This route is brought to you by Maribeth Orr, one of our 2022 Route Ambassadors and gravel biking enthusiast from Linwood, Kansas.
She rode this route with @gravelkansas of the KC Gravel Grinders.
Photo Credits: Maribeth Orr
You'll be biking on quiet Kansas farmland with some challenging rolling hills and picturesque pasture views.
The route has a lot of great photo opts as it takes you on a beautiful tour around Lone Star Lake and over the locally fabled Chicken Creek Arch Bridge.
A few miles of the route are along the historic Santa Fe Trail.
The paved portions of this route are on mostly low-traffic back county roads, so you never have to share space with cars on busy roads with fast traffic.
There are a few steep pitches that can be tough when there is newly laid fresh/loose gravel.
I had a few curious dogs that run alongside me and barked, and loose dogs are not that uncommon on this route.
Do this ride if you want an intermediate mixed terrain ride with challenging rolling hills on quiet Kansas farmlands around Lawrence.
You can park at the start in the public parking lot of the Baker University Wetlands Nature Center.
Bathrooms are available at the starting point (Baker University Westlands Nature Center) and at Lone Star Lake (at approximately mile 14).
The road quality can vary greatly based on when local maintenance has been done- it can be loose chunky gravel or hard packed gravel/smooth dirt.
You must be fully self supported as there are no opportunities for refueling on route.
First-come-first-serve camping sites are available at Lone Star Lake is you looking to make this part of a camping adventure.
If you are seeking a post-ride beer and pub food, check out Fields & Ivy, which is less than 5 min drive from the finish.
2022 Ambassador: Maribeth Orr
Maribeth Orr is a promoter of human movement with a passion for helping others find their love and motivation for exercise. She loves seeking new adventures and she especially loves discovering the beauty of nature and the outdoors. Her favorite way to see the awesome sights the earth has to offer is on her bicycles and she’s grown a massive love for riding the gravel and dirt roads around her home in Kansas.
She started her cycling journey as a triathlete in 2011 when her dad, one of her best friends, was taken too soon from cancer. She continues today with her love for triathlon, road cycling, mountain biking, fat biking, and of course GRAVEL! Two of her favorite things to say are “This road is gravelicious!” and “Gravel speaks to my soul.”
She was a family doctor for 16 years and now practices obesity medicine full time in Lawrence, Kansas at Heartland Weight Loss. One of her favorite prescriptions to write is for her patients to ride a bicycle and get outside to move. She is a mother of 4 and loves riding gravel roads with her husband and kids.
Her favorite gravel route is the one that takes her by her donkey friend, Chester, just down the road from her house. She has competed in Unbound Gravel (formerly the DK) and many local gravel rides in Kansas. She is a 3x Ironman finisher and 7x USA Triathlon National Age Group Championships qualifier and in 2022, she achieved Ironman All World Athlete status!
You can hear more about Maribeth on the Girls Gone Gravel Podcast, Episode #39.
