Best Bikepacking and Self-Supported Cycling Destinations

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Best Bikepacking and Self-Supported Cycling Destinations

Bikepacking is what happens when you take a mountain bike, strap your tent and stove to the frame instead of putting them on a pannier rack, and ride into terrain a touring cyclist can't reach. There's no support van. No hotel reservations along the route. You carry food for two or three days at a time, filter water from streams, and sleep wherever the dark catches you.

I started doing this seriously in 2017 with a 4-day loop in Slovenia. Since then I've ridden segments of the Great Divide, the Highland 550, and the Strade Bianche in Tuscany, plus a handful of shorter European routes. Some of what's below is direct experience; some is the consensus from the bikepacking community I've built friendships in. Where I'm passing on someone else's view, I'll say so.

TL;DR - Quick Answer

The five bikepacking destinations worth a real trip are: the Great Divide Mountain Bike Route (Banff to the Mexican border, 4,400 km of off-tarmac riding through the Rockies - the original and still the world's most respected long-distance route); the Highland 550 in Scotland (885 km of remote Highlands singletrack and gravel - Europe's hardest mainstream bikepacking route); Tuscany's Strade Bianche network (gravel routes through Chianti and the Crete Senesi - entry-level bikepacking with vineyards every 30 km); Mongolia's Gobi-Altai routes (true unsupported expedition territory - water sources matter); and Patagonia's Carretera Austral in Chile (1,240 km of partially-paved frontier road through fjord country). Below those, regional standouts include the Iceland Westfjords, Tasmania's Trail of the Tin Dragon, the Hokkaido perimeter loop in Japan, and the relatively new Trans-Pyrenees route through Spain and France.

What Distinguishes Bikepacking from Cycle Touring

Cycle touring uses pannier racks, mostly tarmac, and credit-card-style overnight stops in hotels or B&Bs. Bikepacking uses frame bags, handlebar rolls, seat packs - softer luggage that won't snag on singletrack - and trends toward off-tarmac terrain and self-supported camping.

Three other distinctions matter:

Route surface. Bikepacking favours gravel, fire roads, abandoned forest tracks, and singletrack. Tarmac is incidental.
Self-sufficiency. A bikepacker carries food for 1-3 days minimum, water purification, repair tools, and shelter. Resupply windows are days, not hours.
Bike type. A drop-bar gravel bike, a hardtail mountain bike, or a rigid 29er with 2.2-2.4-inch tyres handles most bikepacking terrain. Touring bikes with skinny tyres struggle off tarmac.

If the line between cycle touring and bikepacking matters to you, Wikipedia's bicycle touring article covers the broader cycle touring tradition that bikepacking grew out of.

Tier 1: top-tier Bikepacking Destinations

Great Divide Mountain Bike Route, Canada/USA

The Great Divide is the route that defined the modern bikepacking movement. Adventure Cycling Association mapped it in 1998 - 4,418 km from Banff, Alberta down to Antelope Wells on the New Mexico-Mexico border, primarily on dirt roads and gravel through the Rocky Mountains. The annual Tour Divide race attracts 200+ riders trying to complete the route in under 25 days. Most non-racing tourists take 6-10 weeks.

Highlights. Whitefish Divide in Montana, the Great Basin in Wyoming (one of the most remote sections - water sources 60-90 km apart), Polvadera Mesa in New Mexico, the Banff Springs start with grizzly bear country.

Logistics. $4,500-7,500 budget for an unsupported through-ride if you cook your own food and camp most nights. Add $3,000-5,000 if you want B&B nights twice a week. Detailed maps: Adventure Cycling Association sells the official set for $130 - they're worth every dollar.

Best season. Mid-June through late September. Earlier, snow on Continental Divide passes; later, snow returns and water sources freeze.

Honest difficulty note. The Great Basin section in Wyoming is the hardest. 250+ km between resupplies, sustained 30°C heat in July, hardly any shade. If you've never bikepacked before, do a 4-day section first - Banff to Whitefish is a popular introduction.

Highland 550, Scotland

The Highland 550 is a self-supported 885-km bikepacking route around the northern Scottish Highlands - designed in 2014 by Alan Goldsmith. It's brutal. About 40% off-road, including hike-a-bike sections through bogs, multi-hour hills with sustained 12-14% gradients, and weather that flips from sunshine to horizontal sleet within an hour any month of the year.

Highlights. Glen Affric crossing, the Bealach na Bà climb, the Cape Wrath section, the Corrieyairack Pass.

Logistics. £700-1,200 budget for a 7-12 day completion, including ferries, food, and the occasional B&B. Most riders carry 3-day food supplies and resupply at small Highland towns.

Best season. Late May through early September. June and early July offer the longest daylight (18+ hours). August has midges; bring repellent.

Honest difficulty note. This is not for first-time bikepackers. The community-run Highland Trail 550 site and rider-blog reports give a clearer picture than I can. Plan to repair tubeless punctures from gorse thorns at least three times. Mechanical reliability matters more here than fitness.

Tuscany's Strade Bianche Network

Strade Bianche means "white roads" - the unpaved gravel roads of Chianti and Crete Senesi south of Siena. It's where modern gravel cycling gained its global identity, and there's a 200-km annual gravel race here that draws WorldTour pros every March.

For bikepackers, the network supports 300-700 km loops covering Chianti's vineyards, Val d'Orcia, and the Brunello di Montalcino region. Compared to the Great Divide or Highland 550, this is gentle terrain - rolling hills, rural roads, agriturismo every 20-40 km if you don't want to camp.

Logistics. €600-1,200 for a 5-7 day trip including agriturismo nights. Start in Siena. Bike rental from Siena specialists runs €40-65 per day for a quality gravel bike.

Best season. Late April-early June, then mid-September-late October. July and August are too hot. The famous Strade Bianche race runs in early March - usually too cold and too muddy for casual bikepacking.

Why I love it. Bikepacking doesn't have to mean suffering. Tuscany's network proves you can do real off-tarmac riding through one of Europe's most beautiful landscapes, finish each day at a working family vineyard, and eat unbelievably well.

Mongolian Gobi-Altai Bikepacking

This is bikepacking at its most expedition-style. Mongolia has almost no paved roads outside Ulaanbaatar - and almost no road network of any kind across vast tracts of the country. The Gobi-Altai region offers 800-1,500 km routes across Buddhist monastery ruins, nomadic herders' summer pastures, and shifting sand-dune terrain.

Logistics. Self-supported is brutal. Most riders go semi-supported via a logistics company that places water caches every 80-120 km. Total budget $3,500-6,500 for a 3-week trip, plus international flights to Ulaanbaatar.

Best season. July through mid-September. Winters are -30°C; the autumn freeze comes hard in late September.

Honest difficulty note. Don't go without satellite communication. A Garmin inReach Mini 2 or Spot Gen 4 with active subscription is mandatory in my view. The country is empty - finding help if you break down isn't a question of hours, it's days.

Patagonia's Carretera Austral, Chile

The Carretera Austral runs 1,240 km from Puerto Montt south to Villa O'Higgins through Chilean Patagonia. About 40% paved by 2025; the remainder is gravel. It's not bikepacking-pure - much of it is rideable on a touring bike with 38mm tyres - but the empty fjord country, glaciers visible from the road, and the genuine end-of-the-road feel make it one of the world's great cycling destinations.

Logistics. $2,500-4,500 for 4-6 weeks depending on how much you camp versus stay in hospedajes. Ferries between road sections cost $20-80 each and book up in peak season.

Best season. December through early March (Southern Hemisphere summer). Even then, expect rain 1 in 3 days.

Why I love it. The Carretera Austral is where I learned to ride genuinely alone for hours at a time. There are stretches where 80 km go past with two cars and no village. The Lago General Carrera section south of Puerto Tranquilo is the most beautiful 200 km of cycling I've done anywhere.

Tier 2: Strong Regional Bikepacking Destinations

Iceland Westfjords

Iceland's Westfjords are remote even by Icelandic standards. The road network is minimal - Route 60 plus a handful of single-track gravel roads servicing isolated fishing villages. A 600-700-km loop takes 8-12 days self-supported.

Logistics. $1,800-3,000 budget. Ferries between fjords are common. Food resupply is roughly every 40-90 km - possible but plan carefully.

Best season. Late June through August.

Tasmania's Trail of the Tin Dragon

Tasmania's east-coast Trail of the Tin Dragon traces the 19th-century Chinese tin-mining heritage through Northeast Tasmania. About 360 km, half on gravel, with rainforest segments and old railway grades.

Logistics. AUD 800-1,500 budget for 5-7 days. Pubs in small towns offer accommodation if you want a break from camping.

Best season. October through April. February is the most reliable.

Hokkaido Perimeter Loop, Japan

Hokkaido's outer perimeter offers about 1,400 km of cycling on a mix of paved coastal roads and gravel forest service roads. The eastern Shiretoko Peninsula is the wildest section.

Logistics. ¥350,000-600,000 ($2,400-4,200) for a 3-week trip. Ramen and onsen every evening if you want them.

Best season. Late June through early September.

Trans-Pyrenees Route

A 900-km gravel-and-singletrack route across the Spain-France border, designed in 2019. Sustained climbs over high mountain passes, real expedition feel for a Western European route.

Logistics. €1,200-2,000 for 12-16 days.

Best season. Late June through early September. Snow lingers on high passes into early July most years.

Cost Comparison

Here's what a full bikepacking trip realistically costs in 2024-2025, assuming you bring your own bike (most international flights add $100-200 in bike fees) and camp 60-70% of nights.

Route	Distance	Days	Total budget	Skill level
Tuscany Strade Bianche loop	500 km	7	€900	Beginner-friendly
Iceland Westfjords	650 km	10	$2,300	Intermediate
Highland 550 (Scotland)	885 km	9	£950	Advanced
Trans-Pyrenees	900 km	14	€1,500	Advanced
Hokkaido perimeter	1,400 km	21	$3,300	Intermediate
Carretera Austral	1,240 km	35	$3,500	Intermediate
Mongolia Gobi-Altai	1,000 km	21	$5,000	Expedition
Great Divide MTBR	4,400 km	60	$6,500	Advanced

The Strade Bianche loop is the obvious entry point. It teaches you how to ride a loaded bike, how to pace your day, and how to camp comfortably - all within 80 km of resupply at any given moment. Once you're confident there, Iceland or the Pyrenees work as the next step.

Gear Notes - What Actually Matters

The bikepacking-specific kit list is shorter than people make it out to be. The five things that make or break a trip:

A bike with at least 2.0-inch (50mm) tyres clearance. Drop-bar gravel bikes work for everything below singletrack; hardtail mountain bikes work for everything including singletrack. Touring bikes with skinny tyres (28-32mm) struggle off tarmac.
Tubeless tyres with sealant. Punctures from thorns, sharp gravel, and glass kill tube-and-tyre setups. Sealant fixes 80% of them automatically. Carry a plug kit and one spare tube anyway.
A frame bag, handlebar roll, and seat pack - the bikepacking trinity. Avoid panniers on singletrack; they rip off.
Water filter. A Sawyer Squeeze ($35) or Katadyn BeFree ($45) is non-negotiable for routes that resupply through streams.
A satellite communicator for any route remote enough to lose phone signal for more than 24 hours. Garmin inReach Mini 2 ($350 + $14.95/month) is the consensus standard.

Skip the boutique titanium frames and $300 sleeping pads. Functional gear in three tiers up from cheapest works fine. What kills trips is preparation, not equipment cost.

Frequently Asked Questions

Do I need a special "bikepacking bike," or will my normal bike work?

Depends what your normal bike is. A hardtail mountain bike with at least 2.1-inch tyres handles 95% of bikepacking routes. A modern gravel bike (drop-bar, 38-50mm tyres, disc brakes) handles 80%. A road bike with skinny tyres works for paved cycle-touring routes only. If you don't own a suitable bike, hire one in-region - Tuscany, Iceland, and Patagonia all have rental specialists who outfit complete bikepacking setups for $40-90 per day.

How heavy should my loaded bike be?

Total weight (bike plus bags plus food and water) typically lands at 18-26 kg for most bikepackers. Going lighter than 18 kg means cutting comfort items; going heavier than 28 kg starts hurting performance on climbs. The Great Divide racers who ride the route in 18 days carry 11-13 kg of gear total, but they're suffering for that speed. For a holiday trip, 22-25 kg is comfortable.

How do I cross?

A bikepacking-specific GPS like the Garmin Edge 1040 or Wahoo Elemnt Roam, loaded with the official GPX file for your route, is the standard. Always carry a paper map as backup - phone batteries die, GPS units freeze in cold. Route GPX files for almost every named bikepacking route are downloadable from bikepacking.com for free.

Is bikepacking dangerous?

The serious risks are: vehicle traffic on shared sections, dehydration in hot remote sections, hypothermia in cold rainy sections, mechanical failures far from help, wildlife encounters (bears in North America, mainly). Bear precautions in the Great Divide require a bear canister or proper food-hanging skills. Most bikepacking deaths have been from heat stroke or vehicle strikes - not exotic causes.

Can I bring my dog?

On certain routes, yes - typically with a custom bike trailer rated for the surface. Dogs in bikepacking trailers have their own community: r/bikedogs and similar. Long routes through bear country (Great Divide) and very remote routes (Mongolia) are not appropriate. Dogs need plenty of water, shade, and rest at altitude.

How do I deal with bad weather mid-route?

Carry one true emergency overnight system separate from your normal sleep setup - even a bivvy bag and emergency blanket. Know what cell signal coverage exists along your route. A satellite communicator earns its keep when you've been pinned down by weather for 36 hours. Most bikepackers I know have at least once made the call to pause for a day, reroute, or abandon a trip in worsening conditions. Pride costs lives.

What's the best beginner bikepacking trip in the world?

Tuscany's Chianti gravel network. You can rent a quality gravel bike in Siena, do a 4-day loop with agriturismo every night if you want, or camp if you don't. The terrain is forgiving, the food is exceptional, the route-finding is easy, and you'll come home knowing whether you actually like bikepacking or whether one trip was enough.

Putting It All Together - Recommended Trips

For first-time bikepackers with one week: Tuscany's Strade Bianche loop, late April or early October. Total budget €900-1,200 from Florence. You'll camp two or three nights, agriturismo three or four, and learn whether self-supported cycle touring suits you.

For experienced cyclists wanting their first real bikepacking expedition: Iceland's Westfjords in July. Two weeks. Budget $2,300-3,000.

For fit, mechanically self-sufficient riders ready for Europe's hardest mainstream route: Highland 550 in late June. 9-12 days. Budget £950-1,500.

For the bucket-list trip: Great Divide MTBR start-to-finish, June through August. 8-10 weeks. $6,500-9,000 budget. Plan three months in advance for the vacation request alone.

For expedition-style adventure: Mongolia Gobi-Altai with a logistics partner placing water caches. July-August. 3 weeks. $5,000-6,500. Don't go without satellite communication.

Related guides on this site

For background on the sport and route-finding resources: Wikipedia's bicycle touring article covers the broader cycle-touring tradition; Wikipedia's bikepacking article covers the modern off-tarmac discipline; the Adventure Cycling Association maps and publishes Great Divide route resources at the authoritative level. Wikivoyage's regional pages - for the Scottish Highlands, Tuscany, and Patagonia - give logistics context I leaned on for this guide.

The right bike, prepared properly, gets you somewhere a car never could. Spend the time on prep. Let the route surprise you.

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