I mapped out my route and checked over my bike. I ran through my pre-ride check list hopped on for a few hours of fun. Starting from home in Scotrun, PA I headded out to 715 north at 611. Route 715 is a nice road. It starts with some uphill twists and turns through the woods and flattens out somewhat at the top with larger bends and one right hander that just wants to through you into the woods. A sharp crest rouns through the middle of the right hander so that it goes from a nice banked turn into a small jump onto a reverse bank. It will get your attention if you are not ready for it. The last mile plus is a downhill wonder of civil engineering. It twists and turns and dips and crests down the side of the mountian to route 191. A left onto 191 takes you north along a flat, straight two lane road running down the bottom of the valley.
A few mile up the road, 191 turns right and gets more interesting. Mostly wooded with houses dotting the sides of the road, 191 is a pleasant ride through intersection towns and vacant stretches. A couple of small towns along the way offer gas and unique shopping. Route 191 intersects with 507 for the next part of our ride. And again, 507 is much like 191 traveling through the wooded mountians past lots of quaint little homesteads. Lake Wallenpaupack will arive on your left side without you even realizing it. When you start seeing boat dealers on the side of the road, you're there. Running along side the lake the road turns with many of the inlets and outlets of the shore. Route 507 runs along two thirds of the south side of the lake to the eastern most point at route 6. I stopped for a bit of lunch along 507 at Ernhardt's resturant. Ernhardt's is a very nice place with a more sofisticated atmosfere then I was looking for, but the small deck out back offered a nice view onto the lake which is what I wanted. My burger was very good and cooked the way I asked.
Back on the bike again, I finished out 507 and reached route 6 south. I feel that in the future I will finish this loop with a trip down 402, but this time I rode all the way out to route 209. Between routes 6 and 209, it made the last part of the trip less enjoyable then the first. Both roads are main routes and fairly straight. Route 209 does offer some very nice views of the cliffs and wood along the road, but the amount of traffic detracts heavily from the enjoyment. I followed 209 down through traffic to Stroudsburg and headded home on route 611.
With lunch the trip took me about 3 hours. It was a very nice loop that can be modified in many ways from what ever direction that you might reach the Pocono area. As I said before, the only change I might make in the future is to come down 402 instead of 209 to get to the Stroudsburg area.
