By Alex Roberts

Start/Finish: Agri Park
Distance: 34.6 miles
Elevation: Approximately 1750
Difficulty: Easy to Moderate
Cautions: None
Route Link: https://ridewithgps.com/routes/16720978

Some of the most easily accessible gravel from Fayetteville is found just north and south of Mount Comfort Road. This week let’s look at a fairly quick 35 mile gravel loop leaving from Agri Park. The highlight of this route for me is the run along Robinson Road. Wide, fast, and beautiful no matter which direction you’re heading; it’s one of my favorite gravel stretches in the area.

Beginning at Agri, head west on the bike path and use this and the bike lane on Mount Comfort to get the legs warmed up. You’ll turn off of Mount Comfort onto Sunshine at Mile 3.5 and after the next right onto Jess Anderson, you’ll soon be on the first teaser section of gravel. This quickly hits Double Springs where you’ll pound just a bit more pavement before the gravel-heavy portion of the route begins around 5.5 miles in.

20 of the next 24 miles are gravel. Straighten the corner where N Double Springs and W Double Springs split and hit the gravel of W Double Springs. Head to Hamestring for some fast flat terrain before turning onto John Garrison where the route gets a bit hillier. You’ll climb towards Wheeler with a brief stint onto the pavement as you drop to the fire station before turning onto gravel on the left as the pavement takes the sharp right curve. This is a flat and fast section until you climb to Harmon staying on CR859. Hit the pavement of Harmon, turn right, then a quick left onto Beef Farm Road. Just before the Savoy plunge you’ll turn right onto more gravel on White Oak Church Road.

This section of White Oak Church/Yell Cemetery/Robinson is an absolute blast, not to mention a beautiful part of the ride. Smooth gravel and rolling terrain means you can really up the average on this section. Just be sure to not miss the views. If you have time for a bit of relaxing on the ride, take a break at the bridge over the Illinois and enjoy the sight and the quiet.

From there the route continues on Robinson before a short stint east on 16, the turn towards Savoy, then staying right at the bottom of the hill on more gravel as you climb back to Harmon. A right on Harmon will give you the paved descent before turning left at the bottom onto Hamestring and then closing the loop and backtracking to Agri.

This route is just under 35 miles with around 1750 feet of elevation. It’s a great loop for getting in a few hours after work and is also perfect for a short weekend loop. The link to the route can be found here.