Reference: Touring Books

Good books with decent maps are hard to come by. They're either too long on copy and too short on route information, or just spend too much time on being a tourist guide book than on being a book for riders.

I love to take a good ride book with me and bust it open each night to get ideas for the next day's ride. Hawk Hagebak has a great series of books titled Motorcycle Adventures that are geographically based, so if you know where you're going, you take along a book and have enough rides for an entire week. There are three in the collection, and all cover the south, primarily TN, NC, and GA. Hawk also maintains a site called Motohawk. A review in case you're curious from CarolinaMCEvents.com and a sample ride in the Southern Appalachians.

I found my copies of his books in a Harley shop in Chattanooga TN, and ended up using some of the rides from the North Georgia portion the next day. You can find used copies on Amazon for about $11.00 apiece.

Another handy guide is AMA's Ride Guide to America, edited by Greg Harrison. While it does cover a majority of the U.S., the Mid-west and plains states are missing, so keep in mind where you'd like to tour before buying. The book is divided into regions, so odds are by the time you're too old to ride you'll have a chance to use all of it. I found a reviews from webBikeWorld, as well as a very good price online from Overstock.

But - let's say you're from Arkansas and these books don't work for you. Here's a link to the Arkansas Parks & Tourism web site offering a free PDF riding guide for the state.