Barking at the Mountain
3 Days of Adventure Motorcycling in Southern Appalachia
October 17 – 19, 2025
Join us for a 3 day Motorcycle Adventure Ride staged in Abingdon, VA as we explore Southern Appalachia, Iron Mountain, and Hungry Mother.
Dual Sport and Adventure Bikes
About this ride
This is a 3 day ride designed for adventure bikes. Riders will be staying in a Motel in Abingdon. The ride is designed for advanced and intermediate riders. This is not a good ride for beginners. The main route does contain a mix of dirt roads and pavement. The ride has route options. The main original route is colored BLUE. Each day riders can choose easier GREEN options or riders can choose to explore rougher dirt sections as RED options. Riders should study their choices ahead of time. The main BLUE route was designed with a mix for the intermediate riders on mid sized adventure bikes.
Why we do these rides?
Riding the "Barking at the Mountain" Adventure Ride through the Southern Appalachians is an exhilarating experience that blends rugged terrain with breathtaking natural beauty and a playful spirit. As you throttle through serpentine gravel trails, forested hollows, and high-elevation ridgelines, the deep growl of your engine harmonizes with the echoing bark of excitement—whether from your loyal canine companion or the sheer thrill of the ride.
The route winds through misty hardwood forests, cascading streams, and switchbacks that challenge your focus and reward your senses. You might pass ancient rock outcrops, crumbling barns, and wide-open meadows where mountain air carries the scent of pine and wildflowers. Occasional wildlife sightings—deer, hawks, maybe even a curious bear—add a wild unpredictability to the journey.
With every ascent toward the skyline, you're greeted by sweeping vistas of the Blue Ridge and Smoky Mountains. Some stops along the way offer rustic campgrounds, local diners with strong coffee, and plenty of tales from other riders. And somewhere along a quiet overlook, your dog—goggles on, ears perked—lets out a joyful bark into the wind, sealing the memory.
What are these Adventure Rides like?
These rides are designed along the theme of exploring the world. They include a mix of remote dirt routes, back paved roads, sometimes some very seldom ridden paths and pavement. Rides are a mix of all these things and sometimes some surprises due to weather conditions. These rides are for experienced, well seasoned riders that are capable of turning a washed out road experience into just part of the day's fun. Riders should be comfortable with turning around when necessary and finding an alternative route around unexpected obstacles. These rides are not for new riders. Note: There is no support truck on this ride. Riders must carry there own gear on their bike. Come prepared for the possibility of weather and rain
Navigation Made Easy
We have made navigation easy for riders by developing a custom GPS chip to simply install into your Garmin or BMW GPS unit. We have also made matching paper ride maps that you can carry directly with you for quick reference and collaboration with your friends.
Is this route right for you?
This route is not good for beginners; you should be very experienced in backcountry travel and prepared for any difficulty or failures. This route includes options: both easier and harder routes. As an example for those wanting to avoid river crossings, we have added workaround route options. For those just tired and wanting to end the day early, we have added easy paved shortcuts. And for those tough guys wanting more, we have added some challenging routes.
Ride Signup info:
The cost to join this 3 day ride is $395. This covers 3 night lodging and your ride packets which include custom Garmin GPS maps on a micro SD card and printed ride maps and descriptions.
Now taking signups: You can now reserve your spot on this ride by leaving a $50 Deposit (Ride limit is 16 riders)
$50 Deposit
After your signup riders will receive an email from me with further ride information and instructions.
Note:
Riders must make full payment by September 5th, 2025.
Riders will receive ride packets in the mail one week before the ride.
Refund Policy
Your ride deposit is fully refundable until the 50% payment date above. We encourage riders to make their deposit early in order to ensure they will get a spot on the ride and to begin working on you own ride arrangements. After making your ride deposit, you will be connected with the other riders in order to coordinate any plans or discussions you may have. And to just have fun developing plans with the other riders. If your plans change, you will receive a full refund until the 50% payment due date above.
Ride Details
I know many of you also enjoy dreaming about the ride and making your plans, so here is the detail, enjoy scrolling through the detail below
Route Choices:
Don't put yourself in a bad spot. gpsKevin route maps always include route options. We recognize that weather and conditions can change. We design these adventures with multiple routes in different colors. The main adventure route is colored Blue, then there are easier and harder options, Green and Red, respectively. This allows riders to choose their own level of adventure appropriate for their own skill and desires. We don't want to put you into a challenging spot without options; we let you make the choice.
I am very excited about this ride and happy we can get Yoda Keith to help. This a special 3 day ride offering 4 ride options. The ride that has been designed and scouted by Yoda Keith. It will include all the options from Scenic to Challenging. Do miss this one as we tend to not repeat ride in the next year
Yoda Keith
View the ride maps
OK since many of you like to study more detail about the ride, below are the ride maps.
I put these ride maps on the web page because I know a few of you love looking at the ride detail and dreaming about the ride. At first glance these maps do not look so impressive, but they are way cool. If you start zooming in, you can see the ride in incredible detail. I have spent a ton of hours sorting through the details of the ride for each day, so for those of you that enjoy this sort of thing, well enjoy!
Legend:
The Blue lines are MAIN routes
The Red lines are Harder routes
The Green lines are Easy options
The Black lines are the out and back viewpoints
How does the ride navigation work?
This is a self-led GPS ride; all riding is on your own. You are responsible for your own riding. You will be given a GPS map file and instructions on how to use your Garmin GPS unit. People will hook up in small groups of less than 6 riders and tend to ride together. You are not encouraged to ride alone. You are responsible for your own riding and yourself.
(see my ride Navigation Video)
Are you right for this ride?
When something goes wrong on a ride, would your riding friends say that you are more likely to need help or more likely to give help? You should be in the more likely to offer help camp. This ride is filled with riders that are more likely to give help, so most of the time the riders never need help. Additionally there is all the normal stuff, come prepared to maintain your bike, fix your bike on the trail, repair flat tires, deal with bad weather and rain and make a joke or two.
How do I make the GPS stuff so easy?
I develop very high quality ride maps custom for our ride. They come from much of what I and others have ridden. I take the best from all my rides and make new ones.
(See my Custom Ride Maps Video)
Note from me, gpsKevin
My goal for this ride is simple,: great riding. So you can count on great routes and places to ride.
But in addition, the ride is about: discovering new places, meeting new friends, seeing new parts of the world.
Thanks
gpsKevin
FAQ's
Q; What do I do if I don't have a Garmin GPS?
A: Buy one, you need it, we will show you how to use it. You can get a great one for under $200 bucks. ( See gpsKevin's gps recommendations)
Q: Is the riding really on my own?
A: Yes, but almost everyone hooks up and rides with a friend, or a new friend or me.
Warning:
Any and all riding is on you own. Conditions change and routes may not be navigable.
Legal access can change and is not guaranteed. Riders must assess the local conditions.
Weather can make the routes impassable. Riders must obey all local laws
gpsKevin assumes no liability for these rides or your actions.
Who is going on the ride?
Yoda Keith B
High Point, NC
Ben M
Bluffton, SC
David H
Pinehurst, NC
Greg L
Brazil, IN
John T
Berlin, MA
Lior L
Huntington Station, NY
