The Claysville Gravel Route takes riders on the roads near or a part of the Whiskey Rebellion Gravel Race. The Hub wrote an article describing the race. Take a look at the article for additional information about the area and race.
The Unpaved Hub’s JB rode the 2017 25k, the inaugural year of the Whiskey Rebellion. Due to the pandemic and scheduling conflicts, JB has been unable to ride any of the more recent editions. 2020 was going to be the year, but the pandemic. . . .
As a way to pay homage to the event during the pandemic, JB rode all of the loops, in addition to SweetWater Bikes’ REAL Gravel Free Ride Series loop that is in the area. This Claysville Gravel Route is a product of those rides and additional scouting.
Route Profile
- Mileage: 73.5 miles (See the Possible Route Changes photo gallery below for a few possible tweaks to shorten the route)
- Elevation: 6,846 feet (Ride with GPS)
- Surface Estimate: 60-70% gravel / 30-40% pavement (Pavement is used loosely – a lot of chip seal)
- Gravel Category: Category 1 to 3, with some Category 4 (See Industry Standard Guide to Gravel Summary)
- Bike Suggestion: Gravel
- Tire Suggestion: 700×35 or greater
- Fuel Stops: No
The Hub’s Take and Route Notes
Like the Whiskey Rebellion gravel race, this route traverses the peaceful country and farm roads where the 1794 Whiskey Rebellion took place in Washington County, Pennsylvania. You will also be in coal, oil, and gas country, and will see signs of it pretty much everywhere on the route. Our route starts/finishes at a State Game Lands in Claysville, which is about 45 minutes southwest of Pittsburgh.
The roads are largely gravel, dirt, and busted up chip seal. The gravel ranges from road stone gravel to baseball-sized rocks. However, most of the gravel is fairly tame as can be seen in the pictures in the Route Surfaces section below. The route consists of classic western PA topography, which is short, punchy, and relentlessly steep and rolling terrain.
Because The Hub loves public lands, the route takes you through as many PA State Game Lands as possible. Some of the roads on the southern 25 miles of the route are gated Game Lands roads. See pic #2 in the Possible Route Changes section below for the referenced 25 miles. That section is the toughest of the route. If you are familiar with the unPAved of the Susquehanna River Valley event, you know “the Difference.” If not, it is a tough 30-mile section tacked onto the fairly tame 90-mile course. While not quite the Difference, this section is arduous. It is steep. It can be muddy. We even had to navigate around a landslide when we rode it last in April of 2021. Be prepared. Also, check out our resource if you are riding during hunting season.
Route Surfaces
The following photo gallery will give you a feel for the road surfaces you will encounter. Feel free to hover over the picture for a description or click on them to view larger images or enter the gallery view.
Route Map
Possible Route Changes
Below are three possibilities to shorten the route. Hover over the picture to read a description of the possible change or click on them to view larger images or enter the gallery view.
Directions to Route Parking
There is a PA State Game Lands parking area near the intersection of Raspberry (a/k/a, T470) and Quaker Ridge Roads. The dropped pin on this map gets you close.
Enjoy yourself out there! If you liked the route summary, please share it with your friends and family. Also, make sure you keep up-to-date on all The Hub’s content by following us on social media (links on the top and bottom of this page), and by entering your info into the Newsletter signup (to the right and bottom).