Originally published in Motorcycles On The Road Again, October 2006.
Ft. Worth, Texas is known as "where the West begins" and we believe that is a very apt moniker.
East of Ft. Worth lies Dallas, East Texas and Shreveport, Louisiana, these are all fun places to visit and they have some wonderful areas to ride. But they are not "western" by any means.
Ft. Worth has long been a "cow town". From the earliest days when the ranchers started gathering their cattle in pens on the open range, Ft. Worth has been about cattle and ranching — and oil. The open range cattle shows eventually evolved into the Ft. Worth Stockyards — one of the most important cattle trading centers in the country.
Head west from Ft. Worth with us in this issue to discover the West. Featured in this issue is a tour to the heart of the Old West, not only Ft. Worth and vicinity, but across New Mexico roads to unearth sights that you didn't know existed. Enjoy old mining towns, challenging mountain roads, and a piece of our history.
Follow our riders as they venture across Arizona and get their first view of the Grand Canyon then cut across Arizona and on into Utah. The Bryce Canyon is everything these riders hoped it would be and then some. And when they thought they had seen the best Utah had to offer — Zion National Park and Boulder Mountain!
Of course, no trip in this area would be complete without visiting Four Corners, the only spot in the country where a person can stand in four states at one time. If the scenery in this area looks familiar — blame it on the movies as this is where Forrest Gump decided to stop his cross-country runs and go home.
I hope you enjoy the articles and photos of the featured areas, but more importantly, I hope it helps you to search out ideas to plan your own trip. While reading about someone else's trip can be interesting, it will never come close to what you will experience when you pack up your bike and " et on the road again".
View the original article scans (PDF)