Adventure Cycling’s nonprofit mission has always boiled down to one thing: get more people traveling by bike more often.
Riding across the country, however, can be daunting — not to mention time consuming. But a bike tour doesn’t have to take weeks. Our Short Routes are a collection of beginner-friendly, 50- to 200-mile tours around the country that take between two to five days to complete.
Each user-submitted route is vetted by Adventure Cycling and hosted — FOR FREE — on RidewithGPS, where you can filter by distance, elevation, and location. Find your next weekend bike tour at the link below, and for a little inspiration, we’ve rounded up five of our most popular routes for you to peruse.
Boston to Cape Cod Loop: East Coast Greenway Alliance
Start: Boston, Massachusetts
End: Provincetown, Massachusetts
Miles: 235.8
Elevation gain: 5,132 feet
Perhaps it should come as no surprise that this five-day crescent is our most popular weekend bike tour. After all, it passes through some of the most beautiful — and most densely populated — landscapes in the country. And, as one of four Short Routes developed in partnership with the East Coast Greenway Alliance, it follows that nonprofit’s namesake, in-progress 3,000-mile route, which is already America’s most visited walking and biking trail. Daily mileage ranges from 35 to 69 miles, the latter conveniently coming on Day 4 when your legs will be nice and warmed up. Along the way, you’ll pass through Providence, Rhode Island, as you make a wide, counterclockwise sweep toward Cape Cod’s Provincetown. There’s plenty of New England attractions along the way, including the Native Plant Trust’s Garden in the Woods, Narragansett Brewery, New Bedford Whaling Museum, and a ferry ride back to Boston.
Schuylkill and Wissahickon Trails
Start/End: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Miles: 62.6
Elevation Gain: 3,095 feet
In the winter of 1777 and 1778, George Washington quartered his troops at Valley Forge during an infamously brutal winter. So if history is any guide, you may want to skip this overnight — which passes that national historic park — if there’s snow in the forecast. Still, whatever season you choose to ride, you’ll certainly have an easier go of it today. The 62.6-mile lollipop loop starts and ends at Philadelphia’s 30th Street Station for easy access and meanders through multiple urban parks northwest of downtown. There are also plenty of facilities along the way, including public restrooms, water stops, and self-service bike repair stands along the Schuylkill River and Perkiomen trails and Wissahickon Valley Park’s Forbidden Drive, the trio of which make up the vast majority of the route. Camping options include Evansburg State Park and Fort Washington State Park, reservations required.
Santa Monica Overnight
Start/End: Santa Monica, California
Miles: 34.9
Elevation gain: 4,567 feet
Don’t be fooled by the comparatively short distance. This bikepacking overnight in the Santa Monica Mountains packs the most elevation gain per mile of any route on our list — nearly 3,000 feet of which comes in three big chunks on Day One. That elevation gain may be worth it for a car-free trip in car-obsessed Los Angeles. You’ll begin and end your ride in downtown Santa Monica, meaning the route is accessible via the E Line light rail station. From there, you’ll ascend a fire road to a former Nike Missile control site (sure to be one the most unique lookouts you’ll ever visit) and camp in Topanga State Park’s eight-site Musch Trail Camp at mile 19. After descending through the park and the affluent Pacific Palisades neighborhood on a series of paved and gravel roads and singletrack trail, finish with a dip at any of the beaches along Santa Monica’s Ocean Front Walk.
Seattle to Lopez Island
Start: Colman Dock, Seattle
End: Spencer Spit State Park, Lopez Island
Miles: 121.6
Elevation gain: 6,712 feet
This trek from Seattle to the San Juan Islands is a crash course in the Pacific Northwest, including: a world-class metropolis, bucolic farms, maritime charm, chowder, evergreens, artist communes, and not one, but two ferry crossings. You’ll start at the Emerald City’s famed waterfront, snake through town on a series of protected bike lanes and separated bike paths before crossing to Whidbey Island, the state’s largest and longest, at the Mukiteo ferry terminal. There are plenty of camping options on the island, and you’ll want to linger over the dramatic seascapes at Deception Pass before taking two bridges back to the mainland. From there, it’s an hour’s pedal to the Anacortes ferry terminal and the boat to your final destination: Lopez Island’s Spencer Spit State Park. You have three options for the return leg: catch a ferry to Friday Harbor and then Seattle, arrange for a ride back to town from Anacortes, or pedal back the way you came.
Central Texas Parks Loop
Start/End: Austin, Texas
Miles: 120
Elevation Gain: 3,888 feet
KC Cross knew what they were doing when they mapped out and submitted this loop south of the Texas capital. The route is a rough equilateral triangle with 40-mile-long sides and a campsite at each vertex, making it an ideal bike tour for a three-day weekend. Along the way, you’ll pass quintessential Texas institutions, including Bastrop and Lockhart state parks (two of your three vertices), the Boardwalk at Ladybird Lake, the Circuit of the Americas, and plenty of taco shops, juke joints, and HEBs, the Lone Star State’s rabidly beloved grocery chain. You’ll also pass plenty of barbecue pits, but you might want to wait to indulge until you reach Lockhart on Day 2. The city was officially designated as the Barbecue Capitol of Texas by the state legislature in 1999.
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