Bikepacking Ethos

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Tour the route whenever you want and have fun however you want, as long as you follow Leave No Trace principles and follow rule 15. The rules below simply provide a framework that bikepackers have tried to follow when undertaking a route.

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1. No entry fee. Ride the route when you want to.

2. No prizes or awards for finishing fast.

3. No outside support. Carry everything with you or buy it along the way.

4. Although you can't control friends or family, they should not plan to meet you anywhere on route.

5. Trail magic is awesome but should be available to every user of the trail, not just you.

6. Sleep where you find yourself - don't make reservations, that's part of the fun!

7. Follow the route. If you leave the route for any reason you must return to that exact spot before continuing on the route. The exception is the town of Blue Ridge, where you can deviate from the route at mile 136.5 and rejoin by mile 140 (clockwise, first pass), or mile 250 and rejoin by mile 252 (clockwise, second pass).

8. Forward progress can only be made on bike or foot. 

9. Know and understand the laws, rules, and regulations of the land the route travels through.

10. Leave every place you visit as good or better than you found it.

11. You are responsible for your own safety and survival. If you get injured, you get injured. If you die, you die. 

12. If you want to go as fast as you can, go for it. But there's nothing for you at the end except first dibs on the hot tub and some of Mulberry Gap's famous cooking... all of which is worth riding fast for.

13. There is one mandatory hike-a-bike. At approximately mile 172 (if you start at Mulberry Gap) you will intersect the Benton MacKaye Trail at the end of a gravel road. You must walk your bike on the trail, across the suspension bridge, to the gravel road just past the other side. DO NOT RIDE THIS SECTION. It's 1/2 mile - soak it in. Also, the Benton MacKaye Association has asked that you do not post any photos of your bike on this bridge since it is a pedestrian-only bridge. 

14. You are on your own. You are responsible for your own safety and actions. The route organizer is not responsible for anything that happens to you or things that you do.

15. Dont be a jerk. Follow the bikepacking ethos. If you don't know what I mean by that this probably isn't the ride for you.

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Comments

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• These notes are from Mulberry Gap.

• You can ride the route in any direction but it's much more fun going clockwise.

• Resupply is particularly difficult on this route can be really spread out. Your viable resupply options are (these all start at Mulberry; add ~77 miles for Amicalola start):

  • Mile 12.5 - Fort Mountain State Park office/welcome center. Power foods, water, power drinks, junk food.​

  • Mile 23.5 - Sunoco about 1 mile off route in the town of Crandall.

  • Mile 96 - soda vending machine at US Whitewater Center

  • Mile 109 - Ducktown with convenience stores, grocery store, and lodging

  • Mile 131 - Cashes Valley Store, strange hours. If it's not 12pm-5pm it might not be open. Bring cash.

  • Mile 140 - town of Blue Ridge. Lots of fast food, great restaurants, and grocery stores on route. Hotels too. Fightingtown Tavern is right on route and has most of the local beers and food on tap.

  • Mile 149 - Sunoco in Morganton

  • Mile 242 - Iron Bridge Cafe and Toccoa Riverside restaurant

  • Mile 255 - Blue Ridge again, nothing after

• Water is pretty much everywhere. Just bring a filter. ​

• Wear bright colors - hi-viz and orange are you friend - there are a lot of hunters.

• I highly advise everyone to carry a satellite messaging device. The Cohutta-Big Frog Wilderness is the largest wilderness East of the Mississippi and you're going right around it.