Distance: 125 km Height: 1 363 m Direction: Anti-Clockwise Percentage: 85% gravel Style: Gravel Riding…
#028 300 Sörmland Bikepacking
Sörmland
The gravel bike version of the classic Sörmland bikepacking tour.
Distance: 300km
Height: 2500m
Direction: Clockwise
Percentage: 70% gravel
Style: Adventurous gravel riding
Route designer: Michael O’Dwyer @bikepackingsweden
This is the Gravel Bike Version of the Classic Swedish Safari Bikepacking Tour originally published on Bikepacking.com
In the summer of 2018 I designed and a few us rode the mountain biking version of this route. I was delighted to get it published on Bikepacking.com.
The original route, although having long sections of gravel is very much a mountain bike route. Proper mountain bikes are very much recommended. This version is a gravel bike friendly alternative but there still are some adventurous parts to keep us all honest!
In the years since I kept on getting asked for a gravel bike friendly version of the route. So here it is. The biggest changes are in the northern part of the route. In fact, it’s completely different. Gone are the long challenging sections of the Sörmlandsleden hiking trail and are re-placed with a mix of gravel and asphalt. Unfortunately, since the route doesn’t go as deep into the forest there are some exciting features which a gravel bike bikepacker will miss out on. These include the natural stone bridge near Malmköping, the abandont mine of Tunnelgruva near Jarna and the longest wooden bridge on the Sörmlandsleden at Ånhammar. They are just not possible to visit or ride on gravel bikes. At saying all this the overall feel of the route doesn’t change. The gravel version will still have you feeling like you are miles from anywhere exploring the deep forests of Södermansland.
The percentage of gravel verse asphalt does become more in favour of road but this also has it’s advantages. For those who would like to ride the route in a shorter time frame this is now possible. For the fitter ones amongst us I reckon the route could be ridden in 3 days or less. But for those who still want to enjoy the trail, stop at the best swimming spots and take thousands of photographs I would still recommend 5 days.
For more information about the original route, tips on how to get there and re-supply etc please visit bikepacking.com
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Hi Michael, we are planning to do the original Swedish Safari 300 starting on June 12 in 5 days. We are planning to do that on gravelbikes (I have a Trek Checkpoint ALR 4, which is a bike without suspension). Is the original version doable on such a bije, or would you recommend the alternative gravel version?
We just rode this route last week, it was perfect ! Very beautiful landscapes, nice empty and wild areas, and perfect route with a good combination of road, gravel paths, and few single tracks. We took 3 days, we had some gravel bikes with 35-37mm tires and that was the ideal choice. The route is a bit hilly, a lot’s of short and steep climbs that made it a bit challenging at the end of the days. Thank you for this route !
Hej Cyril,
Glad to hear you had a great time.
The logical next step is to ride the longer Sörmland Project.
Personally, I think the Sörmland Project offers even better riding.
( I designed both routes! )
Regards
Michael