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1,000 miles of New Gravel Cycling Routes Open across Tennessee

The Tennessee Department of Tourist Development has unveiled 37 new routes across the state. The gravel trails will join an existing 52 road routes already in existence, opening up more than 1,800 miles of trails to explore.

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The newly added gravel routes are accessible through the Ride with GPS app and were developed in collaboration with professional route developer and cycling guide Shannon Burke of Tennessee Gravel. 
 
Bike Tennessee’s extensive list of routes all accessible by the Ride with GPS app, to see forest climbs to day-long mountain rides. The routes include tree tunnels, lake views, farm fields and punchy hills through the region’s low-traffic roadways and historic agricultural landscape.
 
Tennessee is home to several national parks, including the 500,000 acre Great Smoky Mountains National Park (the most visited in the US) and the Cherokee National Forest.
 
New routes include areas near Standing Stone State Park, Big South Fork National River and Recreation Area, and Pickett CCC Memorial State Park.
 
The new routes add to an existing network of over 1,000 miles of diverse terrain biking trails across the state.
 
Tennessee Gravel Owner Shannon Burke said the Upper Cumberland stood out as a natural fit due to its combination of scenic landscapes and existing gravel road networks.
 
“That’s actually the fastest growing segment in cycling, really, nationwide and worldwide,” Burke said. “It’s a hot item because people want to get away from the cars, and they want to explore beautiful places that they can’t get to with skinny tires. And so it’s a different type of setup on your bicycle to use these gravel roads. And so the timing to put this out here is really good because people are looking for places to ride their brand new gravel bikes, and Tennessee has a lot to offer.”
 
In addition to scenic value, Burke said the routes were designed with tourism in mind to connect riders to local businesses and recreational opportunities.
 
“You put together a nice day for people where they’re able to park… do a really nice ride, come back, have lunch, maybe do a hike to the waterfall,” Burke said. “It becomes a full day of activity, or maybe even a full weekend, which would be ideal from a tourism standpoint.”
 
According to the Bureau of Economic Analysis, Tennessee’s outdoor economy generated an estimated $15.6 billion in 2024.
 
For more information, please visit: https://bike.tnvacation.com