8 Gravel Biking Trails With Stunning Views

When the heat recedes and fall leaves shimmer, hop on a gravel bike, one of the easiest ways to get deep into wild country. Essentially a slightly beefed-up road bike, this sturdy steed is designed to cruise down unpaved roads and packed-dirt trails. While gravel bikes don’t deliver the effortless, mile­-eating efficiency of their lean predecessors, they reward riders with secluded, car-free back roads—making gravel biking more adventurous and safer, too. Oh, and it’s also cooler. “Gravel biking is almost as accessible but more punk rock than road cycling,” says outdoor journalist Jakob Schiller. These eight routes may inspire enough awe to make you ditch pavement for good.

White Rim Road in Moab, Utah

In Canyonlands National Park, ride the namesake band of white sandstone past rust-red spires high above the Colorado and Green rivers. West­ern Spirit Adventures can help you safely tackle the demanding 100-mile loop on a four-day guided trip.

Medicine Bow Rail Trail in Laramie, Wyoming

You’re more likely to spot a moose than another cyclist on this remote but gentle 21-mile trail. Built over an abandoned railbed, the mostly flat path winds through a national forest thick with majestic lodgepole pines and vibrant aspens. Keep an eye out for the remains of former tie-hacker camps (sites where lumberjacks hewed timber into railroad ties).

Harriman Trail in Ketchum, Idaho

During the fall elk rut, listen for the males’ otherworldly serenade as you bike this gradual northbound ascent along the Big Wood River. Elec­tric-yellow aspens hug stretches of the pristine road; other parts open to sprawling meadows and views of the rugged Boulder Mountains. The 18-mile trail parallels Highway 75, so you could bribe a friend to follow in a car and serve you cold drinks.

To the Wall in Tucson, Arizona

Even in fall, Tucson can reach 90 degrees. But Seussian succulents and distant striated peaks make this desert journey worth an early start. The 29-mile loop rolls through golden grasslands with several short, punchy climbs. The route also offers a look at the U.S.–Mexico border wall and its 30-foot-tall steel posts. You might spy javelinas (piglike wild animals) squeezing between the pillars in search of food.

Double Go in Coos Bay, Oregon

This fairly flat 19-mile route follows the Millicoma River through stands of Oregon myrtle (aka California laurel) and ends with short hikes to two of the tallest waterfalls in the Oregon Coast Range. “We took this four-hour ride during the coast’s peak season,” says Linda English, executive director of the gravel biking nonprofit Dirty Freehub. “And we saw nobody, not a single person.”

Around the Mountain in Albuquerque, New Mexico

This iconic and demanding 65-mile southwest ride is a bear but delivers a huge payoff in picturesque desert views—and bragging rights. If you choose to take on the entire ride, you essentially circumnavigate the Sandia Mountains, or you can turn around early and make it an out-and-back. “You get a little bit of everything: The ride skirts the Sandia Pueblo, thickets of cottonwoods, and follows the Rio Grande,” says Schiller.

Pea Ridge Loop in Bentonville, Arkansas

“You just step outside of the hotel, and you hear bike freehubs and cassettes spinning. It’s just one of the sounds of Bentonville,” says Izak Ables, a trip design coordinator at Trek Travel. Hit the 38-mile Pea Ridge route to discover why this southern town has become an international cycling destination. Well-groomed trails will carry you through the Ozarks’ rolling beauty and up to the Missouri border. Then, it’s smooth sailing back to town between limestone bluffs and Little Sugar Creek.

Stowe Gravel Loop in Stowe, Vermont

Vermont-based gravel rider and outdoor journalist Berne Broudy says this 35-mile loop is best started early in the morning with the sun on your face. It’s beautiful in spring and summer, but absolutely gobsmacking during peak leaf-peeping season in September and October. Regardless of your pace, pause for a glazed donut at North Country Donuts in Morrisville. Locals say it’s a mandatory stop.