Portfolio Archives: Routes

Mountaineer Monster Bikepacking

Region: West Virginia

Season: April – October

Number of Routes: 3

Total Miles: 850

The Mountaineer Monster bikepacking routes offer a challenging, yet rewarding, tour of the Mountaineer Country region of West Virginia, routing through the highlights of Monongalia, Preston, Barbour, and Taylor Counties. If you are brave enough to ride amongst the cryptids of local lore, you’ll find countless swimming holes, breathtaking vistas, and the welcoming people of the region. The routes favor the less-frequented gravel roads of the region, many of which are chunky, rutted, and unimproved for years.

Mon Forest Bikepacking Route Network

Region: West Virginia

Season: Best riding is May-October

Number of Routes: 11

Total Miles: 2,118

The Mon Forest Gravel & Bikepacking Route Network is one of the largest curated gravel and bikepacking route systems in the eastern United States. The Monongahela National Forest covers nearly one million acres of rugged Appalachian terrain, including high spruce plateaus, deep river valleys, remote backcountry, and more than 1,000 miles of forest roads. The route network links these landscapes exploring everything from quiet valley farmland and trout streams to high-elevation ridgelines and remote forest corridors. Most routes pass through at least one of the twelve Mon Forest Towns, offering opportunities to resupply, grab a meal, or spend the night before heading back into the mountains.

Great Plains Gravel Route

Region: Great Plains

Season: Spring to Fall

Miles: 3,500  |  Elevation: 130,000′

Days Out: 30-60  |  Tire Size: ≥ 40mm-2.0″

Difficulty: 5/10 Physical   |  3.5/10 Technical

The Great Plains Gravel Route is a 3,500-mile gravel bikepacking route traversing the Great Plains Region of the United States from Mexico to Canada. The route showcases the beauty of the Great Plains, from the rugged Big Bend region of Texas to the rolling Flint Hills of Kansas, and from Nebraska’s prairies to the iconic Black Hills and Badlands of the Dakotas.

Fayetteville Bikepacking Route Network

Region: Northwest Arkansas

Season: Any, spring and fall are ideal

Number of Routes: 7

Total Miles: 766

The Fayetteville Bikepacking Route Network showcases a first-of-its-kind progressive suite of loops providing multi-day riding adventures with a range of lengths and difficulties. Five unique routes range from 60 to 190 miles (~2 to 4+ days), and loops can be linked together into several longer tours of up to 260+ miles. Riders new to bikepacking can progress through these loops to gain experience and confidence, and more seasoned bikepackers can use the longer routes as preparation for the even more ambitious Arkansas High Country Route, created by Adventure Cycling Association.

The Western Wildlands Route

Region: Idaho, Montana, Utah, Arizona

Season: Summer to Early Fall

Miles: 2,700  |  Elevation: 120,000′

Days Out: 40-65  |  Tire Size: ≥ 2.2″

Difficulty: 5/10 Physical   |  4.5/10 Technical

The Western Wildlands Route is a non-technical expedition, immersing riders in vast expanses of wild and public lands in the Intermountain West.

The Pony Express

Region: Missouri to California

Season: Spring to Early Fall

Miles: 2,208   |   Elevation: 80,000′

Days Out: 30-55   |   Tire Size: ≥ 2″

Difficulty: 4/10 Physical   |   4/10 Technical

The Pony Express Route follows the famed mail trail from smoother riding in the East to rugged and remote riding in the West, tracing Indigenous and settler history along the way.

The Northwoods Route

Region: Minnesota, Michigan, Wisconsin

Season: Late Spring to Early Fall

Miles: 630   |   Elevation: 25,000′

Days Out: 10-14+   |   Tire Size: ≥ 1.75″

Difficulty: 4.5/10 Physical   |   4/10 Technical

The Northwoods Route circumnavigates the west end of Lake Superior following gravel roads, smooth two-tracks, and rail trails, through thick forests, along countless lakes, and to Isle Royale National Park.

The Bears Ears Loops

Region: Central Utah

Season: Late Spring or Early Fall

Miles: 647   |   Elevation: 47,000′

Days Out: 9-14   |   Tire Size: ≥ 2.3″

Difficulty: 6/10 Physical   |   4.5/10 Technical

The Bears Ears Loops immerses bikepackers in the magnificent, immense, complex and threatened landscape in and around Bears Ears National Monument.

Intermountain Connectors

Region: Intermountain

Season: Varies

Number of Routes: 7

Total Miles: 2,416

The Intermountain Connectors are literal and figurative links between the Western Wildlands Route (WWR) and the iconic Great Divide MTB Route (GDMBR) that has inspired thousands of bikepackers worldwide and the creation of the WWR itself. Adventure Cycling Association (ACA) released the GDMBR in 1998, and it has been the most influential of all bikepacking routes out there. As soon as Bikepacking Roots (BPR) released the WWR in 2017, riders inquired about links between these two epic routes to allow for loops of a variety of scales. We’re excited to now share these Intermountain Connectors, a collaborative project of BPR and ACA, with the bikepacking world.

Craters and Cinder Cones

Region: Central Arizona

Season: Late Spring or Fall

Miles: 184   |   Elevation: 12,000′

Days Out: 3+   |   Tire Size: ≥ 2.3″

Difficulty: 4.5/10 Physical   |   3.5/10 Technical

Craters and Cindercones follows quiet dirt roads and two-tracks through woodlands and grasslands among 800+ extinct volcanoes, from small cinder cones to the towering San Francisco Peaks.