This quiet, cozy, well-stocked cabin was our home away from home while visiting North Georgia. Lodging options are plentiful in the area. (Photos by the author.)

My family and I live in Jacksonville, Florida, where midsummer heat and humidity can press down on you like a weight. Looking for a respite, we headed for the higher elevations of the Blue Ridge Mountains in North Georgia, some of the southernmost mountains in the 2,000-mile Appalachian chain. Where there are mountains there are usually good motorcycling roads, and North Georgia has some real gems.

Scan the QR code above or click here to view the route on REVER

With my wife, kids, and parents piled in the family hauler and my motorcycle on the trailer, the six-hour drive had all the makings of National Lampoon?s Vacation. We avoided any hijinks, but we were relieved to arrive at our favorite cabin in Cleveland, Georgia.
With my family preoccupied with their own wanderings, I was eager to head out for a ride.

I?m an MSF instructor with more than 20 years of riding experience, but as a flatlander I had to recalibrate my brain to the tight curves, camber changes, rises, and dips that are common in North Georgia.

Discarded hiking boots adorn an oak tree at Walasi?Yi Interpretive Center, a popular place to rest and restock on the Appalachian Trail at Neels Gap. The southern trailhead for the AT is 29 miles away on Springer Mountain.

From Cleveland, I rode north on U.S. Route 129 to U.S. Route 19/1...