Pinelands Gravel: Through the Pines

Welcome to Pinelands Gravel; our newest unpaved road adventure– ¡Ay Carranza!

This adventure event is many years in the making.  Shortly after we organized the first Hell of Hunterdon in 2009, we received several requests  to organize a gravel ride in the New Jersey Pine Barrens.  We knew we could develop a fun and fast course, but the timing wasn’t right.  A few years ago, when we began working with the Pinelands Preservation Alliance (PPA) on their annual Tour de Pines, we knew the time was finally right.

The ride starts at PPA’s headquarters at a preserved farm in Southampton, NJ and travels through some hidden regions of the Pine Barrens, including State Forests, Nature Preserves, Famous Trails, Ghost Towns, Ruins, and the Carranza Memorial.  Carranza?  Captain Emilio Carranza was the “Lindbergh of Mexico”, whose plane crashed in 1928 in a remote section of the Pine Barrens during a goodwill mission.

In recognition of his adventure, and in celebration of ours, the ride finishes with post ride festivities in the renovated dairy barn at PPA.

We recommend a minimum tire size of 35mm, and use of off-road pedals, in case any walking or portaging is required.  Gravel or Cyclocross bikes will be best suited for the event.

Due to the lack of road signs (particularly on the secondary roads) and poor cell phone signal reliability, use of GPS (downloaded and saved to your device in advance) is essential.