographically desirable than WI. I will put forth my best case for why it's worth the longer commute.

Question -- is a swimming pool a must-have for folks?

 

[the Ferret]

I took a suit to Kingsport but never used it. Cheryl was the only forum member I observed in the pool.

 

[emptysea]

I took a suit to Kingsport but never used it. Cheryl was the only forum member I observed in the pool.

I feel like it took you a few tries to word that appropriately.  LOL

 

[misterprofessionality]

The route looks like its a half mile long on my end. Did you create waypoints by dragging the route or by placing hard lettered waypoints?

 

[emptysea]

I dragged the route. It was kind of a slapdash attempt to get folks an idea. I'll put something better together for you.

 

[Cormanus]

I took a suit to Kingsport but never used it. Cheryl was the only forum member I observed in the pool.

I had a brief vision of the Ferret in a pinstriped number and a flashy tie.

Wrong suit.

 

[emptysea]

Another attempt at a route map for Wisconsin. Again, this is just an example and again, please look at WI 131 on the west side of the route as the alternative to US61 -- 131 is under construction until November and Google won't let me plot a route using it.

Google Maps

Let me know if you can see 111 mile loop and what you think about the roads in terms of ride-ability. Thanks.

 

[misterprofessionality]

Now this one i can see. Everything seems good one on street view. Looks like an easy, not too long, scenic to ride.

Question: can i just loop this lake all day?

Google Maps

but in all seriousness it looks like the terrain gets more interesting as you go farther north, but lots of the interesting roads have that distinct "not for joyriding" quality. no lines, lots of tar snakes, that sort of thing, though a lot more of them seem to be paved compared to Virginia, or South Carolina, where there's still boatloads of dirt roads.

 

[emptysea]

Now this one i can see.  Everything seems good one on street view.  Looks like an easy, not too long, scenic to ride.

Question:  can i just loop this lake all day?

Google Maps

but in all seriousness it looks like the terrain gets more interesting as you go farther north, but lots of the interesting roads have that distinct "not for joyriding" quality.  no lines, lots of tar snakes, that sort of thing, though a lot more of them seem to be paved compared to Virginia, or South Carolina, where there's still boatloads of dirt roads.

I like riding around lakes like that, but there are twice as many driveways as their are turns in the road.  LOL   

North and West is better.  Almost all rides will be in those directions, although a little south of the Wisconsin River has a number of interesting county roads (paved).  Also, always check thedate of the street view.  Many are a few years old and WI is pretty good about resurfacing.   Final routes will be pre-ridden to determine pavement quality.  

Look for Wildcat Mountain for a fun little section.

 

[misterprofessionality]

Ah ok i got it. I can definitely see more potential around Spring Green than New Glarus. it all depends on what the population/traffic situation is on some of these roads.

 

[emptysea]

Wisconsin Driftless Possible Lodging Options.

I’m still looking, but these two places are possibilities:

Round Barn Lodge

Round Barn Lodge

They sent me this note on rates/availability. With the 10% discount it seems comparable to Kingsport.

“Our 2026 Rates are available. We could do a 10% off rate for the group.

Weekend Rate Weekday Rate
2 Queens 127.80 118.80
King Fireplace 127.80 118.80
Standard King 109.80 100.80
Family Suite 207.00 189.00

August and September are our most busiest months. When you decide if you would like to go with this, the sooner the better to get your reservations in.”

Spring Green Motel

Home | Spring Green Motel

More basic, but cheaper and we’ve stayed here many times. Clean rooms. Nice gathering place. I have an email out to them but haven’t heard back. I will call them today or tomorrow for more details.

My hope was to find a place with on-site dining or within walking distance of several dining options. These places don’t offer that, but I suspect that this rally will have the highest percentage of tow vehicles for transportation. Still looking for other options — Dodgeville has a few that might be good.

 

[the Ferret]

Just out of curiosity why would August & Sept be their busiest months? I've always traveled in Sept because school is back in session and that takes a lot of travelers off the road.

 

[emptysea]

Just out of curiosity why would August & Sept be their busiest months? I've always traveled in Sept because school is back in session and that takes a lot of travelers off the road.

I don't know for sure.  I suspect that the last week of August is a great vacation week for people without kids because of Labor Day.  Also county fairs can be big events in Wisconsin as well as Oktoberfest events (traditionally held in mid-late September). There are not a lot of decent lodging options in the specific area in which I'm looking and that may also contribute to this.

 

[Redbird]

I would certainly come to a Wisconsin rally. I enjoyed the Kingsport rally!

 

[emptysea]

I would certainly come to a Wisconsin rally.  I enjoyed the Kingsport rally!

I hope to see you at the next rally, wherever it is held.  

Because of the dearth of lodging options relative to other possible rally locales, I’m going to need as much lead time as possible.  I would like to hear any other nominations within the next couple of weeks with a final poll sometime around 10/1.    If that is not enough time, then Wisconsin is probably off the table.

 

[misterprofessionality]

That's reasonable. We should always have to sofnotice to get these kinds of things planned. Hurricane Helene delayed my planning severely and it really made me have to pack my schedule to fit it all in between March and August.

On that note I think we're waiting for Amos to present his idea for Murphy NC