# Got gravel? Here's a map of Virginia's unpaved roads.



## mattotoole (Jan 3, 2008)

Many thanks to our friends at VDOT!

https://www.vabike.org/got-gravel-heres-a-map-of-virginias-unpaved-roads/

Please share.


----------



## No Time Toulouse (Sep 7, 2016)

I'm sure that ever banjo player in the state already has this map.....


----------



## biscut (Dec 15, 2016)

Anyone got one for VT, NH, or NY?


----------



## factory feel (Nov 27, 2009)

Great! How does that help me in California?


----------



## ogre (Dec 16, 2005)

To the snarkers, the OP could have posted in a regional forum and probably would have gotten a handful of views. 

To the OP, I've done probably 2,000 miles off road in your state over the last 25+ years, (almost all on the Virginia Creeper and the New River Trail) but I don't see those on the map. But thanks for sharing. I'm going to see if my DOT has something similar for my state.

I've done overnight rails to trails rides in VA, WV and MO. And I hope to do more of VA in the future as the GAP/C&O is on my bucket list. Part of the beauty of these rides is hearing the banjo music, cause you're in the middle of nowhere! And I wish this site would get a gravel subforum. So keep the info coming!


----------



## rm -rf (Feb 27, 2006)

biscut said:


> Anyone got one for VT, NH, or NY?





factory feel said:


> Great! How does that help me in California?



gravelmap.com is user created map of gravel roads (and bike trails), with new roads still being added. Click on a yellow gravel road to see it's details, including length and an elevation graph. (The URL changes as you pan and zoom, so you can bookmark that view.)

Look at Michigan!


----------



## Lombard (May 8, 2014)

rm -rf said:


> gravelmap.com is user created map of gravel roads (and bike trails), with new roads still being added. Click on a yellow gravel road to see it's details, including length and an elevation graph. (The URL changes as you pan and zoom, so you can bookmark that view.)
> 
> Look at Michigan!


Interesting. Though since the trails appear to be user entered, its accuracy is questionable. I see plenty of paved roads that are parts of "trails".


----------



## MMsRepBike (Apr 1, 2014)

The maps prove my point: I have no gravel in my area.

Kind of nice really, never have to think about these weird off-road road bikes and never have to ride in clouds of dust.


----------



## pmf (Feb 23, 2004)

Gravel bikes are all the rage. I live in VA, in the DC area, just outside the beltway. According to that map, I'd have to drive 30 miles to find a small patch of gravel road. I think I'll stick to road bikes. we've got a nice MUT that I can ride on right into work in DC. Been doing it for 20+ years.


----------



## BCSaltchucker (Jul 20, 2011)

I ride gravel every ride. But that is just short sections of MUT and the gravel is so fine can ride with 19c race tires if I had to.

We have wilderness roads mostly used for logging industry here, though have to drive maybe 100km to find them, they are not signed, there are no services nor people for dozens or 100s of kms, but I encounter bears every time when I drive them. Getting passed by logging truck on a dusty day on a gravel road would make me give up cycling, LOL. So I don't do gravel.

when I lived back east, we road gravel all winter, and that was 25 years ago. Modified road bikes. This is NOT a new thing at all.


----------



## factory feel (Nov 27, 2009)

MMsRepBike said:


> The maps prove my point: I have no gravel in my area.
> 
> Kind of nice really, never have to think about these weird off-road road bikes and never have to ride in clouds of dust.


some say better than the worry of getting ran over by a truck tho.


----------



## factory feel (Nov 27, 2009)

BCSaltchucker said:


> when I lived back east, we road gravel all winter, and that was 25 years ago. Modified road bikes. This is NOT a new thing at all.


sounds fishy, gravel hadn't been invented 25 years ago.


----------



## hfc (Jan 24, 2003)

Cool thanks!

In my neck of the woods, Blue Ridge mountains in VA, if youre willing to ride gravel, it expands the ride options probably 3 fold. I'm not a big gravel guy but I'll occasionally ride 2 or 3 mile segments on my road bike to connect paved segments.


----------



## bradkay (Nov 5, 2013)

factory feel said:


> some say better than the worry of getting ran over by a truck tho.


You haven't seen how a southern good ole boy likes to slide his truck all over those gravel roads, have you?


----------



## Jay Strongbow (May 8, 2010)

biscut said:


> Anyone got one for VT, NH, or NY?


Vermont puts out a cycling map that you can usually find at highway rest stops, bike shops and elsewhere. It points out some good dirt roads but it is far from complete. It's still a good map to have though.

Not sure where you live but don't rule out Mass for good dirt road riding. Maybe see if you can find a on-line map of the D2R2 ride.


----------



## mfdemicco (Nov 8, 2002)

I’d love to see a gravel road map of the San Francisco Bay Area. There are some accessible ones in my area but unfortunately, most are gated and are on private land.


----------



## mfdemicco (Nov 8, 2002)

rm -rf said:


> gravelmap.com is user created map of gravel roads (and bike trails), with new roads still being added. Click on a yellow gravel road to see it's details, including length and an elevation graph. (The URL changes as you pan and zoom, so you can bookmark that view.)
> 
> Look at Michigan!


It sucks for the SF Bay Area. What I see are fire roads through parkland, not gravel roads. These fire roads are better traveled by mountain bike, not gravel bikes; generally too steep and gnarly.


----------



## dcorn (Sep 1, 2011)

pmf said:


> Gravel bikes are all the rage. I live in VA, in the DC area, just outside the beltway. According to that map, I'd have to drive 30 miles to find a small patch of gravel road. I think I'll stick to road bikes. we've got a nice MUT that I can ride on right into work in DC. Been doing it for 20+ years.


Suit yourself. I go out of my mind riding the W&OD all the time. My friends and I take our cross bikes out to Loudon County (which I assume is on the attached map) and ride all over the place. It's amazing how many unpaved roads are out there with the million dollar houses and farms. I live in Alexandria, so yeah, its a long drive at 7 in the morning but it's worth it for some variety in my riding. Hitting gravel on the Crux is a whole different adventure than straight road riding. 

If you want to ride on the MUT all the time, why not get a nice hybrid bike?


----------



## pmf (Feb 23, 2004)

dcorn said:


> Suit yourself. I go out of my mind riding the W&OD all the time. My friends and I take our cross bikes out to Loudon County (which I assume is on the attached map) and ride all over the place. It's amazing how many unpaved roads are out there with the million dollar houses and farms. I live in Alexandria, so yeah, its a long drive at 7 in the morning but it's worth it for some variety in my riding. Hitting gravel on the Crux is a whole different adventure than straight road riding.
> 
> If you want to ride on the MUT all the time, why not get a nice hybrid bike?


Hey, it beats the hell out of the metro or sitting in a traffic jam. I've got kids who keep me pretty busy on the weekends. So most of my riding is back and forth from Vienna to DC commuting. It wouldn't be possible without the bike path. Someday, I'll have weekends free like I used to. 

A hybrid? Yuck. All I need is one more road bike and I'd have a different one to ride to work every day of the week.


----------



## Lombard (May 8, 2014)

pmf said:


> A hybrid? Yuck. All I need is one more road bike and I'd have a different one to ride to work every day of the week.


A hybrid may be the Toyota Camry of bikes as in not very exciting, but hey, if it were all I had, I certainly wouldn't hesitate to ride it.


----------

