Gravel Ride Adventures - Bike Iowa City

Road sign off of a flat, paved road with corn fields in the background.

Pancakes, Anyone?

Miles

Feet of Climbing

Wanting to get out on gravel but not feeling like dealing with a bunch of hills? This is the route for you! This route manages to find and string together some of the most flat-like-a-pancake roads Johnson County has to offer. Be warned, however: there’s a total of 3 miles of B road on this route — minimally maintained dirt roads that are lots of fun in good weather and that can get impassably sloppy in wet conditions. You might want to choose another adventure if you’re heading out after any significant precipitation.

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Secrest Octagonal Barn in West Liberty, Iowa

Octagonal Barn Loop

◯ Beginner

Miles

Feet of Climbing

This friendly loop takes you past the 1883 Secrest Octagonal Barn, which is on the National Register of Historic Places. The barn is part of a private farmstead just west of the town of Downy, and its unique shape has helped it withstand the storms and winds of the prairie over all those decades. You’ll pedal past this red-painted landmark not quite halfway through this route. About 18 miles into your ride, you’ll arrive at a one-mile stretch of B road, minimally maintained dirt road. Given the regular rectangles of roads in this part of the county, it’s easy to navigate a mile north or south to circumvent that stretch in muddy conditions…or you might end up taking your bicycle for a walk. Choose wisely!

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Westward Ho!

▢ Intermediate

Miles

Feet of Climbing

This ride will give you a chance to fully experience the rolling topography of western Johnson County and beyond in a lollypop-type route. You’ll head west and west, then turn north. You won’t have to navigate many turns until the route heads back east. At roughly miles 27 and 39, you’ll arrive at towns with some C-store options if you’re in need of refreshment, and in between you’ll pedal along the edge of Kent State Park, a hilly gem in the countryside.

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Gravel road bikers riding through the Iowa countryside in the fall.

Getting Away from It All

▢ Intermediate

Miles

Feet of Climbing

If you want to get away from the city for a while, this is your route. So, pack food and water! You’ll know you’re away from it all when you meet your first horse-drawn buggy on the road — you’ll be pedaling through the countryside that one of the largest Amish communities west of the Mississippi calls home. This route will also give your brain a break: miles 29 through 43ish are all on one road with no turns required. Ahhhhh…

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Large group of gravel bicyclists riding on a foggy day.

Let’s Go Look at the River

▢ Intermediate

Miles

Feet of Climbing

This route begins and ends in downtown Solon, where there are plenty of options for après-ride refreshments. You’ll take a zig-zagging route generally northward, passing through the town of Ely, until reaching a point where you can take a spur to go out and back to visit the Cedar River at beautiful Palisades-Kepler State Park. About your halfway point, this would be a lovely spot for a snack…and reenergizing for the climb back out of the river valley. You’ll retrace the spur portion of the route then head generally east and south until you circle back around to end in Solon.

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Gravel road in the fall of the Iowa countryside.

Iowa City Gravel Metric Century

▢ Intermediate

Miles

Feet of Climbing

In October, gravel adventurers can enter the Iowa City Gravel event with fellow gravel grinders—or they can ride the 2018 IC Gravel metric century any time they like on their own. The route starts out amid the small handful of buildings that make unincorporated River Junction, where the Iowa and English rivers converge. The route will take you past the iconic red-painted Secret Octagonal Barn, built in 1883; through West Liberty, with a downtown district on the National Register of Historic Places and a bountiful selection of restaurants, many of which feature foods of Latin and South America; and through a few small towns that, like so many other small American towns, appeared with the expansion of the railroad. The map shows aid stations that are only there on race day, so unless it’s race day, you’re on your own!

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Two bicyclists riding on a gravel road on the east side of Iowa city.

The Gritty

♢ Advanced

Miles

Feet of Climbing

Another route to test your inner endurance adventurer, this route from a now-defunct race called the Gritty Brevet combines the flatter southeast quadrant of Johnson County with the rollers in the western part of the county. From the Johnson County Fairgrounds (site of the famous Jingle Cross cyclocross races!), you’ll head generally east and south first to get good and warmed up. Then you’ll head west, arriving at Riverside, future home of Star Trek’s Captain James T. Kirk (really!), about 45 miles into your journey. As you make your way farther west and gradually north, the traffic on the road will likely include the horse-drawn buggies of the local Amish farm families. Your next opportunity for convenience store refreshments won’t come until you reach Tiffin at 86 miles into the adventure, so be sure to bring along plenty of water and food to get you through. After all the work on the rolling hills, you’ll end your ride with a final, fun descent.

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Shadows of three bicycle riders on a gravel road.

Iowa City Gravel Imperial Century

♢ AdvancedLeave a comment

Miles

Feet of Climbing

October is when gravel adventurers can test themselves with the Iowa City Gravel event. But you can ride the 2018 100-mile route any day you’d like, exploring north and south in eastern Johnson County and beyond. You’ll roll out from River Junction, the teeny unincorporated town at the confluence of the Iowa and English rivers, founded in 1873; roll across the Sutliff Bridge, a three-span Parker truss design originally built in 1898 and rebuilt after catastrophic flooding in 2008; pedal past the cheerful red Secrest Octagonal Barn, built in 1883 and on the National Register of Historic Places; and pass a few local, small-town watering holes that would welcome a stop. Aid stations noted on the race route are only there on race day, so if it ain’t race day, you’re on your own for aid!

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Hello, Hoover!

▢ Intermediate

Miles

Feet of Climbing

From rolling gravel hills surrounded by woodlands to a peaceful roll down the Hoover Nature Trail, this ride has it all. Our only advice? Slow down and soak the beauty in.

This route features a stretch on the The Hoover Nature Trail, which is a developing rail-trail in southeastern Iowa being built on a former Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railroad right-of-way. The trail is named for President Herbert Hoover, who was born in West Branch—one of 16 towns that the corridor connects. This route will take you through the Oasis to West Branch segment, which is 3.5 miles of trail that connects two counties, Johnson and Cedar, and two towns, Oasis and West Branch. Much of the route is tree-canopied so you’ll have a pleasant, shady ride on this crushed-stone pathway. On the occasions when you pop out of the trees, you’ll see the surrounding agricultural landscape.

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Tiffin Time

◯ Beginner

Miles

Feet of Climbing

There’s nothing better than a delectable ice cream cone on a hot summer bike ride. This route takes you through North Liberty, Kent Park and Jon’s Ice Cream in Tiffin, and on the Clear Creek trail. Have a family? This is a great introduction to gravel riding!

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