May 4, 2007

America’s First Historic Bicycle Route Maps Re-released
America’s largest cycling group updates Lewis & Clark Trail maps with better routing, more services, and new alternate gravel routes.

Missoula, Montana — If only they’d had Adventure Cycling maps, Lewis and Clark surely would have had an easier time — and a lot more — fun getting across the West to the Pacific. Though it’s a couple centuries too late for the pioneering captains, modern-day adventurers looking to travel their historic route need only their bicycles and Adventure Cycling’s newly updated Lewis & Clark Trail maps.

Following in the footsteps of the Corps of Discovery’s 1804–1806 journey, the new maps feature a host of improvements over the originals (released in 2002). New routing steers cyclists to new off-road bike paths, while freshly paved rural roads allow cyclists to avoid busy highways. Several areas also feature new gravel-road options that allow riders to further escape car traffic.

“Bicycling this route is an exciting way to relive the epic journey of our most storied explorers,” says Carla Majernik, Adventure Cycling’s routes and mapping director. “Cyclists can experience the landscapes of the American West and immerse themselves in the elements much as Lewis and Clark did 200 years ago.”

Of course, modern adventurers enjoy certain amenities the Corps lacked and the new maps also offer a guide to those. The list of services (restaurants, hotels, campgrounds, etc.) that come on every Adventure Cycling route map have been thoroughly updated for the Lewis & Clark Trail and, after many requests from cyclists, the locations of public libraries along the entire route have been added. Thanks to a generous grant from the National Park Service, these same public libraries — 175 in all — will be offered free, complete sets of the Lewis & Clark Trail maps for display and public viewing. A portion of the NPS’s financial support was also used to fund the route updating process itself.

The Lewis & Clark Trail's eight map sections cover 4,675 miles from Hartford, Illinois, to Seaside, Oregon, with several options following alternative routes the Corps took on their return trip. The Trail itself is made up of paved roads, bike paths, and unpaved rail-trails, with occasional short sections of gravel roads.

Adventure Cycling Association’s bicycle route maps guide cyclists along cycling-friendly, low-traffic roads, and feature elevation profiles, field notes, and information on historic stops, weather, and riding conditions. Service symbols indicate the location of campsites, motels, grocery stores, restaurants, post offices, and bike shops along the way. With over 36,180 meticulously mapped miles in its coast-to-coast National Bicycle Route Network, Adventure Cycling gives traveling cyclists the tools and confidence to create their own bicycling adventures.

For more information on the Lewis & Clark Trail maps, visit www.adventurecycling.org/routes/lewisandclark.cfm. To purchase the maps, visit www.adventurecycling.org/store/category.cfm?Category=5 or call 800-755-2453.

Adventure Cycling Association is the premier bicycle travel organization in North America with more than 42,000 members. A nonprofit organization, our mission is to inspire people of all ages to travel by bicycle. We produce routes and maps for cycling in North America, organize more than 30 tours annually, and publish the best bicycle travel information anywhere, including Adventure Cyclist magazine and The Cyclists' Yellow Pages. For information, call (800) 755-BIKE (2453), email info@adventurecycling.org, or visit www.adventurecycling.org.

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