Starting in St. Joseph, Missouri and ending in San Francisco, California. The trail between Pollack Pines and Echo Summit in the Sierra Nevada Mountains of California, for example, has extended sections of very rugged single-track; but there are enough hotels on nearby US 50 to stay and recharge your bikes battery (as well as your own) for the next days ride. (Make sure you check with individual sites to ensure electric bikes are permitted. April 2020 If you follow the Bikepacking Routewhich is over 85% off-road according to Jan Bennett, the routes creatoryou should plan on six weeks or more to allow for days to rest or to avoid particularly bad weather. You cannot download interactives. In 1848, gold had been discovered in California leading to the California Gold Rush and a population explosion. (I had a few unplanned layover days to avoid heat over 100 and thunderstorms. Show your love of cycling - on your car or truck. 79 talking about this. Follow along with Scott Alumbaugh as he describes his experiences and provides some tips and tricks for anyone planning this epic adventure. Once the trail reaches the area of OFallons Bluffs (near Sutherland, Nebraska), the trail starts to climb slowly toward South Pass (still nearly 500 miles away), and you leave the flat road behind for good. Map. History is alive and well along much of the route, with the remains of original Pony Express stations still visible in many places, and commemorative markers along the way denoting important landmarks, graves, and important information. Youre best off on a mountain bike with very sturdy tires through this section. I knew right then I had to ride it. Anyone interested in scouting sections of the route should contact Bikepacking Routes, which is seeking to finalize the entire route. If you have any route specific questions or would like more information, please contact the article author, Scott Alumbaugh, through. The route was two thousand miles long, ran across seven states from Missouri to California, and as it followed the trail as closely as possible, was eighty-five percent off-road. The Rights Holder for media is the person or group credited. A third advantage of riding the trail is that it gets you out of the isolation of your car. The audio, illustrations, photos, and videos are credited beneath the media asset, except for promotional images, which generally link to another page that contains the media credit. Bikepacking Roots is excited to be supporting the final stages of development of the Pony Express Bikepacking Route, a vision and undertaking being driven by Jan Bennett. If no button appears, you cannot download or save the media. So, for instance, instead of reaching Chimney Rock just a few minutes after seeing it from the highway, you approach this natural landmark as the riders did, over the course of an hour or more, seeing the tip first peek out from between hills, watching it disappear and reappear, growing taller each time as you twist along the dirt roads of the Overland Trail. Aiming for a route guide to be available for the Spring 2022 riding season. *FREE* shipping on qualifying offers. Water is available via spiggots at the pavilion in town. Text on this page is printable and can be used according to our Terms of Service. Show your love of cycling - on your car or truck. November 2018, All BPR News Ibapah, UT, along the Pony Express Bikepacking route has no services. The Pony Express Bikepacking RouteTo be released in Spring 2022. Help us finish the development of these 10 new routes by making a contribution toward the $100,000 goal for supporting these projects. Here's hoping others will be as excited about this route as I am. You could go days without seeing another person, let alone a town. He has published notes from his research, scouting trips, ride preparations, and a daily journal of his 2021 ride from St. Joseph to Salt Lake City on his website, Pony Express Ride. March 2020 The scenery is always changing and is full of beauty and history. The Pony Express Bikepacking Route - To be released in Spring 2022 The Pony Express Bikepacking Route, currently in the final stages of development, begins in St. Joseph, Missouri and covers more than 2,200 miles as it makes its way to Sacramento, California, crossing Kansas, Nebraska, Colorado, Wyoming, Utah, Nevada, and California along the way. It also allows you to ride sections that even modern horseback riders on the annual Pony Express Re-Ride have to skip. This is not a bike tour to be approached casually. Riders would stop every 16 to 24 kilometers (10 to 15 miles) to hop onto a fresh horse at the four to six relay stations on their leg of the trail. As you descend into the foothills, the trails become tamer, until near Folsom, where they become well-marked multi-use trails. 85% of the route is on dirt and gravel with a few car-free bike trails to get riders through major cities. Headlines are quick hits from media outlets from Missouri and around the world. July 2020 For planning purposes, I found it convenient to break the 2,000-mile route into sections: Despite what you may think, Kansas is hilly. Though there is well and creek water available at points along the way, an unsupported rider sticking to the direct route would have to be able to carry extra water, as well as ten days to two-weeks worth of food. Studded with 153 stations, the Pony Express trail used 80 riders and between 400 and 500 horses to carry mail from the settled Midwest to the new state of California. 85% of the route is on dirt and gravel with a few car-free bike trails to get riders through major cities. Any interactives on this page can only be played while you are visiting our website. April 2022 USGS Topographic Map: You probably don't need this, but at least one rider who scouted out portions of the original trail (beginning at Mile 1944 on the Pony Express Bikepacking Route) used this to track the trail across a barren part of the Nevada outback. Some sections are closed to motor vehicles; other sections are too rugged. Community I chose the highway, and getting over Big Mountain was still a long, difficult climb. November 2021 Routes The route runs more than 2,000 miles, from St. Joseph, MO to Sacramento, CA, mostly on dirt and gravel roads over rocky, sandy, and overgrown trails, through alkali lake beds, across open desert, and along alpine singletrack. Th e eastern United States had been settled to the Mississippi River and a fast . The gorgeous route . We also rate all our routes using the BPR Route Rating Scale to clearly articulate physical, technical, and overall bikepacking challenge. July 2021 We also offer extensive navigational, logistical, and educational route guides and resources so that riders can confidently embark on their own bikepacking adventures. Order or renew today! Submitted by Brent Hugh on Fri, 11/11/2022 - 7:11am, This event supports statewide bicycle advocacy, Missouri Bicycle and Pedestrian Federation, The Pony Express Route - finally nearing completion and final release - Bikepacking Roots, Scouting the Pony Express route - Missouri to California - Jan Bennett, Biking the Pony Express Trail - How & Why | National Park Service articles, Woman bikes Pony Express Trail from St Joseph to California - and made maps so you can ride it, too | newspressnow.com, St Joseph's Pony Express Bike Share Program to roll out again this spring | newspressnow.com, Missouri Gravel and BikePacking Bicycle Maps and Routes, Smile.Amazon.com - donate when you shop online, News & Link Historical Archive (by month), Bicycling, Running, Trails-related Businesses, Ride, Run, Walk, Hike, Triathlon, and Events Calendars, Ask MoDOT for bike/ped improvements on a road, Statewide Trail Vision - Quad State Trail, Anti-harassment laws in cities & statewide, Bicycle, pedestrian, trails plans across MO, Rock Island Trail Commemorative Items @ CafePress, Missouri Foundation for Bicycling and Walking, 2023 Missouri Active Transportation Summit, MoBikeFed's Missouri Bikes & Blues Fest in Urich [[Postponed to 2023]]. The new Pony Express Trail is hardly just a California bikepacking route; it extends all the way to Missouri! September 2019 Secondly, your speed along the trail is close to the speed of the Pony Express riders, an average of about ten miles per hour. March 2021 The Pony Express Route is mostly off-road, passes through 6 states, covers 2,200 miles, climbs 85,000+ feet, crosses 16 mountain ranges and passes through large portions of public lands. But some sections, particularly in the mountains of Nevada, are rough, rocky, and are decidedly not dirt or gravel roads. So, for instance, instead of reaching Chimney Rock just a few minutes after seeing it from the highway, you approach this natural landmark as the riders did, over the course of an hour or more, seeing the tip first peek out from between hills . 85% of the route is on dirt and gravel with a few car-free bike trails to get riders through major cities. Click here to learn more about the Pony Express Route and how to get involved in 2020! National Geographic Headquarters 1145 17th Street NW Washington, DC 20036, National Geographic Society is a 501 (c)(3) organization. If you are riding the trail from east to west, be ready to put long days in from the start. Public Lands Ive ridden most of the trail by bike: In the summer of 2020, I drove from my house, near Sacramento, to ride the California portion in a series of day-rides and overnight trips; I also scouted sections of the trail in central Nevada by taking hub-and-spoke rides from Fallon and Austin; in early summer 2021, I bikepacked the Pony Express Trail from St. Joseph, Missouri to Salt Lake City, Utah over five weeks. May 2022 NEVADA Pony Express Bikepacking Route - Austin, NV to Eastgate, NV, Paved Alternative 269 views Jul 18, 2019 14 Dislike Share Save Description Jan Bennett 115 subscribers This is the paved. Bikepacking in Northern Nevada along the old Pony Express Route. Advocacy July 2022 With enough planning, a rider could even start each days ride from one home station and end at the next, replicating each Pony riders run. Scouting the Pony Express. History is alive and well along much of the route, with the remains of original Pony Express stations still visible in many places, and commemorative markers along the way denoting important landmarks, graves, and important information. 85% of the route is on dirt and gravel with a few car-free bike trails to get riders through major cities. It also allows you to ride sections that even modern horseback riders on the annual Pony Express Re-Ride have to skip. The climb up the Eastern Sierra Nevada Mountains, from Carson City to Echo Summit, is steep. Camping only suggested after talking to. The Pony Express Bikepacking Route, currently in the final stages of development, begins in St. Joseph, Missouri and covers more than 2,200 miles as it makes its way to Sacramento, California, crossing Kansas, Nebraska, Colorado, Wyoming, Utah, Nevada, and California along the way. It includes a challenging 800 foot climb to a rest stop overlooking Emerald Bay and a 1000 foot climb to Spooner Junction. 85% of the route is on dirt and gravel with a few car-free bike trails to get riders through major cities. Download the official NPS app before your next visit, The Prairie: St. Joseph, MO to Kearney, NE, The Platte River Road: Kearney, NE to Sidney, NE, South Pass: Casper, WY to Ft. Bridger, WY, The Wasatch Mountains: Ft. Bridger to Salt Lake City, UT, The Great Basin: Salt Lake City, UT to Carson City, NV, The Sierra Nevada: Carson City, NV to Sacramento, CA. The trail crosses through the Glacial Hills section of east Kansas, and constantly drops and climbs back out of to creek beds etched into the bottom of ravines. On the Pony Express Trail: One Man's Bikepacking Journey to Discover History from a Different Kind of Saddle [Alumbaugh, Scott] on Amazon.com. For nearly 150 miles, the trail is flat or offers small climbs into the hills to the south. The Pony Express Bikepacking Route, currently in the final stages of development, begins in St. Joseph, Missouri and covers more than 2,200 miles as it makes its way to Sacramento, California, crossing Kansas, Nebraska, Colorado, Wyoming, Utah, Nevada, and California along the way. From Casper, the trail quickly enters high desert, and you will be riding over one mile above sea level for most of the way to Salt Lake City. 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