Hawks Nest Motorcycle Ride - Motorcycle Tour and Travel EP #103

Hey fellow motor travelers. I'm headed to the Delaware Water Gap and the Hawks Nest starting right now on Motor Travel USA. Hey everyone. I'm not exactly sure where I am right now, but no matter where it is, I'm having a blast. These roads have been awesome. I'm headed to the Delaware Water Gap area. The area is actually, it actually borders three states, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and New York. If you've never come up to this area to ride or to enjoy the outdoors, I highly recommend it. I used to come here all the time when I lived in the area. There are great camping spots and you can canoe or tube for hours down the river. Like 10 or 20 of us would head up, just have a blast on the weekends, barbecue, swim, tube, camp, and ride. Such a great area. Today, however, I'm not going camping or into the river. I'm riding to one of my favorite motorcycle roads, Route 97 on the New York side, and it heads right past the Hawks Nest. As you'll see, it has great curves and scenery, which is a good combination for any road. The Hawks Nest itself, if you're not familiar with it, is just kind of an overlook on the road. It overlooks into the valley and the Delaware River. It's a spectacular view up there, but it's right along all the curves. Right at that point, it's like a snake. One of the other reasons it's a top motorcycle destination for me is because there's great motorcycle roads all around this area. You can ride along the river, over to Scranton, down to Stroudsburg, and through the Poconos. If you've lived in the Northeast at all, you know what I'm talking about from the commercials. It's a famous place for honeymooners and just really a spectacular area. There's also High Point State Park in New Jersey that you can head over to as well. This trip has been really fun so far. Riding in Canada was a blast, and I'm glad I finally got to do it, and the upstate New York area is just amazing. Check out those videos as part of this series too, and if you ever get a chance, head up that way. I know I'm going to go back. That brings me to a point while traveling through northern New York and Canada. One of the things I really love about taking motorcycle trips is meeting people from different areas and hearing their stories and perspectives on things. There are some times after stopping to just get a drink, I'll look at the time and see an hour or more has gone by just talking with some stranger. It actually happened the other day at a small coffee shop in upstate New York. I just stopped there for a cup of coffee, and the owner and I spoke for a while about life in our two different parts of the world, but you know what? The things we cared about and find ourselves concerned about are strikingly similar. I find that a lot in my travels. Some people want to paint this picture of how divided we all are, but you know what? When you sit down and talk with someone, you find out how similar we all can be. Most people I run into care deeply about their families and want to make sure they provide in the best way possible for them. So yeah, we both have kids in high school and talked about all the things leading up to the college search and application process and what they're going to do after high school. How overwhelming it all seems at some times, all the questions and all the ambiguity. We also talked about providing for our families. Like Florida, upstate New York has been subject to some crazy weather patterns that really impacted tourism and spending. It was really hurting their business. The owner mentioned something I never really thought of before, but makes total sense that it's hard for them to get tourism dollars and other support in upstate New York because so much money gets funneled to New York City. Which totally makes sense, I mean, with how big New York City is, but never really think of it for the smaller towns in New York. The owner also said they wish New York State and New York City would be considered two different entities so they could get a little bit more funding or help. I've never heard that before or even thought about it, but it does make sense from a certain angle. I really enjoy conversations like those, they make me think and open me up to something I would never have thought of otherwise. I think Brian Cranston said it best in his autobiography that he doesn't know why complete strangers will talk to motorcyclists, but he thinks it's because the motorcyclist is someone that they'll never see again. So they can open up and not have to worry about gossip or judgment. Just thought that was interesting and wanted to share that with you. It's always cool to meet other motorcyclists and others while traveling and just hearing from their perspective and their world. Man, I really love riding through the Northeast. I like seeing the old architecture, towns, and buildings. Living in Florida near major cities, everything is relatively new, meaning it was built in the 70s or 80s. I wouldn't be surprised if some of these buildings and homes were more than 100 years old. Well I just had to stop for gas and had to take a detour because the gas station I had programmed into the GPS was closed. Luckily there was one a few miles away, but now I have to get back to my route and I guess I have to take this gravel road. The FJR and these tires aren't really meant for gravel roads. Oh good, that wasn't long. I really couldn't have asked for a better day to visit. Not a rain cloud in sight and the temperature is perfect. I can tell we're getting closer to the hawks nest area. That's the Delaware River to the right. That's pretty cool. A one lane bridge or tunnel. Interesting. Gotta check that out next time. As I mentioned earlier, there's so much more than motorcycling around here. It's so fun to rent a canoe or tube and float down the river. And the river is pretty calm too. I don't remember any real rough white water rafting type stuff. More just a lazy river float at a good speed. And if I remember correctly, the places you rent from, the boats and everything, they'll take you to the launch location and then pick you up from the designated stop to bring you back to your car so you don't have to worry about that. We're really coming closer now. The elevation is changing a bit and the turns in the road are getting sharper. Very excited. Wow. Look at that view. Here we are. The hawks nest. Oh that was cool. No one was in the river today but what an amazing view. I'm just going to head up here in the road, turn around, and just drive through one more time since I don't know when I'm going to be able to get back here. I'm going to be quiet now as I drive through so I can concentrate on the road and also give you an opportunity to check out what you're in for if you ever come up here. Wow. I love this road. I love this place. I'm going to do this one more time and I'll continue the journey. Just awesome. Just amazing. I wish I lived closer. I'd be here so much more often. Such a great place. I actually wish I had time now and wish I built it in to get a boat and go on the river. Next time definitely. Maybe even camp too. So if you can't tell, I'd highly recommend making a trip up to the hawks nest and the Delaware water gap area on a motorcycle. It's not that far from New York City and northern New Jersey and so close to so many places in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and New York. Come and do some motorcycle camping, tubing down the river, hiking, or just explore for hours on the roads that cut through some great wilderness. I hope you got an idea of why it's one of my top places to ride. Now I'm going to continue my adventure, but I'm going to end this episode. So I'll see you next time on Motor Travel USA. Make sure to subscribe today and now let's go explore.