Choose Your Own Adventure: State Based Gravel Route Finders

Image courtesy of  Wisconsin Gravel.org

There is a somewhat popular saying which is used when someone wants to impart the listener can "do whatever they want". It is "Choose your own adventure". The recipient of this phrase is then thought to be someone who is going to go do something in their own free will, be that wise or unwise. Whatever the case may be. 

Nowadays, with so many gravel events flooding the calendar, and with entry fees, travel, and lodging getting more expensive, it seems to me that many riders are beginning to look for alternatives which fit their needs and lifestyles in a better way. I've noted the rise in participation in weekly gravel group rides. These hyper-local events with there ease of entry and friendly natures seem to have taken on a life of their own. 

Perhaps the "next big thing"in gravel riding is somewhat similar to the gravel group rides, but adds in an element of adventure, discovery, and fun. It is the state based gravel data bases where one can go to find predetermined routes. The first I was aware of in this vein was Gravel Kansas.

Gravel Kansas was set up in 2023 and at that time I was a big fan of this unique take on curated gravel routes. Later on, Pennsylvania got in on the act, and we learned about this on the Guitar Ted Podcast from Dave Pryor. The site https://ridepagravel.co/ leads you to their Route Finder. This opens up their Ride With GPS site where routes can be accessed. It's a bit different take on a similar idea to Gravel Kansas. 

Image courtesy of Ride PA Gravel

Now a third state data base is being developed for the state of Wisconsin and their gravel roads. Called Wisconsin Gravel, the site divides the state into regions where the rider can navigate to find out what each region has to offer and what routes are there. As of this writing, the site is still being filled out, so there is not a lot to glean from the promised 1,000 miles of routes for the unpaved rider to choose from. 

Comments: Obviously, these sorts of portals are only as good as the content placed on them. Without fleshing out the sites, it is hard to recommend something like this without caveats. Hopefully things progress along with these sites to make them worthwhile to point folks to. Gravel Kansas being the oldest of these sorts of sites, has 80+ routes on offer. That seems pretty good but obvious holes exist yet. For example, there are no routes for the Northeast part of the state as of this writing. 

The Pennsylvania route site seems like a fine idea because they leverage Ride With GPS as a data base and the routes are easily downloaded into a rider's GPS unit. (Unless you lose yours, like I have recently!)

The future could be pretty interesting if more states get onboard with ideas based around a user friendly "route library" based on a state or region of a state. I could see tourism departments getting involved in different states. Obviously, it would behoove states like Iowa, Minnesota, and Nebraska, arguably the cradle, along with Kansas, of the Modern Era of gravel riding, to get onboard with this idea. 

It may be a trend we see increasing in popularity due to the way some feel doing events is getting stale. I could totally see this making gravel riding even more popular in the future.