Published February 19, 2026 03:53PM
Gravel cycling has grown immensely over the past decade. What started as a laissez-faire collection of grassroots events has blossomed into America’s premier form of participatory racing. Professional careers have been born, series have been created, and the technology has exploded.
Yet, at the center of it all, compelling events have been this movement’s heartbeat. Without them, the sport wouldn’t be anywhere close to where it is now. And while the discipline has shown some signs of hitting its maturity, several events seem to still be pointing firmly upwards in their trajectory.
For 2026, we have highlighted those events that continue to be the best of the best in the United States.
The best gravel races of 2026 is a tricky pursuit. Are we discussing the biggest, the most competitive, or the most festive? Does difficulty matter? Or length? Functionally, what we came to was a list that considers a little bit of it all, wrapped into one subjective article that we will try to defend over the next nine sections.
Belgian Waffle Ride Arizona
Belgian Waffle Ride California is one of the foundational events in the gravel calendar. BWR as a series has sprung from the legacy of that original event. Nevertheless, in 2026, BWR Arizona, one of its “secondary” events, seems poised to usurp the San Diego County stop as the crown jewel of the BWR Quad-Tripel crown.
The Arizona race, situated around the northeastern end of the Phoenix metro area, is a rollicking course that takes on some of the best gravel, single track, and paved climbs the Sonoran desert has to offer. It is one for the nature lovers and the mountain bikers in equal parts. Plus, as a favorite of riders like Keegan Swenson and Sofia Gomez Villafañe, it has become the first competitive outing for most North American pros every year.
The Mid South
While the spiritual opener to the gravel season might now have races before it on the calendar, it has remained the party starter as gravel’s best gathering.
The Mid South takes over Stillwater, Oklahoma, with a focused weekend of riding, running, and concert going as the race attracts top riders and alternative cyclists in equal parts. It is one of the rare places where two divergent sides of America’s cycling culture come together in one place on one weekend.
Unbound Gravel might be the biggest race on this list, but Midsouth undoubtedly has an argument to many to be their favorite, and we cannot blame them — it is truly a one of one.
Barry Roubaix
Barry Roubaix is the biggest gravel race you haven’t heard about. In fact, it is so big, it’s been sold out for weeks. All of this is due to its command of one of the richest local cycling communities in the country: Michigan.
Barry Roubaix is one of the oldest dirt road races on the list, in a large part due to Michigan simply having a lot more dirt roads than many other places. The state is full of smooth dirt tracks crisscrossing the rich forests of America’s mitten, and Barry Roubaix takes full advantage of that, giving a massive spectrum of Great Lakes cyclists an early-season goal for those emerging from a lingering northern winter.
Forget about Barry Roubaix at your own peril.
Belgian Waffle Ride California
The first Belgian Waffle Ride is returning again to Southern California for another year of mixing a dash of dirt with an endlessly entertaining mix of windy roads around the Encinitas area just north of San Diego.
Styled as the United States’ answer to the spring classics, BWR California was never meant to be a gravel race. Gravel just so happened to happen, and the “un-road” race got caught in the mix. But that has been a happy accident for all involved.
2026 has promised a revamped course, a new road-centric event on Saturday, and all the same trappings of the past 15 years of the event. A date conflict with the Traka might cause some tough decisions among the pros, but for those who are intent on racing in America, the race once again provides a great opportunity for experienced racers and gravel-curious folks alike to get a look at the sport without diving straight into the deep end.
Rule of Three
Rule of Three is, at least in part, a prisoner of its simplicity. It isn’t a race that goes out of its way to cater to pros. It keeps its startlist small. It is barebones in its social media presence. But come race day, a simple smattering of un-simple northwest Arkansas offerings puts it on the short list of best gravel courses in the country.
The name comes from the race’s goal of combining three surfaces – gravel, trail, and tarmac – into one 100 km or 100-mile race around Bentonville, Arkansas. It is as if you took Big Sugar and Little Sugar and smashed them together. Yet, the organizer might argue that the alternative is true: Life Time split its race in two. Rule of Three, after all, was first.
Capping it all off, the race captures a post-race vibe unlike any other race. It is a true backwoods Arkansas celebration of all that is gritty, sweaty, and welcoming about the southern state. Spoiler alert: Rule of Three steals Big Sugar’s spot on this list.
Unbound Gravel
Unbound Gravel is still the biggest gravel race in the world, and that doesn’t look to change anytime soon.
With the Life Time Grand Prix offering over half a million dollars in prizes, the Unbound expo continuing to attract most of the biggest names in the world of cycling tech, and the race commanding the biggest participatory field of any event in the country, it is impossible to ignore its significance.
What’s more, the event remains a spectacular display of gravel’s enduring appeal as a discipline for professional competitors, recreational riders, and those looking for a stout challenge. Even in its enormity, it still covers all of the bases that delivered it to the mountain top.
SBT GRVL
After years of change, SBT GRVL is finally back in a place where it seems poised to continue its growth as a top American gravel event. Pushback from local landowners prompted the event to change its format two years in a row before finding a compromise in a new June date, a new format splitting the pro race and the participatory event, and bringing it all back downtown in the center of Steamboat Springs.
By all accounts, the demand for the race has remained through it all, as the race is sold out once again. Furthermore, last year the race date conflicted with both a stop on the BWR Quad-Tripel crown and the Oregon Trail Gravel Grinder. This year, things are a lot clearer for the race to be the go-to event on the last Saturday of June in what is widely seen as the best time of year to be in Steamboat.
Oregon Trail Gravel Grinder
There is an argument to be made that no American gravel event was as ambitious as the Oregon Trail Gravel Grinder. The five-day, point-to-point stage race through the Cascade mountains is a monumental logistical challenge, with each day punctuated by an all-inclusive camping experience that gets shipped from location to location as the racers tackle the varied and rich gravel terrain that changes by the mile.
The challenge of gravel’s premier stage race is so significant that the organizers have said the end is nearer than the beginning. 2026 will be the fourth-to-last trip across the Cascades for the event, as the team behind it has announced it will only be a 10-year run for the race. Nevertheless, just because the years are numbered doesn’t mean the challenge will be any less, nor will the camp be any less fun. As the saying goes, get while the getting is good.
Gravel Worlds
The original Gravel Worlds takes place in Lincoln, Nebraska, every year, but don’t let its location fool you into misplaced preconceptions. With a brutal course featuring almost 100 feet of climbing per mile, true midwestern gravel roads and double tracks, and weather that can throw several different types of curveballs, Gravel Worlds is cut from the original cloth of gravel racing.
Sure, it might not have the emerald green tall grasses of the Flint Hills or the Champagne Gravel of Steamboat, but it does provide a stern test against the world’s best gravel racers, year after year. Even if it started as a joke, Gravel Worlds has earned its name as the first true forum for riders to stake their claim of being one of the world’s best gravel racers.