Recap: Little Smokies Gravel Rally
With a name like The Little Smokies Gravel Rally, the keen adventurer will have drawn all sorts of imagery to mind before they even leave their driveway. They might think of long winding climbs up remote peaks blanketed in fog, and a sense of times much older than themselves. I personally call that the Jurassic Park vibe, but to my point, Little Smokies delivers. I cruised past a couple of small towns on my way into Shawnee state forest, but after that there was very little human influence to be seen. Roughly 60% of this route is in completely remote sections of forest and sprinkled with hilltop farms. The really exceptional part however, was the time spent climbing.
“Hats off to Pete!”
As someone who has seen a good bit of Ohio gravel and mountain bike riding, my expectations for climbing were shattered. The first climb, for example, is 5.5 miles long and over 500 feet. It took me over half an hour moving at moderate pace to crest the top. It’s a gentle climb though, and your reward at the end is a fire tower view that’s completely captivating. There are several of these gentle rides into the sky throughout the route, but don’t let them fool you. There are plenty of wildly steep technical switchbacks to be climbed too. One of them even has Pete, the 4 lb terror to motivate you (he’s a POI on the route). Hats off to Pete! I didn’t know four inch legs could carry a dog so quickly across cobble size gravel. My first impression of this route is that this is more of a climber’s route than a descenders route. Several of the best descents are paved, and many of the gravel ones are too tight to really let loose.
If you are looking for fog that clings to the hills, you might need to hit this one early in the morning, or in the rain. I unfortunately went the rain route, and while the views were beautiful, I also ended up with bibs full of sand. Ultimately, I’d recommend this to anyone who wants to experience longer times climbing than most of the other routes in Ohio. It’s one that begs you over and over to stop and take pictures too! Even though it clocks in as a two hour drive from Columbus, it’s a ride that’s completely and utterly worthy of the trip. Just be sure to have everything you need with you as amenities are not to be found. When you see Pete tell him I say hello while you squirt him with your bottle.
Technical bits:
Ride time was around 4.5 hours. Temps were in the low 80s and upper 70s. Roughly the last two hours were steady rain. There is a little more pavement than I love to see (40-45% tarmac), but the loose stuff more than makes up for any lost challenge. At the time of the writing, much of the route is recently graded with large gravel. I suspect that this one is always loose and sandy if it goes without rain for long. Lastly, beware of dogs. There were more chasers on this route than any I’ve been on in the past. I was able to scare all of them off with a bottle squirt and yelling, but there are a ton. I was warned and now you are now too.
