Gravel Cycling

Gravel riders spend a lot of time looking for what Jordan Valley has by the hundred-mile: smooth ranch gravel, near-zero traffic, huge views, and a real cafe at the finish. The route curators at Dirty Freehub — the Bend-based nonprofit that documents Oregon’s best gravel rides — chose this country for their Jordan Valley Tour, and riders who make the drive out talk about it the way river runners talk about the Owyhee.

The riding

Routes out of town roll across sagebrush steppe toward the lava country of Jordan Craters, skirt rimrock canyons, and pass working ranches that have been in the same families for a century. Surfaces range from hardpacked county gravel to primitive two-track; a 40mm-plus tire and low gears are the right call. Cattle guards are frequent, gates are occasional (leave them as found), and every rise opens another twenty miles of view.

Riding smart out here

This is genuinely remote riding — the kind the route guides put in bold:

• No water on route. Carry more than you would anywhere else; in summer, start at first light.
• No cell service beyond the edge of town. A satellite messenger is cheap insurance.
• Weather turns fast. Wind is the local specialty; spring mud on clay roads can end a ride.

Town makes it easy: stage from Sunny Ridge RV Park or the motel, carb up at the JV Cafe, and get coffee before the early rollout. Finish-line pie is non-negotiable.