GRAVEL ROUTES
There is a lot of open space to find your gravel adventure. Hughes County has the traditional grid of rural gravel roads, and the Fort Pierre National Grassland south of Fort Pierre includes rolling gravel roads in Jones and Lyman counties. Some sample Strava rides below show popular routes.
DRY RUN ROAD LOOP
This route combines a section of the aggregate surface Lewis & Clark Recreational Trail with rural county gravel road. The short steep climb on Dry Run Road is called "The Beast" segment on Strava, but the route is otherwise fairly flat. In the northeast corner of this route, you have the opportunity to scale up the route distance by heading further east and north on the grid of gravel roads.
BELTWAY LOOP
This tour around the two communities is a mixed surface route of gravel, dirt and asphalt. You can even include some of the West Shore MTB singletrack on your way by. It's a scenic route that includes the Verendrye Monument, the old Chapel at the Oahe Dam, the Grey Goose convenience store to resupply, and a good chunk of the Lewis & Clark recreation trail. The dirt road stretch of this route - Mud Road - is named for a reason, so best to avoid it after a rain.
GRASSLAND GRAVEL ADVENTURES
Miles and miles of gravel road are out there on the Fort Pierre National Grassland. Most are single lane, but traffic is sparse. The route shown below is the short route for our Grassland Gravel event that begins and ends at the Richland Dam Recreation Area. You can see longer routes of 35 and 53 miles to expand your adventure on the event webpage, including double track adventures on Forest Service Roads that cross the open prairie.