Interactive Trackmap & Photo Points - Click link below to expand
Interactive Trackmap & Photo Points - click to expand

West Virginia / Virginia
State Routes 39

Another ridge-crossing east-west route straddling the West Virginia - Virginia Border. Has periodic reasonably good twisties, but I found the experience marred somewhat by traffic.


Section Covered:
Mill Point, WV to Cedar Grove, VA

Length:
118km / 73 mi

Ratings:   Rankings:
Scenic Impact 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Overall Score: 6.6
Twistiness 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Fun-to-Drive: 6.8
Surface Quality 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10  
Traffic 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Rankings and ratings explained


West Virginia 39 is an east-west trending route across middle and eastern West Virginia. It's western terminus is the New River, and it's eastern terminus is the West Virgnia / Virginia Border, where it turns into Virginia state route 39. This description covers a short stretch from Mill Point in central West Virginia east into Virginia, and continuing on for a longer distance in Virginia, ending just short of I-81.
Sublime Thirty-nine
WV-39 and VA-39 cut through ridge and valley country, and as is the case with most of the highways of this sort in this area, the best twisties are found where the highway climbs up and down across the ridges. The scenery is so-so on this route (compared to others nearby), but there are still nice lookouts here and there, like on Warm Springs Mountain in Virginia.
Forest twisties on WV-39
The pavement quality is very good on this route, and there is a lot of nice shady forest driving. I found a relatively higher amount of traffic on this route (compared to other highways in the region), which detracts somewhat from the enjoyment factor. The twisties in the vicinity of Warm Springs Mountain are good (along with other decent twisties sprinkled throughout the route). Nothing massively tight, however. As with most highways in the Virginias, outside of towns, the speed limit is pretty much always 55mph.
Interactive Trackmap & Photo Points - Click link below to expand
Route Data - WV/VA-39 Drive, Mill Pt to Cedar Grove
Start Time: 2:33p.m.
End Time: 4:25p.m.
Duration: 1h51m
Distance: 118.05 km (73.35 mi)
Average Speed: 63.8 km/hr (39.7 mph)
Start Elevation: 2206ft (672m) *
Max Elevation: 2878ft (877m) *
Min Elevation: 1108ft (338m) *
End Elevation: 1159ft (353m) *
* : +/- 75 feet
Total Elevation Gain: 2919ft (890m) *
Total Elevation Loss: 4077ft (1243m) *
 
 
* : +/- 75 feet
Elevation Graph


[ Introduction & Day 1 | Day 2 - Journeying South | Day 3 - Exploring West Virginia | Day 4 - Dragon's Tooth and Yet More Twisties | Day 5 - Final Twisties and Drive Home | Related Presentation: The Dragon's Tooth Hike | Ranked Summary of Twisty Roads | PA-549 | PA-144 | WV-72 | WV-20 | WV-16 & VA-16 | VA-311 | WV-39 & VA-39 | US-250 | US-33 | PA-125 | Road Rankings Explained ]


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