Pennock Pass to Old Flowers is the perfect summer adventure ride, and from your door. As you can see from the elevation, there is quite a lot of climbing and it peaks at about 9100 feet. Pennock Pass is pretty straightforward gravel and gets a bit steep towards the top. Old Flowers is pretty damn chunky but a total adventure. You’ll pop out at Stove Prairie at the school and can tackle Ford Hill as your last climb of the day before descending Rist Canyon back home. As with all mountain things, this route is especially important to check the weather and bring some layers in case of a mountain storm.
The Stats:
Distance: 80 miles
Paved: 60%
Climbing: 8K feet
Notes: The portions on Pennock Pass and Old Flowers are gravel, the rest is pavement. Old Flowers is very chunky and steep and calls for skills and is more pleasant on bigger tires.
Refills: Ranger Station about 2/3 up Pennock, otherwise pack what you need and/or bring a filter.
Tires: WTB Macro 54mm. 50mm or bigger recommended.
