Missouri gains new national bicycle route: ACA's Golden Gravel Trail, a 3,700-mile east-to-west gravel epic; 450 miles in Missouri | Singletracks

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 Adventure Cycling Association just mapped a 3,700-mile gravel route from the Oregon Coast to the Mississippi River that balances wild, remote riding with predictable resupply towns. . . .

The 3,700-mile Golden Gravel Trail unfurls across eight states, from the Pacific Ocean to the Mississippi River, and serves up a smorgasbord of surfaces. Think: towering tree-lined forest service roads in Oregon, desert washboard in Utah, chunky, slow, high-altitude passes in Colorado, and fast-rolling hardpack in the Midwest. Roughly 70 percent is unpaved; the rest is on lightly trafficked paved backroads. . . .

The goal, she said, was “to design a bikepacking route that minimized traffic, maximized gravel roads, incorporated bike infrastructure where possible, and kept resupply and water stops within reasonable distances.”

“Above all,” she added, “we wanted this route to be enjoyable: beautiful scenery, quality gravel roads, and charming resupply towns were key considerations throughout the process.”

Link: 

Missouri gains new national bicycle route: ACA's Golden Gravel Trail, a 3,700-mile east-to-west gravel epic; 450 miles in Missouri | Singletracks

MoBikeFed comment: Over 450 miles of the route are in Missouri, entering just north of Joplin and ending at the Mississippi River in Cape Giraradeau.

https://www.adventurecycling.org/anniversary-events/50-route/