Great Northern Bikepacking Route

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The Great Northern Bikepacking Route (GNBR) is an independently created, mostly off-road bikepacking route spanning over 13,000 km across 10 Canadian provinces and 3 U.S. states, from the Pacific to the Atlantic — one of the most ambitious route-mapping projects in the country. It is published segment by segment on a dedicated website, with route data on RideWithGPS and gear and provisioning notes alongside the maps.

Their BC collection

The British Columbia section of the GNBR is split into two long RideWithGPS routes covering roughly 1,770 km combined, from Vancouver-Coast and Mountains through the Thompson-Okanagan, Cariboo-Chilcotin Coast, and Kootenay-Rockies. Both are multi-day, high-climbing bikepacking routes on mixed surfaces, with Part Two mostly unpaved (67%) and Part One closer to an even paved/unpaved mix (47% unpaved).

All 2 BC rides#

Open any ride for its welcoming stops and how to get there. The full writeup, map, and directions live on Great Northern Bikepacking Route's website.

Vancouver, Coast and Mountains · 1

Photo: Kari MedigLillooet, BC

BC Part One

583 km · 11950 m up

EpicCalm streets, some sharingMixed surfaceMax climbing

The first half of the Great Northern Bikepacking Route's British Columbia section: about 583 km from Richmond through the Coast Mountains into the Interior, on mixed pavement and gravel. The climbing is the story, nearly 12,000 m of it, as the route fights its way up from sea level through some of the steepest country in the province. A committed multi-day leg of a much longer journey.

Stops, map + getting there →

Kootenay Rockies · 1

Photo: Aaron HagenCranbrook, BC

BC Part Two (BC Only)

1187 km · 18412 m up

EpicCalm streets, some sharingMostly gravelLots of climbingRemote stretches

The second half of the Great Northern Bikepacking Route's British Columbia section: nearly 1,200 km through the Kootenay Rockies and Thompson Okanagan, mostly unpaved, with an enormous amount of climbing, over 18,000 m in total. A committed multi-week undertaking through big, quiet country.

Stops, map + getting there →

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