By Alex Roberts

Start/Finish: Baseball fields on Southwinds in Farmington
Distance: 66 miles
Elevation: Approximately 4100 feet
Difficulty: Medium to Medium-High
Cautions: No convenience stores, limited water, spotty cell service
Route Link: https://ridewithgps.com/routes/16172975

It’s still a bit warm, but the last few weeks have been nowhere near as hot as they could be this time of year. Throw in lower humidity, and it’s hard to complain. With that in mind, I think I can take us on a route that is a bit further out and with very few water refill options. It features some heavy climbing and is quite remote, but the roads are a blast, the views great, and I can almost guarantee that you haven’t ridden a majority of this loop.

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I always loved the Choose Your Own Adventure books when I was a kid, and the bridge over Cove Creek is a point at which you can do just that. You can either follow the route outlined here or go east and come back in through Bug Scuffle eventually hitting 265 at Strickler. However, if you’re not a fan of climbs, it’s going to feel more like pick your poison as both routes feature a long climb out. Before the top of Liberty Hill, you will have gained just under 1100 feet in under four miles with the main part of the climb gaining 800 feet in 2.5 miles.

Some of the gems on this route include Cove Creek itself, Cold Spring Lake, Liberty Hill, and the entire ridge north of Liberty Hill which parallels Cove Creek and takes you back to Prairie Grove. You can see a lot of the Cove Creek/Liberty Hill portion of the route in the video I made out there back in January below. It was plenty cold then to keep that Ozark Belgian Golden chilled!

The main gravel loop starts at the base of Hell’s Kitchen, so if you prefer to get there by riding the pavement on Cove Creek Road and continuing south where the gravel begins, go for it. I’m going to detail the ride leaving from the same ballpark in Farmington and using some of the same early roads as the last route to get us south of Hogeye. A fairly even mix of gravel and pavement will take you to 265 south of Hogeye. If you start at the ballfield in Farmington you will turn off of pavement at New Sulphur Church on Hogeye Road. This is Mile 12, and there is a water spigot on the church activity building. I recommend topping off as filtering water from Cove Creek is really the only option for the next 43 miles or so.

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You’ll have about a 7 mile stretch of pavement on 265 and down Hell’s Kitchen. After turning left at the bottom of Hell’s Kitchen, however, you’re going to hit a gorgeous stretch of gravel running parallel to Cove Creek. Say goodbye to asphalt as over the next 33 miles there is only about a quarter-mile of it. Cove Creek is wide, fast, and slightly downhill to begin. You’ll be flying. It will eventually take on a drastically different feel as the woods close in around the Crawford County line. There is a well preserved old stone house just off the road in the forest, but I’m going to leave that as an Easter Egg for now and let you try to find it. It’s worth checking out if you see it. I will tell you it is on the western side of the road.

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Take a short detour and a quick break to refuel either at Cold Spring Lake or at the bridge on Cove Creek Crossing. Motivate the legs and lungs and head uphill. As you climb Liberty Hill you’ll start to see a radio/cell/weather tower in the distance. Let this be your dangling carrot as that tower marks the top of the climb. After the climb you will still be gaining altitude for a bit, but there are rollers with fun descents throughout. There are a few turns so study the course well or program it in your GPS. Eventually you cross 4 Corner and ride the ridge between Cove Creek and Greasy Valley all the way back to PG. The route shown here takes you across Boogie Alley, over a brief gravel stint on Centerpoint Church Road, then backtracks to the ballfield.

This is an amazing route, but be prepared to be self-reliant. Cell signal is spotty at best around Cove Creek so don’t anticipate relying on that. But to me, that’s a lot of the appeal of this route. You’ll definitely feel secluded. It’s a perfect reset at the end of a stressful work week, but it’s also just a wonderful example of how easily you can get away from it all by exploring the gravel around here.