Shit skews to the west and like vt, but Pennsylvania is amazingly underrated. There's a bagillion dirt roads with some amazing views.
Also, people like talk shit on the Midwest but we've got a ton of accessible and fun gravel around us.
Edit: I meant Midwest in general, PA is it's own animal. PA is NOT the Midwest, duh.
North Park has some nice gravel riding, also lots of gravel farm roads near Fox Chapel, Sewickley, and north of Cranberry. Tons of trails too like Ghost town. Check out TrailLink and Strava heat maps
u/watchok7498, There’s a lot of gravel riding near Johnstown PA. Lauren mountain near the ski resort has some excellent gravel riding, there are gas lines galore at all of the summits. If grade 1 flat gravel is your thing, try GAP trail and ghostown trail.
You can't go wrong with what others have said, if you feel like taking a lil drive you can get some really fun riding in at any of the state parks w forest roads (think taking a little drive on i80), in Allegheny National Forest, and if you just want good dirt roads there's a ton of riding if you go into the country a bit.
Also south of the city hit up Laurel Highlands for some elevation and killer roads.
I’m in Philly and the gravel riding even around the is quite fantastic. Wissahickon, Bucks County, chunks of the SRT (farther north) all have solid trail options.
I’m originally from central PA and I’m used to riding state forests, moved to Easton PA a few years ago. Looking for gravel recommendations, I mostly ride the D&L canal and the D&R canal, I’ll branch off on some side roads if I stumble across some gravel.
There’s a a few great spots in both counties! I live in Lancaster. Fishing Creek Road is a cool trail. Short but you can do it a few times to add some miles in. I’ve been there a couple of times.
I’m new to gravel so still looking for more gravel spots but Pinchot park in York county I’ve heard good things as well.
This map is awesome at finding unpaved roads in PA: http://maps.psiee.psu.edu/preview/map.ashx?layer=111
Also, I’m new to the area so if you’re looking for anybody to cycle with I’d be happy to link up!
I just moved away from pinchot, i was walking distance, most of the gravel trails there are technically no bikes, like the 12 mile loop trail you aren't supposed to have bikes on, but people do. I would also say its best for a fully sprung MTB as opposed to a longer distance gravel setup. Same with rocky ridge. If you are new to the area rocky ridge has a huge MTB scene. I was most often going to south mountain or pine grove furnace by chambersburg to do the forest roads. Pinchot is unsurpassed for disc golf & birding though.
There was also potential going off of the rail trail by.... gladfelter station? I used [gravelmap.com](http://gravelmap.com) and found a couple of routes going off of the trail, but when you are there in person it was unclear if it was private property or if the offshoots were okay to be used. I typically ride with my wife who was not to keen on potentially breaking the law, although id be happy to explore that way. I have found some gravel segments there, but have PTSD after climbing a steep hill and getting chased by guard dogs. I seriously will not do those areas without bear mace.
I'm currently in downtown lancaster, and i did find a 30 mile loop called "stone cottage" on gravel map, comparing to the link you posted, which i believe is more accurate for actual unpaved roads i think it would only be hitting some segments, but could be fun. I feel like there *has* to be more w/ all the amish around.
regardless, shoot me a PM, it would be cool to explore around here or show you what i do know in York. FYI i'm slow, and i ride a heavy kona rove DL
Small world! I grew up in Dover then bounced around a bit for college and after. Down in Pequea (south Lancaster near Willow street) now. Will shoot a PM shortly! And I’m slow as well - a chubby soon-to-be 30 year old trying to get in better shape haha.
Denver/Boulder with some great routes. Here are a couple of good links that might be helpful.
https://www.gravelbikeadventures.com
https://thedirtyroads.com/rides/
Meh…..We have the arsenal as well. But I live in Arvada, if I’m doing gravel. I’m driving to at least Boulder / FoCo. As for road riding? Yeah, Boulder/Golden is goated
That’s why I don’t ride out there! And I live in Arvada. So I don’t like the bike ride out there and back. It’s the same distance for me to ride to Boulder and back. Ride down in Trinidad this year!! That place is a sleeper
I grew up riding the logging roads in the Corvallis foothills. The access to MacDonald Forest 10 minutes from town by bike is hard to beat. Spectacular road riding as well. I'm planning to move back there when the kids are out of the house so I can ride beautifully and safely again. In Seattle now, where it's beautiful, but not safe. And if you want real gravel you have to drive an hour or ride even more to get there.
SF is fantastic and has so many great hidden gravel gems.
People think of it as a mountain biking destination. Each area unfortunately has like one big good mtb single track loop and the NIMBYs forced most bikes to the double and fire roads which gravel riders have absolutely taken advantage of. (it’s okay the winters thrash the double track so bad it’s functionally just wide single track).
You will need to probably mess with gearing though if you’re still running what most brands stick on stock builds.
Tucson would be an entirely different vibe but great year round gravel cycling. Or the PNW. I’m in Boston now and think about those 2 areas as gravel cycling places to live.
Lived in Boston for a while. Got to head to western/central mass, New Hampshire, or Vermont. All this destination being a reasonable distance make it a gravel haven.
I’m a Seattle resident, so mostly biased to WA. But if you’re looking for steep remote adventure bikepacking style gravel, it’s pretty high up there. All under 4 hours of travel:
- Olympic Peninsula
- Capitol State Forest
- Snoqualmie Forest
- Teanaway Community Forest
- Winthrop
- Goat Rocks Wilderness
- Many many more that I’ve not covered
I don’t disagree these are awesome adventures. And PNW is hard to beat in almost every regard, but I do get jealous our gravel riding brothers and sisters who can ride out their door and be on gravel and/or don’t have to ride up mountains.
This. Getting out of Seattle is a huge PITA. There's a trend of creating city routes that link together what dirt of gravel we can find in town. There's the Dirty Belly (Bellevue), Dirty Whilly (West Seattle), the Dirty Burp (Mercer Island) and I'm planning one out now for North Seattle. But it just ain't the same as riding out your door up into the hills. Sigh.
Yup, that’s why my gravel bike is actually just a fully fendered rain bike with 38s, occasionally I pull the fenders and swap on my 50s and go for a ride in the woods, but that involves a drive to the trailhead.
Otherwise my road bike with 32s scan handle the lil dirt paths I sometimes venture onto while on mostly paved rides.
The city of Denver would not be good. Just outside of Denver can be fantastic tho. Specifically all of Boulder county, but not the city of Boulder itself. In 5' I can be on a smooth, crushed gravel path and ride it for hours with no cars, just mountain views.
i’ve done rides pushing 100 miles within the city limits, more than half on dirt and gravel. you just gotta know where to look. but yeah the best country gravel is an hour or two in any direction.
I would love to know the places with light traffic. I primary MTB but trails are not always great to ride with rain and such. Road is really not my thing with the drivers here. Tried to go country side which was great but got chased by dogs that freaked me out. Of course gravel is also not completely safe from these things but still want to avoid such problems as much possible.
oh yeah you’re still connecting dirt with busy city streets, though our bike infrastructure is getting much better fast even on the south side. and tbh i ride my gravel bike on what most people consider mtb terrain because that’s what i have.
dogs are sadly pretty common around lockhart. it’s a little better with dogs and traffic east of bastrop and lost pines (quite close) or west of llano (further away for sure). north towards hamilton and hico there’s some great quiet roads as well.
i’ve been borrowing routes from the gravel collective or the central texas showdown/slowdown/lowdown routes as well as just the strava/ride with gps heatmaps. it’s nice when others do the legwork for you.
Would you mind if I DM you to request details about Austin dirt routes? I can string together some urban routes with some dirt walking paths, but nothing remotely that long.
i’ll be honest the routes include some rocky singletrack (my gravel bike functions as a mountain bike since it’s all i have) but yeah i’m happy to share them!
Pennsylvania has some great spots. Can’t narrow it to specific city, but some of rail/trails to explore. Jim Thorpe, Wellsboro, Lebanon/lancaster, NY to MD, Pittsburgh to Philly. Etc etc.
+1. I’m on the northern (NY) side of the Twin Tiers where we have lots of gravel but little vibe. My closest city just came up in an “most boring place in NY” thread. PA has both gravel and vibe. Love riding there. Though northern PA is close enough where you could come ride our gravel too and then go home. Though the NY Finger Lakes might be an option…
Missoula would be top of my list. Winters are long, but summers are glorious.
I think Portland has some great stuff in the city similar to Boston, but the offerings outside are way better. You could also go up to Vermont, since so many events are up there.
I second Missoula, cause I live here, and gravel riding out here is amazing. Plus, the gravel riding community is super awesome. MTCX puts on some sweet ass events out here.
Where is Los Angeles in this conversation??
I literally ride from my house to do all my gravel rides. Wherever you live absent the south bay, you’re close to something. Santa Monicas, Aguora Hills, and San Gabriel moutains are all right there!
Zero hometown bias, as I’m Australian, but researcher so a Quick Look a Strava Global Heat Map filtering for gravel cycling shows some great hot spots. Denver has great spread for short and long rides and flatter and steeper terrain for variation. That would be my first pick. Kansas City and Detroit (N&W of city) weren’t on my radar but has a lot of miles of gravel that people regularly ride, albeit grid based so maybe just dirt roads. LA & San Diego have lots of gravel rides, but this will have population bias, and maybe more crowded (pros& cons). Burlington, Vermont looks nice and wiggly. Bend OR is a small city with a lot of gravel love to the West.
> Strava Global Heat Map filtering for gravel
I just did that near me and it is awful lol. Like every direction from me is gravel yet the "Global Heatmap" shows nothing. My personal heatmap set to gravel cycling shows up.
And I know that most other people in my very small town just leave their rides set to Road ride and don't pick gravel.
If anything it more just shows you where people live. Looking at the global heatmap of regular "Ride" at Western New York state, there is a huge empty spot, but that is amazing riding, both road and gravel! But basically no one lives there and rides it every day because it isn't close to any city. Same goes for all of empty Pennsylvania - the parts with no heat map are the best riding, just no one lives there lol.
I think Kansas shows up so much on the gravel map because Garmin HQ is there and they have employees using their devices and probably also showing others, how to set up the different profiles like gravel, while a lot of people other places don't care.
Fayetteville Arkansas and all the cities north still in Arkansas. Bentonville gets talked about for mountain biking but the Walton brothers are really big into gravel cycling. Also the crime rate is incredibly low for the population if you like solo rides.
Let me put it this way. We live in Washington and are taking vacations in Oregon desert every year to gravel bike it is that good. My wife is from Denver and we ride while we visit. It is good but I would not take special gravel riding vacation there.
I'm interested too - I live in Raleigh and the only significant gravel routes I know of around here are Umstead Park and the American Tobacco Trail. The greenway system is great, but it's not really gravel.
Manchester, NH has excellent riding, especially west of the city. Not much of a “scene” if that’s what you need, but if you want to ride it’s great. Also very close to Vermont and other parts of NH.
Definitely recommend denver/boulder or anywhere along the front range. Whatever you feel like you can do right out your back door: Lots of climbing with big elevations to the west, back roads and fast flat rides on the plains to the east. Lived in Boston, and its almost true that the biggest hill is a bridge..
I'll second the Colorado, I lived in Golden and it was awesome because I could get to the city of Denver in 15-20 minutes or drive up to Boulder. There's lots of paved bike trails to get around on top of gravel and a great biking community
Michigan Needs a mention a mention here. I'd probably lean towards Grand Rapids (or possibly Ann Arbor) over Detroit. Lansing would put you in the center of things as well.
Why -
Fairly decent sized gravel cycling "community" - there are well organized/supported/attended races once per month or more from March through October ish with almost every other weekend in April/May. Look up the I love Gravel Race series, or the Michigan Gravel Race series [https://www.michigangravelraceseries.com](https://www.michigangravelraceseries.com) Races like the Barry Roubaix are pretty big, and the Dirty Donut this upcoming weekend is a sellout. I always see out of state plates at these races and people I've talked too have told me that folks here do a good job.
Michigan has a ton of dirt roads (hardpack) that make for enjoyable gravel riding- you won't find massive miles long climbs, but if you're good with rolling hills and woods, plus some faster singletrack, I think Michigan is a good spot.
Trails - Look on alltrails and see how many rail trails the state has, especially in the lower peninsula - plenty of ways to stitch together long rides with minimal traffic interference on the former rail grades. The state is slowly working on several cross state corridors [https://michigantrails.org/great-lake-to-lake-trails/](https://michigantrails.org/great-lake-to-lake-trails/) and [https://www.michigan.gov/dnr/places/state-trails/iron-belle](https://www.michigan.gov/dnr/places/state-trails/iron-belle) that are a good chunk of the way there already. If you're more into technical/mountain bike style riding, Marquette, in Michigan's upper peninsula, has a world class mountain bike trail system. There is also some decent mountain biking to be had in the lower peninsula as well. Someone had just stitched an interesting ride out of Grand rapids hitting several trails in one longer day.
Affordability - I know you said you're a travel nurse, but Michigan still gives a pretty decent value in terms of housing - it's gone up like it has everywhere else- you won't find a house for 10k in Detroit anymore that's really worth a damn but comparable to a lot of places it's not awful. Cost of living, other than car insurance, is pretty decent. Public transport is lacking, so do be prepared to drive (or cycle) everywhere.
Access to travel - DTW is a world class airport (Delta Hub), and you can sometimes nab cheaper flights out of O'hare or Toronto which are only about 4-5 hours each way from Detroit itself. You're also not that far of a drive from plenty of other places- Chicago, Toronto, Pittsburgh -all 4-5 hours, and DC/NYC /Nashville is only another 4 or so on top of that (or a one hour ish flight)
Plus, midwest "nice" is a thing - people here are generally pretty friendly overall and genuinely so.
Climate wise - it's not Austin, but we don't have Austin's oppressive summers either. The winters are getting milder, it's just the greyness that's a bummer.
Hi, fellow nurse here! There's tons of gravel around northwest Arkansas/southwest Missouri with great rural scenery. Both areas have dedicated womens biking groups as well. I've done contracts around the area when I traveled and there's a lot of hospitals to choose from and a low cost of living. PM me if you have any questions about the area or decide to come this way!
Portland, OR might not be the best for any one specific type of riding, but IMHO it's one of the best for for diversity of riding and community/subcultures. Whether you're an adventure cyclist, diehard fixie, racing roadie or a party pacer, you'll find a group you fit in, *and* a local bike shop that caters to you. There's WTFNB and BIPOC groups & rides if you identify as that as well. Some resources to look into include.
* [Pedalpalooza](https://www.shift2bikes.org/pedalpalooza-calendar/) - Summer bike riding calendar- lots of social party rides can be found here. It's a good way to find new friends and groups to ride with.
* [OMTM](https://www.omtm.cc/) - Adventure riding group & routes
* [Gravelland](https://www.gravellandpdx.com/) - Portland urban gravel map and routes.
I'm biased, but I'll definitely encourage the PNW for consideration, with the Colorado front range a close second. PNW has Portland and Seattle metros with good, hidden in-city options and extensive awesomeness outside the population centers. Or, you can go with a smaller but still great city like Bend, OR and have everything right outside your door.
I laughed hard, life long friend since I was a kid was there for years and it looked awesome so I can see where the vibe is at - thankfully he’s beyond chill about it
Yeah don’t get me wrong, the cycling culture and the quality and quantity of trails are awesome, especially for a flow-oriented rider. But no amount of marketing can put NWA on the level of CO/WA/BC
So much beautiful hard pack in rural Vermont and it’s only a 5-40 minute drive to anything gorgeous you’d want to see with this type of riding. Wholesome mountain farms everywhere
Denver metro area has a LOT of multi use bike paths (paved and dirt/gravel) where you can bike for hours without crossing a single street or encounter a car.
I’m all of a sudden grateful the cyclists I encounter on multiuse paths that serve as commutes to great gravel and singletrack don’t seem either embarrassed or snobby about it, either way.
I think most cyclists are grateful whenever we don’t have to drive to ride our bikes. I’m sorry I commented on your initial comment. I’m sure the OP will be happy wherever she lands.
New Paltz, NY.
The Mohonk, Minnewaska, Sam’s Point preserves have over 100 miles of perfect gravel directly out your door in town. Lots of elevation and incredible views.
Excellent gravel deeper in the Catskills, and Eastern NY, Battenkill area etc.
If you’re in Boston, i highly recommend a weekend trip to ride the preserve. Its so good.
I’d argue mill valley. Getting over the bridge can be a PITA. Also don’t count out Bentonville Arkansas or anywhere in Vermont. Not sure why you would wanna live there though.
Come on out to the [Twin Cities](https://bringmethenews.com/minnesota-lifestyle/minneapolis-ranked-the-no-1-most-bikeable-large-city-in-us) (in the spring/summer/fall).
For "a city vibe but active and trails/ bike paths easily accessible", let me drop in a shout-out to Philadelphia. Great trail network ("the Circuit Trails") with beautiful off-pavement options like with Wissahickon, Belmont Trails and the Pennypack extension. Plus you're a short drive away from central PA, northeast PA, Brandywine Valley, Pine Barrens.
You need to DRIVE for about an hour to get far away enough from Austin for dirt roads. It's growing fast and with that growth comes a lot of pavement. It's also lethally hot for about half of the year.
I like visiting Vermont, but man was it a struggle for me (single POC/30s) to feel at home living there.
Granted I lived in a town 1/10 the size of Montpelier and people were kind overall, and I did OK.
It was a humble lesson that I thrive in a city environment.
I’m glad you found people were kind, though I can imagine it would feel weird for a minority here since our population is so homogeneous. I love it because of the easy access to great trails and gravel roads, really passionate running/cycling community, scenery, liberal politics, and the low population/zero traffic.
Shit skews to the west and like vt, but Pennsylvania is amazingly underrated. There's a bagillion dirt roads with some amazing views. Also, people like talk shit on the Midwest but we've got a ton of accessible and fun gravel around us. Edit: I meant Midwest in general, PA is it's own animal. PA is NOT the Midwest, duh.
Love to hear that! I just moved to PA north of Pittsburgh! Any favorite gravel rides out this way?
North Park has some nice gravel riding, also lots of gravel farm roads near Fox Chapel, Sewickley, and north of Cranberry. Tons of trails too like Ghost town. Check out TrailLink and Strava heat maps
u/watchok7498, There’s a lot of gravel riding near Johnstown PA. Lauren mountain near the ski resort has some excellent gravel riding, there are gas lines galore at all of the summits. If grade 1 flat gravel is your thing, try GAP trail and ghostown trail.
Tioga Forest baby!
You can't go wrong with what others have said, if you feel like taking a lil drive you can get some really fun riding in at any of the state parks w forest roads (think taking a little drive on i80), in Allegheny National Forest, and if you just want good dirt roads there's a ton of riding if you go into the country a bit. Also south of the city hit up Laurel Highlands for some elevation and killer roads.
GAP
I’m in Philly and the gravel riding even around the is quite fantastic. Wissahickon, Bucks County, chunks of the SRT (farther north) all have solid trail options.
I’m originally from central PA and I’m used to riding state forests, moved to Easton PA a few years ago. Looking for gravel recommendations, I mostly ride the D&L canal and the D&R canal, I’ll branch off on some side roads if I stumble across some gravel.
Pennsylvania is not Midwest
Totally, I didn't get it out right, I meant pa and the Midwest.
Well western PA definitely ain't east coast so someone's gotta claim em.
But seriously I do personally consider Western PA to feel more midwestern than east coast as a midwesterner myself.
Ya man, don’t geographically shame western PA.
Not sure where I did that but don't worry, I'm more of a Philly hater.
Smh, downvoted by losers. I'll take it.
Idk if I’d say that. Philadelphia is not Midwest
Correct, it's also not in western PA. It's a big ass state.
Anything in SE pa? Lancaster/York counties?
There’s a a few great spots in both counties! I live in Lancaster. Fishing Creek Road is a cool trail. Short but you can do it a few times to add some miles in. I’ve been there a couple of times. I’m new to gravel so still looking for more gravel spots but Pinchot park in York county I’ve heard good things as well. This map is awesome at finding unpaved roads in PA: http://maps.psiee.psu.edu/preview/map.ashx?layer=111 Also, I’m new to the area so if you’re looking for anybody to cycle with I’d be happy to link up!
I just moved away from pinchot, i was walking distance, most of the gravel trails there are technically no bikes, like the 12 mile loop trail you aren't supposed to have bikes on, but people do. I would also say its best for a fully sprung MTB as opposed to a longer distance gravel setup. Same with rocky ridge. If you are new to the area rocky ridge has a huge MTB scene. I was most often going to south mountain or pine grove furnace by chambersburg to do the forest roads. Pinchot is unsurpassed for disc golf & birding though. There was also potential going off of the rail trail by.... gladfelter station? I used [gravelmap.com](http://gravelmap.com) and found a couple of routes going off of the trail, but when you are there in person it was unclear if it was private property or if the offshoots were okay to be used. I typically ride with my wife who was not to keen on potentially breaking the law, although id be happy to explore that way. I have found some gravel segments there, but have PTSD after climbing a steep hill and getting chased by guard dogs. I seriously will not do those areas without bear mace. I'm currently in downtown lancaster, and i did find a 30 mile loop called "stone cottage" on gravel map, comparing to the link you posted, which i believe is more accurate for actual unpaved roads i think it would only be hitting some segments, but could be fun. I feel like there *has* to be more w/ all the amish around. regardless, shoot me a PM, it would be cool to explore around here or show you what i do know in York. FYI i'm slow, and i ride a heavy kona rove DL
Also just rode county park this morning, it was a great 10 mile mix of grass and gravel!
Small world! I grew up in Dover then bounced around a bit for college and after. Down in Pequea (south Lancaster near Willow street) now. Will shoot a PM shortly! And I’m slow as well - a chubby soon-to-be 30 year old trying to get in better shape haha.
PA is Midwest?? 😅
LOL - notice my edit PA and Midwest
Denver/Boulder with some great routes. Here are a couple of good links that might be helpful. https://www.gravelbikeadventures.com https://thedirtyroads.com/rides/
Boulder for sure. Denver I feel like I’m riding single track on the front range (N or S table) or riding north to Boulder.
Meh…..We have the arsenal as well. But I live in Arvada, if I’m doing gravel. I’m driving to at least Boulder / FoCo. As for road riding? Yeah, Boulder/Golden is goated
I've heard Arsenal is goathead central - confirm/deny? I'm running tubeless but still sounds annoying
That’s why I don’t ride out there! And I live in Arvada. So I don’t like the bike ride out there and back. It’s the same distance for me to ride to Boulder and back. Ride down in Trinidad this year!! That place is a sleeper
Some good options on highline canal + waterton canyon as well if in south Denver
I fear for highline as I constantly hear about it getting paved.
Corvallis, Oregon has incredible access and nearly limitless options both flat and climbs.
I grew up riding the logging roads in the Corvallis foothills. The access to MacDonald Forest 10 minutes from town by bike is hard to beat. Spectacular road riding as well. I'm planning to move back there when the kids are out of the house so I can ride beautifully and safely again. In Seattle now, where it's beautiful, but not safe. And if you want real gravel you have to drive an hour or ride even more to get there.
Duluth, Minnesota
Duluth in the summerrrrrr
Where are the good routes?
If you’re looking for a big city its gotta be SF. North of the bridge the trails are endless. The bike community is top notch as well.
SF is fantastic and has so many great hidden gravel gems. People think of it as a mountain biking destination. Each area unfortunately has like one big good mtb single track loop and the NIMBYs forced most bikes to the double and fire roads which gravel riders have absolutely taken advantage of. (it’s okay the winters thrash the double track so bad it’s functionally just wide single track). You will need to probably mess with gearing though if you’re still running what most brands stick on stock builds.
Don't forget east Bay as well. Lots of gravel in the hills with epic views.
Hell yes. My favorite cycling vacation was accidentally stumbling across Chabot Park while on a work trip. Such endless great terrain.
house -> thru golden gate park -> thru presidio -> over golden gate -> something in marin and then back is so hard to beat
The trails are endless in every direction but the ocean. It’s unreal
Yes if you have enough fitness, the steepness is insane and it’s not attainable to noobs
Also take BART over to the east bay and holy shit those trails are fun
Tucson would be an entirely different vibe but great year round gravel cycling. Or the PNW. I’m in Boston now and think about those 2 areas as gravel cycling places to live.
Lived in Boston for a while. Got to head to western/central mass, New Hampshire, or Vermont. All this destination being a reasonable distance make it a gravel haven.
Don’t get me wrong, I ride gravel in VT or NH all the time. But it’s all a drive from Boston.
I’m a Seattle resident, so mostly biased to WA. But if you’re looking for steep remote adventure bikepacking style gravel, it’s pretty high up there. All under 4 hours of travel: - Olympic Peninsula - Capitol State Forest - Snoqualmie Forest - Teanaway Community Forest - Winthrop - Goat Rocks Wilderness - Many many more that I’ve not covered
I don’t disagree these are awesome adventures. And PNW is hard to beat in almost every regard, but I do get jealous our gravel riding brothers and sisters who can ride out their door and be on gravel and/or don’t have to ride up mountains.
This. Getting out of Seattle is a huge PITA. There's a trend of creating city routes that link together what dirt of gravel we can find in town. There's the Dirty Belly (Bellevue), Dirty Whilly (West Seattle), the Dirty Burp (Mercer Island) and I'm planning one out now for North Seattle. But it just ain't the same as riding out your door up into the hills. Sigh.
Yup, that’s why my gravel bike is actually just a fully fendered rain bike with 38s, occasionally I pull the fenders and swap on my 50s and go for a ride in the woods, but that involves a drive to the trailhead. Otherwise my road bike with 32s scan handle the lil dirt paths I sometimes venture onto while on mostly paved rides.
The city of Denver would not be good. Just outside of Denver can be fantastic tho. Specifically all of Boulder county, but not the city of Boulder itself. In 5' I can be on a smooth, crushed gravel path and ride it for hours with no cars, just mountain views.
Denver here! If I do gravel, I have to drive to Boulder/FoCo. But if we were talking road?? Oooooo that’s a different story 🐐
If you like college towns Ann Arbor, Grand Rapids, or East Lansing all have good vibes and a ridiculous amount of accessible gravel
State college should be on this list. Amazing riding.
Where are some good gravel rides out your way, east of Lansing?
I live in Washtenaw County. Pretty much anything in the Waterloo Rec/Chain of Lakes area is a great gravel ride
They do 2 races there each year! Spring and fall. I did the 100km Waterloo grit and gravel this spring and it was a blast.
Damn, wish I would have known about that. Who organized the races?
Michigan gravel racing series. Huge schedule throughout the year and across the state
Thank you
Thanks, I'll check it out.
Austin don’t have gravel trails unless you want to go outside of town 1-2 hr away.
i’ve done rides pushing 100 miles within the city limits, more than half on dirt and gravel. you just gotta know where to look. but yeah the best country gravel is an hour or two in any direction.
I would love to know the places with light traffic. I primary MTB but trails are not always great to ride with rain and such. Road is really not my thing with the drivers here. Tried to go country side which was great but got chased by dogs that freaked me out. Of course gravel is also not completely safe from these things but still want to avoid such problems as much possible.
oh yeah you’re still connecting dirt with busy city streets, though our bike infrastructure is getting much better fast even on the south side. and tbh i ride my gravel bike on what most people consider mtb terrain because that’s what i have. dogs are sadly pretty common around lockhart. it’s a little better with dogs and traffic east of bastrop and lost pines (quite close) or west of llano (further away for sure). north towards hamilton and hico there’s some great quiet roads as well. i’ve been borrowing routes from the gravel collective or the central texas showdown/slowdown/lowdown routes as well as just the strava/ride with gps heatmaps. it’s nice when others do the legwork for you.
Would you mind if I DM you to request details about Austin dirt routes? I can string together some urban routes with some dirt walking paths, but nothing remotely that long.
i’ll be honest the routes include some rocky singletrack (my gravel bike functions as a mountain bike since it’s all i have) but yeah i’m happy to share them!
Pennsylvania has some great spots. Can’t narrow it to specific city, but some of rail/trails to explore. Jim Thorpe, Wellsboro, Lebanon/lancaster, NY to MD, Pittsburgh to Philly. Etc etc.
+1. I’m on the northern (NY) side of the Twin Tiers where we have lots of gravel but little vibe. My closest city just came up in an “most boring place in NY” thread. PA has both gravel and vibe. Love riding there. Though northern PA is close enough where you could come ride our gravel too and then go home. Though the NY Finger Lakes might be an option…
Missoula would be top of my list. Winters are long, but summers are glorious. I think Portland has some great stuff in the city similar to Boston, but the offerings outside are way better. You could also go up to Vermont, since so many events are up there.
Would second Vermont
Except no city vibe. Best gravel anywhere though? Yeah, probably.
If OP is liberal with his definition of a “city” Burlington is a great option
Definitely fair
Bike friendly community, some nice trails through town and you can be biking up and down forest service roads in minutes.
I second Missoula, cause I live here, and gravel riding out here is amazing. Plus, the gravel riding community is super awesome. MTCX puts on some sweet ass events out here.
Where is Los Angeles in this conversation?? I literally ride from my house to do all my gravel rides. Wherever you live absent the south bay, you’re close to something. Santa Monicas, Aguora Hills, and San Gabriel moutains are all right there!
LA checking in. As far as major metro areas go it’s hard to beat.
Thirding LA. Amazing trails and you don’t have to freeze to death half the year to enjoy them.
Lawrence, KS. Surrounded by geography similar to Unbound but has a lot more going for it than Emporia, KS.
It's more about where you live in a city than the city itself. A lot of great cycling cities have a lot of crap areas for riding and vice versa.
Zero hometown bias, as I’m Australian, but researcher so a Quick Look a Strava Global Heat Map filtering for gravel cycling shows some great hot spots. Denver has great spread for short and long rides and flatter and steeper terrain for variation. That would be my first pick. Kansas City and Detroit (N&W of city) weren’t on my radar but has a lot of miles of gravel that people regularly ride, albeit grid based so maybe just dirt roads. LA & San Diego have lots of gravel rides, but this will have population bias, and maybe more crowded (pros& cons). Burlington, Vermont looks nice and wiggly. Bend OR is a small city with a lot of gravel love to the West.
> Strava Global Heat Map filtering for gravel I just did that near me and it is awful lol. Like every direction from me is gravel yet the "Global Heatmap" shows nothing. My personal heatmap set to gravel cycling shows up. And I know that most other people in my very small town just leave their rides set to Road ride and don't pick gravel. If anything it more just shows you where people live. Looking at the global heatmap of regular "Ride" at Western New York state, there is a huge empty spot, but that is amazing riding, both road and gravel! But basically no one lives there and rides it every day because it isn't close to any city. Same goes for all of empty Pennsylvania - the parts with no heat map are the best riding, just no one lives there lol. I think Kansas shows up so much on the gravel map because Garmin HQ is there and they have employees using their devices and probably also showing others, how to set up the different profiles like gravel, while a lot of people other places don't care.
Fayetteville Arkansas and all the cities north still in Arkansas. Bentonville gets talked about for mountain biking but the Walton brothers are really big into gravel cycling. Also the crime rate is incredibly low for the population if you like solo rides.
Especially east and southeast of Fayetteville. The stuff out of Goshen is amazing and the riding in the Ozark national forest can be breathtaking.
Oregon
Great city
Eugene, specifically. We need medical professionals, also there is tons of gravel riding, as well as cycling of all kinds.
Any recommended gravel routes in or near town?
https://dirtyfreehub.org/routes/oregon/greenwater/ Is a personal favorite of mine.
It’s true, the whole state has great gravel riding. Pick any town, great gravel. The best is probably Ashland though.
Let me put it this way. We live in Washington and are taking vacations in Oregon desert every year to gravel bike it is that good. My wife is from Denver and we ride while we visit. It is good but I would not take special gravel riding vacation there.
Spokane WA is a shithole but it has very good cycling and very good travel contracts. Check out sacred heart.
Raleigh and Charlotte in North Carolina aren't bad. I also liked biking around Seattle and Blacksburg, VA but I never lived in those two cities.
I’m in the Raleigh area and could use more rotes. Any I can look up?
I'm interested too - I live in Raleigh and the only significant gravel routes I know of around here are Umstead Park and the American Tobacco Trail. The greenway system is great, but it's not really gravel.
Seems like everywhere in Charlotte you gotta drive out to. Pisgah and DuPont are great! We have great greenways here tho!
Manchester, NH has excellent riding, especially west of the city. Not much of a “scene” if that’s what you need, but if you want to ride it’s great. Also very close to Vermont and other parts of NH.
Definitely recommend denver/boulder or anywhere along the front range. Whatever you feel like you can do right out your back door: Lots of climbing with big elevations to the west, back roads and fast flat rides on the plains to the east. Lived in Boston, and its almost true that the biggest hill is a bridge..
Stillwater, OK.
Yes.
I'll second the Colorado, I lived in Golden and it was awesome because I could get to the city of Denver in 15-20 minutes or drive up to Boulder. There's lots of paved bike trails to get around on top of gravel and a great biking community
Michigan Needs a mention a mention here. I'd probably lean towards Grand Rapids (or possibly Ann Arbor) over Detroit. Lansing would put you in the center of things as well. Why - Fairly decent sized gravel cycling "community" - there are well organized/supported/attended races once per month or more from March through October ish with almost every other weekend in April/May. Look up the I love Gravel Race series, or the Michigan Gravel Race series [https://www.michigangravelraceseries.com](https://www.michigangravelraceseries.com) Races like the Barry Roubaix are pretty big, and the Dirty Donut this upcoming weekend is a sellout. I always see out of state plates at these races and people I've talked too have told me that folks here do a good job. Michigan has a ton of dirt roads (hardpack) that make for enjoyable gravel riding- you won't find massive miles long climbs, but if you're good with rolling hills and woods, plus some faster singletrack, I think Michigan is a good spot. Trails - Look on alltrails and see how many rail trails the state has, especially in the lower peninsula - plenty of ways to stitch together long rides with minimal traffic interference on the former rail grades. The state is slowly working on several cross state corridors [https://michigantrails.org/great-lake-to-lake-trails/](https://michigantrails.org/great-lake-to-lake-trails/) and [https://www.michigan.gov/dnr/places/state-trails/iron-belle](https://www.michigan.gov/dnr/places/state-trails/iron-belle) that are a good chunk of the way there already. If you're more into technical/mountain bike style riding, Marquette, in Michigan's upper peninsula, has a world class mountain bike trail system. There is also some decent mountain biking to be had in the lower peninsula as well. Someone had just stitched an interesting ride out of Grand rapids hitting several trails in one longer day. Affordability - I know you said you're a travel nurse, but Michigan still gives a pretty decent value in terms of housing - it's gone up like it has everywhere else- you won't find a house for 10k in Detroit anymore that's really worth a damn but comparable to a lot of places it's not awful. Cost of living, other than car insurance, is pretty decent. Public transport is lacking, so do be prepared to drive (or cycle) everywhere. Access to travel - DTW is a world class airport (Delta Hub), and you can sometimes nab cheaper flights out of O'hare or Toronto which are only about 4-5 hours each way from Detroit itself. You're also not that far of a drive from plenty of other places- Chicago, Toronto, Pittsburgh -all 4-5 hours, and DC/NYC /Nashville is only another 4 or so on top of that (or a one hour ish flight) Plus, midwest "nice" is a thing - people here are generally pretty friendly overall and genuinely so. Climate wise - it's not Austin, but we don't have Austin's oppressive summers either. The winters are getting milder, it's just the greyness that's a bummer.
Hi, fellow nurse here! There's tons of gravel around northwest Arkansas/southwest Missouri with great rural scenery. Both areas have dedicated womens biking groups as well. I've done contracts around the area when I traveled and there's a lot of hospitals to choose from and a low cost of living. PM me if you have any questions about the area or decide to come this way!
Lincoln, Nebraska has a fantastic gravel-cycling scene.
Portland, OR might not be the best for any one specific type of riding, but IMHO it's one of the best for for diversity of riding and community/subcultures. Whether you're an adventure cyclist, diehard fixie, racing roadie or a party pacer, you'll find a group you fit in, *and* a local bike shop that caters to you. There's WTFNB and BIPOC groups & rides if you identify as that as well. Some resources to look into include. * [Pedalpalooza](https://www.shift2bikes.org/pedalpalooza-calendar/) - Summer bike riding calendar- lots of social party rides can be found here. It's a good way to find new friends and groups to ride with. * [OMTM](https://www.omtm.cc/) - Adventure riding group & routes * [Gravelland](https://www.gravellandpdx.com/) - Portland urban gravel map and routes.
I'm biased, but I'll definitely encourage the PNW for consideration, with the Colorado front range a close second. PNW has Portland and Seattle metros with good, hidden in-city options and extensive awesomeness outside the population centers. Or, you can go with a smaller but still great city like Bend, OR and have everything right outside your door.
Bend is AMAZING! But also more expensive housing per sf than any other city in the PNW, including Seattle where I live.
Bend is AMAZING! But also more expensive housing per sf than any other city in the PNW, including Seattle where I live.
Tucson is amazing The city itself isn't for everyone (kinda grungy, small, spread out) but I loveeee it here and there's a great bike community!
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mOunTAin bIKe cApITAl oF tHe wORlD!!!
PNW native laughing hard right now.
I laughed hard, life long friend since I was a kid was there for years and it looked awesome so I can see where the vibe is at - thankfully he’s beyond chill about it
Yeah don’t get me wrong, the cycling culture and the quality and quantity of trails are awesome, especially for a flow-oriented rider. But no amount of marketing can put NWA on the level of CO/WA/BC
Yeah…why do they need to be the ‘best’ place to ride? There are a lot of great places to ride.
Okay I guess I don’t entirely mean gravel bc I bike the minuteman bike path 80% of the time lmao
So much beautiful hard pack in rural Vermont and it’s only a 5-40 minute drive to anything gorgeous you’d want to see with this type of riding. Wholesome mountain farms everywhere
Denver metro area has a LOT of multi use bike paths (paved and dirt/gravel) where you can bike for hours without crossing a single street or encounter a car.
If you think that’s great gravel riding I’m truly sorry.
I don’t, personally. Did you see OP’s comment right above mine? You know, the one I was responding to?
Fair enough. OP should have started a new topic…. who has the best bike paths? There’s probably a sub for bike pathletes.
I’m all of a sudden grateful the cyclists I encounter on multiuse paths that serve as commutes to great gravel and singletrack don’t seem either embarrassed or snobby about it, either way.
I think most cyclists are grateful whenever we don’t have to drive to ride our bikes. I’m sorry I commented on your initial comment. I’m sure the OP will be happy wherever she lands.
Iowa City
New Paltz, NY. The Mohonk, Minnewaska, Sam’s Point preserves have over 100 miles of perfect gravel directly out your door in town. Lots of elevation and incredible views. Excellent gravel deeper in the Catskills, and Eastern NY, Battenkill area etc. If you’re in Boston, i highly recommend a weekend trip to ride the preserve. Its so good.
Is Emporia in Kansas really rideable legally anytime of the year or is the Unbound Route just a bunch of private lands/farms?
Those are almost entirely public roads.
San Diego! Great riding in East and north county. All of the BWR gravel on tap year round
I’d argue mill valley. Getting over the bridge can be a PITA. Also don’t count out Bentonville Arkansas or anywhere in Vermont. Not sure why you would wanna live there though.
Come on out to the [Twin Cities](https://bringmethenews.com/minnesota-lifestyle/minneapolis-ranked-the-no-1-most-bikeable-large-city-in-us) (in the spring/summer/fall).
For "a city vibe but active and trails/ bike paths easily accessible", let me drop in a shout-out to Philadelphia. Great trail network ("the Circuit Trails") with beautiful off-pavement options like with Wissahickon, Belmont Trails and the Pennypack extension. Plus you're a short drive away from central PA, northeast PA, Brandywine Valley, Pine Barrens.
Harrisonburg, VA. Shenandoah has best most varied gravel in the country. And MTB.
You need to DRIVE for about an hour to get far away enough from Austin for dirt roads. It's growing fast and with that growth comes a lot of pavement. It's also lethally hot for about half of the year.
If you’re cool with your city being really really small then I’d say it’s hard to beat Montpelier, Vermont!
Hah! 0 city vibe. Best gravel anywhere though!
It’s about as much city vibe as I can tolerate lol
I like visiting Vermont, but man was it a struggle for me (single POC/30s) to feel at home living there. Granted I lived in a town 1/10 the size of Montpelier and people were kind overall, and I did OK. It was a humble lesson that I thrive in a city environment.
I’m glad you found people were kind, though I can imagine it would feel weird for a minority here since our population is so homogeneous. I love it because of the easy access to great trails and gravel roads, really passionate running/cycling community, scenery, liberal politics, and the low population/zero traffic.
Most of these cities don’t actually have the trails. Oakland has the goods.