The Under Appreciated Loop And The Oldfield Opry. MO14-MO76-MO125

A view over the Ozark Mountains from Good Hope.

There are lots of routes to ride in the Ozarks, almost all of which are good rides, but it's also easy to get in the habit of riding the same roads all the time. I find that the local riders generally fall into this rut.  They know a few routes and every time they get a chance they go ride one of them.  In time we'll go over those more popular routes here. For today though, we're going to go over one of the best and least appreciated routes in the Ozarks.



The Route: ( click the minus button to see the whole route here or click below the map to see in google maps.)



View Sparta, Ava, Bradleyville, Sparta 14-76-125 in a larger map
Route Info:

Distance: ~80 miles

Time: 2 hours or less (traffic dependant)

Road Level: 3 See our road level guide

Hazards: Farm animals, Wildlife, roadkill, slow moving traffic, farm equipment

This route has a wide variety of terrain. Leaving Sparta, on Mo-14, you'll be on mostly level ground that will stay with you for the first 11.5 miles, through the, blink and you'll miss it, towns of Bruner and Elkhead. At this point you'll get into the edge of the mountains with some easy rolling terrain and more corners after you pass through Dogwood. About 16 miles from Sparta,you'll dive into the outer edges of the Ozark Mountains where you'll find tall long ridges and deep valleys and some tighter curvier road, with elevation changes. This section of the route is, in most places, a relaxing easy ride. Just pay attention to the road signs, the short sections of curves are somewhat tightly packed and some are sharp.

On the plateau just outside of Sparta 

Arriving in Ava, you'll find a medium sized town with most of the amenities you could need, there's a handful of gas stations, a Walmart, grocery store, hotel and most other shops you normally find in small town america. (I hesitate to list any by name because, like any small town, shops tend to change hands and names regularly.)  The route takes you through the center of Ava, across the town square and then out the other end of town. This is on purpose for two reasons, one, you just rode 30 miles, you deserve a leisurely ride through town to explore and two, it's easier to just ride straight through town to get on to the next section of the ride.

Note: If you have a small gas tank be sure to fill up in Ava.  The next sure gas stop is back in Sparta, nearly 60 miles away.

As we leave Ava, we're taking Mo-76W. This stretch of road is more high ridges and deep valleys though each are getting shorter and the distance between sets of curves, shorter as well. If you've never rode through a mountainous area, the road on the the ridges and deep in the valleys are generally fairly straight and if they do have corners they are not severely sharp. It's the way up to those ridges or down to the valleys that get hairy, normally once you start, either down or up, the road starts to get twisty, sometimes with very tight corners. This is the case for, this section of road.

Taken on MO-76 between Ava and Bradleyville.

We pass through the communities of Good Hope, high on a ridge, through Roy and Brown Branch and finally Garrison, this is where the straight road ends. Up until now the roads we've traveled have been somewhat twisty here and there but, for the most part there have been some places to collect ourselves, take a breath and watch the mountain vistas pass by. All that ends here, from garrison to Oldfields the only semi straight stretch of road is in Chadwick.  It's time to focus, pay attention to the road signs and know you and your bikes limits for the next ~13 miles.  This is not the twistiest stretch of road in the area, but it is a stretch that has no straight stretches worth measuring, it's littered with tight corners, blind corners and a heaping helping of elevation changes.

Obligatory Motorcycle pic.

Wow, that was fun! Now that we're back in Oldfield we can relax a little as we cruise back to Sparta.

 If it's Saturday night between 7 and 10 stop on in at the Oldfield Opry. Last I knew Admission is free and there will be plenty of homemade goodies, they will cost you a little coin and a hat will be passed. It's been a while but, as i remember it, a good time with good old country and bluegrass music. There's a good video done by the Springfield News Leader about the Oldfield Opry, but they keep it behind a paywall, you may be able to do a google search and find it.

 Here's a link to a KSMU article about the Oldfield Opry and one to the Opry's Facebook page.

Just east of Sparta on 14.

MO-76 Between Ava and Bradleyville.