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  Bikepacking Roots -- Supporting and advancing bikepacking

News and updates

Bears Ears Loops coming in early June!

5/19/2020

 
By Kaitlyn Boyle 
In late 2019, 
Bicycling Magazine published an article highlighting the Bears Ears Alternate to our Wild West Route, part of a larger bikepacking network in development called the Bears Ears Loops. We intended to release the route network and its guidebook in early spring, but the arrival of the Coronavirus pandemic and the subsequent closing of much of southeast Utah’s public lands led us to withhold releasing the Bears Ears Loops. We're now excited to share the progress toward releasing the route!
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As we stayed home looking forward to the opening of the Bears Ears landscape to visitors, we have been quietly adding the details and finishing touches to the Bears Ears Loops network and guide. The loops will consist of three loops plus an alternate to the Wild West Route and shorter point-point trips. The Confluence Loop is a 372-mile-long loop that circles the heart of the Colorado Plateau around the confluence of the Green and Colorado Rivers. The Swell Loop is a 436-mile-long loop that broadly encircles the San Rafael Swell over the Henry Mountains and Aquarius Plateau. The Plateau Loop is made by riding the outer periphery of the Confluence and Swell Loops for a larger 646-mile-long loop connecting the Wild West Route on the high plateaus of the western Colorado Plateau to a grand tour of Bears Ears and the Canyonlands Region. 

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This route network will be supported by GPS resources with hundreds of waypoints identifying the scarce water and resupply options. The Wild West Route mobile app from Bikepacking Guides will also be updated to include the Bears Ears Loops. A full-length guidebook will be available in digital or print formats to accompany the route and guide bikepackers through the logistics of planning and riding any of the routes. To help bikepackers further enhance their experience in the inspiring and sacred landscape that is Bears Ears region, a detailed landscape guide offers geophysical, biological, and human histories and perspectives of the area. The landscape guide weaves in a Navajo perspective on the sacred connection between landscape and culture and it gives a background to the ongoing National Monument designation issue. 

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If you’re looking forward to planning a bikepacking trip to the Bears Ears region, keep an eye out for the Bears Ears Loops network and guide to be released in early June! To support our work in professional and intentional route and guide development, please contribute to support more projects like this in the future - one of our current prizes is a night or two of lodging in one of Roam Industry cabins along the route, as well as shuttle support if needed for a point-to-point ride!

Win one of 30+ prizes - donate or become an annual member today!


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Bikepacking Roots is the only non-profit organization dedicated to supporting and advancing bikepacking, growing a diverse bikepacking community, advocating for the conservation of the landscapes and public lands through which we ride, and creating professional routes. We value human-powered experiences and an inclusive, engaged, and informed membership (6,000 strong) that makes a positive impact as we adventure by bike.

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Bikepacking Roots is a 501(c)(3) non-profit charitable organization (EIN
81-2622394)

All content and route data copyright 2016-2020 Bikepacking Roots

  • Home
  • News
  • Advocacy
    • Advocacy Issue Submission
    • Where we stand
    • Who are bikepackers?
    • U.S. Public Lands History
    • United States' wild lands at risk
    • Bikepacking Community Survey
    • Archive of submitted public comments
  • Routes
    • Our Routes
    • BPR Route Rating Scale
    • In development
    • Western Wildlands Route >
      • WWR Updates
      • WWR Downloads and Guides
      • WWR Segment 1
      • WWR Segment 2
      • WWR Segment 3
      • WWR Segment 4
      • WWR Segment 5
      • WWR Segment 6
      • WWR Segment 7
      • WWR Segment 8
      • WWR Segment 9
    • Bears Ears Loops >
      • Bears Ears Loops Downloads and Guides
      • Bears Ears Loops Updates
    • Plateau Passage >
      • Plateau Passage Segments
    • Colorado 14ers Loop
    • Craters and Cinder Cones
    • Orogenesis
    • Northwoods Route
    • Pony Express Route
  • Community
    • BIPOC Bike Adventure Grant >
      • BIPOC Bike Adventure Grant Application
    • Go Bikepacking! Teton Valley
  • Join/Give Today!
  • About
    • Mission
    • Who we are
    • Route Test Team
    • Partners
    • Contact
  • Store