Bikepacking Roots is proud to launch the Great Plains Gravel Route (GPGR), which celebrates the Great Plains, its people, history, wild ecology, and agricultural prominence.
The route, which traverses 3,500 miles across six states in middle America, immerses riders in the richness and diversity of landscapes that the region has to offer, via the veins of rural byways that knit together the farms, ranches, grasslands, and plains towns.
Each segment has been carefully curated to showcase the hidden beauty of the Great Plains, from the Llano Estacado 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.
“I am extremely excited to have a new line all the way across the country creating bikepacking opportunities across six states that aren’t typically known for bikepacking,” says Bikepacking Roots Executive Director Noelle Battle. “There are so many hidden treasures on this route, and it ofers an opportunity to connect with small communities and towns across the Great Plains, and to immerse riders in the culture in the unique way that traveling by bike allows.”
The idea for the GPGR began over a decade ago in a meeting between Bobby Wintle and LeLan Dains, both of whom have been instrumental in the growth of gravel cycling in the U.S. (Wintle owns and operates The Mid-South and Dains has played a signifcant role in the growth of Unbound Gravel). They wanted to create something like the Great Divide MTB route, but showcasing a diferent kind of beauty from the region that they called home.
“Dirt roads have a diferent aura,” says Wintle. “They’re calmer, and they have way less climbing than mountains. The Great Plains Gravel Route is going to show you the true beauty that is the middle of America.”
In the summer of 2021, the full slate of route creators came together, featuring some other big names in the gravel world, each tasked with developing their states’ segment of the total route:
- Texas: Jerod Foster, a Chumba USA ambassador, trail shop owner, and professor teaching adventure photography and filmmaking at Texas Tech University in Lubbock.
- Oklahoma: Bobby Wintle, organizer of The Mid-South Gravel and owner of District Bicycles.
- Kansas: LeLan Dains, former owner of Unbound Gravel and Aaron Apel, bike-industry veteran and community builder.
- Nebraska: Corey Godfrey, founder and former promoter of Gravel Worlds.
- South Dakota: husband-wife duo Perry and Kristi Jewett, organizers of the Dakota Five-O and the Pine Island Gravel Odyssey in Spearfsh, SD.
- North Dakota: Nick Ybarra, creator of the MDH100 & Badlands Race Series, founder of Save the Maah Daah Hey non-proft organization.
Bikepacking Roots joined the project in the fall of 2023 after being approached by the team of route creators to help bring the route vision to fruition and give it a permanent home and stewardship. It was a natural ft for the organization since it had already published the Kansas portion of the route, the Flint Hills Traverse, as a part of its Community Routes Project. Bringing the full route to life has been made possible with support from Shimano.
One aspect of the route that sets it apart from many other bikepacking routes in the western U.S. is the fact that this route traverses states with some of the lowest percentages of public land. While there are plenty of opportunities for camping along the route, including dispersed camping options in places like the Black Hills National Forest in South Dakota and a number of Wildlife Management Areas in Nebraska, some stretches will require riders to add local accommodation options in the small towns along the way. While the full route totals 3,500 miles, the route offers ample opportunities to be split into segments for anyone who may be interested in taking on a shorter bikepacking trip.
“We are excited to point a lens toward a fascinating region of the world that may be considered fyover country by some,” shares Jerod Foster, who recently rode the entire route on an adventure motorcycle for an upcoming PBS travel series. “The Great Plains is one of the most important places in the world and for the world, and this route will immerse riders in the richness and diversity of landscapes that this region has to ofer.”
Learn more about the Great Plains Gravel Route