Western States Mountain Bike Route

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The Western States Mountain Bike Route (WSMBR) is a long-distance mountain biking route in the United States that leads from Canada to Mexico over a distance of 2,740 miles. It is currently the longest mountain bike route in the world.

The route crosses Montana for 680 miles, Idaho for 115 milesand Wyoming has 310 miles of travel. Utah contains the most climbing of any state and traverses 755 miles. Lastly, 880 miles across Arizona are covered.

The route reaches elevations as low as 1,700 feet and as high as 11,200 feet above sea level and is subject to very hot and very cold weather any time of the year. It is very rugged, climbing an estimated 185,000 vertical feet end-to-end.

Highlights of the WSMBR include eighteen National Forests, three National Wildlife Refuges, two National Parks, two National Monuments and one Tribal Park. Long stretches of Bureau of Land Management territory is are crossed as well, in addition to several pieces of state land.

Ecological areas include the Wasatch Plateau; Boulder Mountain; the San Francisco Peaks; Bear Lake; the Grand Canyon; Great Basin Desert; Colorado Plateau Desert; and the Sonoran Desert. The Painted Desert is crossed as well, though this is generally regarded as a sub-desert of the Great Basin.

The route was established in 2005 by Erik Schlimmer, an adventurer, motivational speaker and author of Thru Hiker's Guide to America, with a 52-day traverse of the then-proposed route. To create the WSMBR Schlimmer incorporated sections of the Great Divide Mountain Bike Route, Great Western Trail, Shoshone Trail and Arizona Trail Corridor, in addition to countless other trails and roads. The route is open to foot traffic but is most suitable for mountain bike use.

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