Get started with bike tourism basics and share these resources in your community. 

• Tourists on Two Wheels brochures (PDF)
  • Why Bicycle Travel?
  • Economics of Bicycle Travel
  • Welcoming Bicycle Travelers
• What is Bicycle Tourism? – Path Less Pedaled

How do you develop bike tourism assets, like routes and maps, signs, trails, events, multimodal connections, and other features? Here are a few examples to show what’s possible, but be creative! Each destination is unique and destination development is all about cultivating that uniqueness.

How To’s

• The Path to Bicycle Tourism – Path Less Pedaled
• Why Use a Convention & Visitors Bureau? (PDF) –Visit Joplin (Missouri)
• Rural Tourism Studio – Travel Oregon
• Mountain Bike Tourism guide (PDF) – Destination British Columbia

Bike/Active Tourism Plans

• Haywood Bike Tourism Plan (North Carolina)
  • Bicycle Tourism: a growing factor in Western North Carolina
  • Bikes in Beds: How to Maximize Bicycle Tourism in Haywood County and Western North Carolina (PDF)
• Lower Rio Grande Valley (Texas)
  • A New Star for Texas: the Lower Rio Grande Valley Active Plan
  • Active Transportation and Tourism Plan (PDF) 

Bike Tourism Partnerships

• Oregon Bicycle Tourism Partnership
• Pedal Minnesota

Routes, Networks, and Maps

• International bicycle route networks
• U.S. Bicycle Routes
• Adventure Cycling routes
  • Request to be added to the service directory on our maps
  • Map features
• State bikeways
  • Oregon Scenic Bikeways
  • Bikeways of the Scenic South (Chattanooga Tri-State Region)
  • Bold Coast Scenic Bikeway (Maine)
• Rail trails
  • TrailLink – Rails to Trails Conservancy
• Mountain biking
  • IMBA Ride Centers – International Mountain Biking Association
  • IMBA Epics – International Mountain Biking Association
  • Bikepacking.com
  • TrailForks app
  • MTB Project

Multimodal Connections

• Train Travel tips for taking Amtrak with your bicycle
• Bring Your Bicycle Onboard – Amtrak
• Bike Train (Ontario) – Transportation Options
• ParkBus (Ontario) – Transportation Options
• Trains and Planes – Europe’s Multimodal Connections

If you’re working to improve bicycle infrastructure and networks in your community, these resources are a starting point for design guidance, how to find funding, and making bike-friendly policy changes. 

• Rumble strip advocacy resources
• Funding and Guidances – Federal Highways Administration (FHWA)
• Small Town & Rural Multimodal Networks – FHWA
• Urban Bikeway Design Guide – National Association of City Transportation Officials (NACTO)
• Guide for the Development of Bicycle Facilities – American Association of State Highway & Transportation Officials (AASHTO)
• Guidelines for Analysis of Investment in Bicycle Facilities – National Cooperative Highway Research Program
• Bicycle Parking Guidelines – Association Pedestrian and Bicycle Professionals
• Bicycle Repair Stations – map by Bike Pittsburgh
• Bicycle Service Points Program – Kansas State Parks and AAA
• How San Luis Obispo Established the Most Powerful Bike Funding Policy in the Nation – Bike SLO County
• Complete Streets Policy – Smart Growth America

Bike tourism, trail tourism, or more broadly, active tourism, contributes to economic development and can revitalize small towns. Telling these stories can be a powerful way to communicate the benefits of bicycle tourism and build broader support for your efforts. 

• Economic Impact Studies
• Economic impact study templates for biking and tourism- PeopleForBikes
• How Bicycles Can Save Small Town America – Path Less Pedaled
• Trail Towns Programs
  • Trail Town Guide – Trail Town Program
  • Trail Towns 101 – Cycle Forward
  • Florida Trail Towns
  • Great Allegheny Passage (Maryland, Pennsylvania)
  • Erie to Pittsburgh Trail (New York, Pennsylvania)
  • Kentucky Trail Town Program Workbook (PDF)
  • Michigan Trail Towns: Capturing Trail-Based Tourism (PDF)

Revitalization Stories

• Case Studies – Path Less Pedaled
• Twin Bridges (Montana)
• Cuyuna Lakes Mountain Biking (Minnesota) 
• Two-Wheel Revolution in Gallup (New Mexico) – Pique News Magazine

Promote your area’s bike tourism assets through websites, videos, articles, guides, blog posts, and social media. It’s also important to know who your target audience is and what experiences they’re looking for. Here are a few examples of ways organizations, businesses, and agencies are doing market research and promoting bike tourism.

International

• Cycle Tourism and South Australia: Destination Marketing (PDF)
• Cycling tourism in USA, Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands, Sweden, and their perceptions of Norway as a cycling destination (PDF) (Norway)
• New Zealand Tourism
• Ontario by Bike 

National

• BikAbout

Statewide

• Explore Minnesota
• Travel Oregon
• Oregon Bikepacking
• Communities Powered by Travel (Oregon)
• Travel Wisconsin
• Mississippi River Trail Marketing Toolbox (Minnesota)

Local

• Bike Bentonville (Arkansas)
• Bike Helena (Montana)
• Bike Tahoe (California)
• City of Sterling (Kansas)
• Bitterroot Valley Bike Guide (Montana)
• Snohomish County Bikes (Washington)
• Cycling in Las Cruces and El Paso (New Mexico, Texas)

If you own a business or run a hotel, hostel, or campground, these best practices and program examples will help you to identify what kinds of services best accommodate your bicycling customers and guests. For a complete list of recommendations, check out How to be Bicycle Travel Friendly and Cyclists Only Lodging. 

• Bicycle Travel Etiquette blog series
• A Guide to Bicycle Camping (PDF) by Adventure Cycling – download under Bicycle Camping tab
• Bicycle Parking Guidelines – Association of Pedestrian and Bicycle Professionals
• Bicycle Repair Stations – map by Bike Pittsburgh
• Bicycle Service Points Program – Kansas State Parks and AAA
• Hospitality certification programs – Bett+Bike, Albergabici, Switzerland Mobility Foundation, Bienvenue Cyclistes!
• Cycle & Stay Networks – Ontario by Bike
• Rural Friendliness Pays Dividends – Twin Bridges, MT bike camp

Bike-Friendly Business Programs

• Bicycle Friendly America Program – League of American Bicyclists
• Oregon Bicycle Friendly Business Program (Oregon)
• Bicycles Welcome Here (Maine)
• Go Active Long Beach (Long Beach, California)
• Bicycle Friendly Community Assessment – Bike MN
• Bicycle Friendly Businesses in Ontario – Ontario by Bike
• Bike Rest Stops program (Washington State)

You may want to reach out to bicycle tourism professionals for consulting or marketing services, or to share ideas and network. Our Travel Initiatives team is also available to answer questions at advocacy@adventurecycling.org. 

• The Path Less Pedaled – Consulting, speaking, destination marketing
• Cycle Forward – Trail tourism consulting
• National Bike Tourism Conference – Annual networking opportunity hosted by the Bicycle Tour Network
• Active Strategies – Consulting on market analysis; marketing; strategic and organizational planning; active lifestyle, outdoor recreation and education services development; and place activation