Northern Virginia fun roads

So I've lived in north Arlington (Courthouse) for like 6 years and have yet to find any fun roads anywhere close to here. My parents live in the Shenandoah Valley, and it's basically the only time I have any fun with the car. I went for a long drive yesterday all around route 50 and 29 and 495 and into the city, and by the end of the day I was just plain ANGRY. My fault, but it was a day of chores and I thought I could also have some fun just driving. :frusty:

SO, are there any good roads or areas that I should know about? I'm willing to drive a bit but I was curious if anyone has any ideas.

NoVa isn't the place for fun driving. Traffic, boring roads, cops... Basically hop on 66 and keep heading West. Anything before Manassas sucks. Plenty of fun roads in Fauquier County I just don't like risking it in VA. Penalties are just too high.

Barrel said:

NoVa isn't the place for fun driving. Traffic, boring roads, cops... Basically hop on 66 and keep heading West. Anything before Manassas sucks. Plenty of fun roads in Fauquier County I just don't like risking it in VA. Penalties are just too high.

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Thanks for the response. It seems like Manassas has some more open areas (I've gotten lost on some side roads).

Any opinion on West Virginia?

Joplin Rd near Quantico. Lots of roads in Clifton and Fairfax Station.

80 mph is an automatic Reckless Driving ticket in VA. Eff that place.

WV-9 (road going to Charles Town WV from Leesburg VA) is one long stretch, real easy to lose your license here lol.



Another road that I haven't visited yet would be Snickersville Turnpike and I have heard it's a beautiful place. It's right off Lee Jackson Memorial Highway after Stone Ridge. Hope this helps :cheers:

ConspicuousConsumption said:

Thanks for the response. It seems like Manassas has some more open areas (I've gotten lost on some side roads).

Any opinion on West Virginia?

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Lots of good twisty roads over here in WV. I haven't made any weekend cruises this year, so not sure on the overall conditions after winter.

Rt 50, Rt 28, Rt 33, Rt 250 etc are all pretty fun and nice drives thru the mountains. Not sure how far you are from Winchester, but you can run Rt 50 from there over to Romney then down to Senaca Rocks.

Cops aren't too bad, just be observant and if you have a good radar detector you will be fine. I have an Escort 9500 and never see any running laser. Most all are K or Ka band which picks up with plenty of warning.

I'm in bethesda now, and if you go from clara barton past the highway exits to the end (on the maryland side), you can get some solid back road. There is one particular 1 mile long "driveway" to a national park that is full of curves and before it got warm NO ONE was on. Unfortunately, as it's gotten nice it's way too busy to get after it.

I move to shirlington village next month, but honestly it seems like the move it to just take the GW parkway to Clara barton and go that same route.

Nuked said:

Cops aren't too bad, just be observant and if you have a good radar detector you will be fine. I have an Escort 9500 and never see any running laser. Most all are K or Ka band which picks up with plenty of warning.

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9500 is a good choice for VA, I hope it's hard wired in lol

FranzVonHoffer said:

9500 is a good choice for VA, I hope it's hard wired in lol

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I don't go thru VA much, normally only the 45 minute stretch on I-77 between WV and NC. I try to go thru at night if possible and have ran it in dark mode with no issues. If I have to go in daylight I just pull it down from the mirror. Honestly, I normally stay within 5mph of the speed limit when in VA anyways. I feel for you guys that have to deal with it everyday.

The fact that I can get a reckless driving charge in the 1st gear of my bike, is enough for me to want to move out of VA. Having a red GT and a red Daytona 675 isn't exactly fun around NoVA.

Almost Heaven. I love seeing people discover just how great parts of My state are for a driver seeking a twisty and scenic road.

Thanks everyone for the great ideas. I took some long drives this weekend along the Potomac north of Great Falls, VA, and had plenty of good backroads. Definitely pissed my girlfriend off a ton with the gas pedal, so I got my chuckles! But I can't wait to take a trip out to WVA soon.

I'm also going back to my family's place in the Shenandoah Valley this upcoming weekend, and that's all backroads and mountains. I'll try to not get myself into trouble.

ConspicuousConsumption said:

Thanks everyone for the great ideas. I took some long drives this weekend along the Potomac north of Great Falls, VA, and had plenty of good backroads. Definitely pissed my girlfriend off a ton with the gas pedal, so I got my chuckles! But I can't wait to take a trip out to WVA soon.

I'm also going back to my family's place in the Shenandoah Valley this upcoming weekend, and that's all backroads and mountains. I'll try to not get myself into trouble.

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Do you have any roads I should check specifically? I just moved to shirlington so I'm eager to find places that are safe to open up a bit. The more curves the better!

swat 79 said:

Do you have any roads I should check specifically? I just moved to shirlington so I'm eager to find places that are safe to open up a bit. The more curves the better!

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I drove out around the Great Falls area, up to the Trump National Golf Course. Just basically drove on route 193 and small back roads north of there. Just cruising, not sure where I was half the time!