Bikepacking in the USA: everything you need to know | Bike Perfect

Headlines are quick hits from media outlets from Missouri and around the world. Follow the headline link for the full story. The source of this headline says:

The rise of bikepacking in the USA is the story of a few different intersecting cultures coming together which starts with gravel cycling. It was gravel cycling and the commercial appeal that brought about the popularization of bikepacking, despite it being around in some form or another decade before the gravel boom. Like it or not, a few pioneers doing something awesome doesn't necessarily start a movement.

So why is there such a widespread love for gravel cycling in the United States? A big part of it is the land available. . . .

Without going any farther into the topic, those numbers tell the story of why gravel cycling and, by extension, bikepacking is such a burgeoning concept in the US. All that BLM and USFS land have a lot of trails and gravel roads to spend time on. Many states have easy access to long miles of Forest Service roads with the possibility of camping where you want. Those lands aren't the only wildernesses available either. There's plenty of land that is still accessible to bikes and bikepacking but carries with it tighter regulations and rules.

Another piece of the bikepacking puzzle is the popularity of bike touring in the US. That same huge landmass, and a lack of alternatives to the automobile, makes for a lot of miles of relatively low traffic roads. It's not hard to traverse the United States, in whatever direction sounds good to you, utilizing the vast network of paved roads.

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Bikepacking in the USA: everything you need to know | Bike Perfect

MoBikeFed comment: Here in Missouri we don't necessarily have vast areas of BLM and other public lands (though if you're not already familiar you should check out Mark Twain National Forest - literally millions of acres of public lands, and many miles of forest roads and trails).

What we do have in spades in hundreds and thousands of miles of gravel roads criss-crossing nearly every part of the state outside of the largest metro areas.

MoBikeFed's listing of resource for gravel cycling in Missouri, including a number of pre-planned routes you can follow and resources for making your own gravel route or ride:

https://mobikefed.org/missouri-gravel-grinding-bikepacking-bicycle-route...

Info about hiking and biking in the 1.5 million acres of Mark Twain National Forest:

https://mobikefed.org/2019/11/hiking-bicycling-15-million-acres-mark-twa...

Finally, don't forget these two major gravel/trail/singletrack routes in Missouri!

https://mobikefed.org/ButterfieldStageExperience

https://mobikefed.org/missouri-gravel-grinding-bikepacking-bicycle-route...