photo credit: Abe Landes, Firespire Photography
Centre County, Pennsylvania is a mecca for outdoor recreation, especially cycling. With hundreds of miles of mountain biking (and more on the way), and thousands of miles of dirt and gravel roads, there are endless opportunities to explore. The region offers so much, it can be difficult to know where to start. Enter the Happy Valley Gravel Adventure Field Guide, a new pocket-sized guidebook featuring over a dozen gravel routes ranging from 14 miles to a 250+ mile bikepacking loop.
The Happy Valley guide is the first Pennsylvania edition in a national series of gravel cycling guidebooks with curated routes, including QR codes that link to live GPS navigation. Through art, short stories, and information on bike-friendly business, it introduces riders to the Happy Valley region – elevating the community’s culture, history, and scenery to inspire sustainable travel visitation and grow the outdoor recreation economy. Featured rides pass through communities across the county, including Boalsburg, Bellefonte, Millheim, and Philipsburg, and showcase all the state parks and forests in the region.
PEC was a collaborative partner in the development of the guide, assisting with route creation and content development, along with the Happy Valley Adventure Bureau and Happy Valley Women’s Cycling. One of several new route network mapping efforts across the state, the Happy Valley Gravel Adventure Field Guide is an outgrowth of relationships built at PEC’s Gravel Summit: a gathering of riders, businesses, tourism promotion agencies, land managers, route creators, event promoters, and others involved in the gravel cycling world in PA.
This is only the beginning. As gravel cycling continues to grow, so does the need for more and better information for riders as well as a thoughtful and strategic approach to route development. PEC’s gravel cycling work has centered on coordinating between stakeholders, providing relevant and useful information to help organizations interested in promoting gravel , and ensuring that route development is being done in a manner that is sustainable and in the best interests of communities, riders, and the land.
A Gravel Adventure Field Guide is also in the works for the Susquehanna River Valley region around Lewisburg, which is being partially funded by PEC through a DCNR Partnership Grant. It is expected to launch in October in conjunction with the unPAved of the Susquehanna River Valley event, from which a portion of the proceeds will benefit PEC’s trails program.
A launch party for the Happy Valley Gravel Adventure Field Guide will take place on August 7, 2025 at Boal City Brewing in Boalsburg, PA from 5-7 pm and is open to the public. The event will feature a premiere of a short film about the routes, swag giveaways from partners, and a free copy of the guide for attendees. Boal City Brewing’s Public Lands Ride Ale, a session IPA created especially for PEC’s Public Lands Ride, will also debut that evening.
The launch party immediately follows PEC’s third Gravel Summit, which will take place on August 6-7, 2025.
Learn more about PEC’s gravel work here and don’t forget to register for the Public Lands Ride, a non-competitive supported group ride at Black Moshannon State Park on September 27.