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Highway 95 North
A hidden gem in the south-central Missouri Ozarks is Highway 95 North, cutting east from Highway 5 about 16 miles south of Ava, MO or 17 miles north of Gainesville. We started our trip in Mansfield, fueling up at the Signal station on Highway 5 North, then cutting through town to head south on 5 towared Ava.
Highway 5 was just repaved this year, so while the road surface is as perfect as it will ever get, the tar is still in the stone, leading to some unsteady feelings in the curves, particularly after a rain. I recommend taking it easy unless it’s a warm, dry day. The hill country between Mansfield and Ava is lovely, especially down by Bryant Creek. The wide open landscape south of Ava is breathtaking, fading in a rolling carpet to the hills in the haze of the horizon.
Turning left at 95 North, the first sign a rider encounters is the familiar “curved road ahead” squiggle, with the lower notation “35 MPH.” This sets the tone for the first leg of our trip; if that sign makes you smile, you’ll be smiling for a fair bit.
The road is meticulously maintained, in good repair as of summer 2025, and is dotted with well-kept farms and smallholdings with neat houses and yards. The dappled road twists and turns through fields and forest groves, gaining and losing significant altitude as it plies back into the hill country. There are a smattering of gravel side roads, so one must keep a watchful eye for the potential for ‘scrabble’, that spray of gravel on pavement that occasions gravel interchanges.
This is a road for lovers of ‘twisties’- no Tail of the Dragon by any stretch, you’ll have to slow way down if you plan to lean far enough to drag unless you’re on a bagger- but while you won’t scrub off your chicken strips, you’ll definitely warm the sidewalls a bit. The ideal machines for this trip are sport bikes, dual sports, and light cruisers. Heavy cruisers, baggers, and touring bikes can certainly partake, but they’ll want to mind their low sides in the slow corners. I actually giggled into my helmet with glee on some of the 30mph switchbacks that carved through the heavy forest, I felt like I was in a tire commercial.
County road N comes in as a bit of a surprise near the bottom of a sweeping curve above Brixey Creek. Keep a lookout for local vehicles from the sides; they’re not used to much traffic, so some will do little more than slow before proceeding to cross the road. Likewise, keep your eyes open when crossing Spring Creek between Rockbridge and Gentryville, particularly in the summer- if the water level and temperatures are high, one can chance a sighting of bathing beauties lounging on the creek bank, making for a hazardous crossing if one’s eyes linger too long.
In the Shannon Ranch Conservation Area north of Drury, there is a lookout on the east side of the road that is definitely worth the stop. The vista it provides will take your breath away, as the land spreads out in hills and valleys below you like a rumpled green blanket. While I haven’t been in that season, I would imagine it to be even better on a colorful autumn day.
After crossing Highway 76 at Vanzant, the curves abate as you come in to the outskirts of Mountain Grove. This is your opportunity to stop for fuel, stretch your legs, and maybe hit the farmer’s market on the square as you snake through town. There are several nice local restaurants, as well as the ubiquitous fast-food chains as you get closer to U.S. Route 60. Here, one can choose to head back to one’s starting point using the highway, or join us for the second leg of today’s loop.
From Mountain Grove, we continued north on 95 out of town. The sweeping curves come back, coupled with some entertaining undulation as one traverses through cattle farms and hay fields. We covered running 95 south from Lynchburg on our last trip, so we won’t discuss that. The road quality north of the highway is nowhere near that of our first leg, so be aware of potential potholes and loose edges.
At Rail, we took a left on Highway 38 and headed west. I love this section, particularly because it reminds me of some areas in which I grew up in Wisconsin. The farms are small, snugly set in the creek valley, rough and rustic. It has a vintage feel to it that just delights me. The curves are plenty, not too tight, and close enough to keep your speed down and sight line close. One could take this route almost all the way to Springfield, but for today’s trip we took another left on E Highway south to Norwood.
E Highway has been recently resurfaced, and as such is a dream of a run- well marked, clear, smooth, and dark. The road twists through groves of trees and occasional open fields, farms, smallholdings, and forests, keeping the view ever changing. The curves and undulations continue the twisty theme, but the increase in homesteads means keeping a watchful eye for vehicles and equipment entering or exiting the road, not to mention the potential for errant pets and children. Too soon, we were back to US 60, where we fueled up at the TA truck stop and headed home.
The entire loop, starting from the Signal station at Highway 5 in Mansfield to the TA station in Norwood, clocked in at just over 100 miles, an easy run for a few hours’ excitement. Bikes with small tanks or big engines may need to refuel in Mountain Grove, Vanzant, or Gentryville, but on the KLR650 we only used a couple gallons.
The only kink in the ride is if you come up behind a car or truck, one not kind or observant enough to realize they’re cramping your style and get out of the way. They have a lot more weight to throw around, so they’re slower in the corners and quicker to get on the brakes. While the passing zones on our route were spare to nonexistent except near larger towns and longer straightaways, one can bravely take one’s chances scoffing the law to get around them.
There are still some warm, dry days left to our season! If you have the time and inclination, Highway 95 North is highly recommended.
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2 Replies
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Sounds like you had quite an enjoyable ride.
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It was! The only downside to the whole ride was about halfway up the first section of 95, south of 76, where I was hit with a pang of guilt and loneliness as I thought, “I wish Dad was here.” I only ever got to take one ride with him, almost 30 years ago now. He’s still alive, but he turned 90 this year and long ago gave up his two wheels. As a matter of fact, I don’t know that he rode much after that, although he still recalls the ride with great joy.
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