Bike packing, where you load camping gear onto two wheels, can be a great way to explore wild corners not reachable by car. But it can be intimidating for those new to the world of panniers, tents, and Jetboil camp stoves.
Inn-to-inn bike touring, where you cycle along maintained trails during the day and stay overnight in comfortable lodgings, can ease you into a multiday wheeled adventure. Outfitters, such as Wilderness Voyageurs, can arrange three- to six-day tours on popular rail trails across the country. The Adventure Cycling Association also organizes more than a dozen inn-to-inn bike tours each year.
“Rail trails are great because towns pop up every so many miles, so you don’t have to carry a lot with you,” says Melissa Moser, a cartographer for the Adventure Cycling Association, a nonprofit that promotes bike travel. “I encourage everyone to just get out and try it, even for a night or two. You’ll learn a lot and that can turn into bigger trips.”
Part of the beauty of inn-to-inn bike packing is that they’re a cinch to plan on your own. All you need is a sturdy set of wheels (e-bikes make it even easier), a map (paper is best), and some safety gear. Moser suggests a first aid kit, a bike repair kit, a power bank, and satellite communicator, in case cell service becomes nonexistent.
From Maryland to Minnesota, here’s where to bike pack in the United States with all the comforts of home.
Great Allegheny Passage (150 miles), Pennsylvania/Maryland
The Great Allegheny Passage extends from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, to Cumberland, Maryland, affording riders views of pastoral farmland, tumbling waterfalls, flowing rivers, and historic railroad trestles. Each year, some 200,000 thru-riders tackle this crushed limestone rail trail in one go, according to the Great Allegheny Passage Conservancy. It’s common for riders to park in Cumberland, take the Amtrak train to Pittsburgh, then bike back to their cars over four days.
Trail towns crop up every 10 to 20 miles, welcoming cyclists with restaurants, ice cream shops, bed-and-breakfasts, and bike shops. “While you’re in rural spaces, you have these little oases along the way,” says Bryan M. Perry, executive director of the Great Allegheny Passage Conservancy. Ohiopyle, which sits near the middle of the trail, on the banks of the Youghiogheny River, is worth a stop. It’s home to Ohiopyle State Park, whose crown jewel, 30-foot-tall Cucumber Falls, is less than a mile off the trail.
“This trip is meant to be savored, not rushed through,” adds Perry. “The trail offers the chance to meditate or pray, think, write, or do art or journal along the way.” The Conservancy sells a mile-by-mile trail guide for $10 that includes trip planning tools, mileage between towns and all the need-to-knows about parking, packing, and where to eat and stay along the way.
Favorite stays include Bright Morning Bed & Breakfast in West Newton, which is known for its hearty breakfasts, including a fluffy egg strata, and Yoder’s Guest House in Meyersdale, which has a relaxing front porch and a bike storage shed. Reserve at least two months in advance, especially if you’re planning fair-weather weekends in peak season, which runs from late April to late October.
(This grand trail will one day connect Washington, D.C., to Washington State.)
New River Trail (57 miles), Virginia
In Southwest Virginia, the forested New River Trail crosses 32 wooden trestle bridges and runs through two historic railroad tunnels. This crushed limestone rail trail is the centerpiece of New River Trail State Park and begins in Pulaski, meandering alongside the gentle New River before splitting off to two endpoints, in Galax and Fries.
Just six miles from Pulaski, the Draper Mercantile in Draper is a popular spot for breakfast, lunch, and bicycle rentals, if you want to cycle only a few miles. Near the middle of the trail, the state park’s new Inn at Foster Falls welcomes cyclists with warm beds and rockers. In Galax, the New River Trail Cabins offer back porch views of easygoing Chestnut Creek and the rail trail.
“Since COVID, we’ve seen a change in the numbers of people packing the trail into extended days,” says Sam W. Sweeney, park manager for New River Trail State Park. He adds that you “don’t necessarily have to do huge stretches” since there are restrooms and stops for to-go food not far off the trail.
Several outfitters offer shuttle services to get you and your bike back to your starting point, including New River Outdoor Adventures in Fries, which also rents kayaks and tubes for a paddle or a float on the New River. In Galax, stroll the nearly 120-year-old historic district for small cafés and quaint shops, such as Willow Bee Apothecary and Barrs Fiddle Shop, which makes handmade bluegrass instruments, like banjos, mandolins, and guitars.
(Here are the best paddling trips around the world.)
George S. Mickelson Trail (109 miles), South Dakota
The George S. Mickelson Trail runs south to north across South Dakota from Edgemont to Deadwood, curving across rolling hills, dense forest, wide-open grasslands, and rugged rock formations within the Black Hills National Forest. The well-groomed crushed stone and dirt path crosses close to a hundred railroad bridges and goes through four rock tunnels.
Near the middle of the Mickelson Trail is Hill City, a former mining town that today bustles with art galleries, wineries, museums, and boutiques. It’s also home to the 1880 Train, a steam engine that chugs through the Black Hills from Hill City to Keystone. Custer is also a top spot for historic architecture and artistic buffalo statues around town.
The gentle grade of the Mickelson Trail makes this mixed-use path accessible to most. An end-to-end ride typically takes three days, with overnight stops in Custer and Hill City. For this ride, a $4/day pass is required. A trail guide is available for $12 with insights on each mile. Dave’s World Tours offers a bike shuttle service up and down the Mickelson Trail.
(See the world’s most epic landscapes on these 9 train trips.)
Paul Bunyan State Trail (115 miles), Minnesota
Minnesota’s Paul Bunyan State Trail is the longest paved rail trail in the state. Pedaling south to north, from Crow Wing State Park in Brainerd to Lake Bemidji State Park in Bemidji, this ride lets you soak up some of the state’s stunning scenery. You’ll cycle through boreal forests and wildflower-filled meadows and skirt countless freshwater lakes, rivers, and streams.
Trail towns turn up every eight to 10 miles, affording easy access to restaurants, ice cream shops, bike repair stations, and food markets. Nisswa is a popular stop, thanks to its proximity to a coffee shop, a pizzeria, and an ale house from the trail. You can also rent bikes in Nisswa, at Up North Bike Rentals.
A thru-ride on this rail-trail is often tackled in three or four days, with overnights in Hackensack and Bemidji, home to more than 25 art works and murals as part of the Bemidji Sculpture Walk. There are several shuttle services, including Soulshine Cyclery in Hackensack. Jefferson Lines also runs coach buses between Bemidji and Brainerd.
(These are the top things to do in Minneapolis.)
Little Miami Scenic Trail (78 miles), Ohio
Ohio’s Little Miami Scenic Trail runs south to north from the northeastern suburbs of Cincinnati to Springfield, meandering for miles at a time along the banks of the Little Miami River, passing public parks and historic towns, like Milford and Lebanon. The rail trail also winds through Xenia, dubbed the “Bicycle Capital of the Midwest,” thanks to its location at the intersection of four local trail systems, including the 30-mile Prairie Grass Trail.
One pathway highlights the 2,500-foot-long pedestrian bridge that takes cyclists across the Little Miami River toward Loveland. Ample parking, plentiful restaurants, and aromatic coffee roasteries make Loveland a popular starting point with bikers out for the day. Further north is Fort Ancient Earthworks, a newly named UNESCO World Heritage site, home to 3.5 miles of Native American burial and ceremonial mounds.
(Go inside the secret world of the Hopewell Mounds.)
One way to tackle this rail trail is as a three-day out-and-back ride that begins and ends at a parking area near Cincinnati. This includes two nights in Xenia—on the way out and on the way back—so you can leave most of your gear in your hotel room for the second day’s ride. The Joan Allen House Bed & Breakfast in Xenia is a few blocks from the rail trail.
Erin Gifford is a travel and outdoor writer based in Northern Virginia. Follow her on Instagram.
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