CLEVELAND, Ohio -- Imagine starting a bike ride on the Towpath Trail and pedaling all the way to Pittsburgh, Washington, D.C. or even Atlanta.

A new frontier is opening for bike travel. A growing network of designated routes is being pieced together across the nation along low-traffic roads, trails and bike lanes by the same association that designates Interstate highway numbers. The American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO) established the U.S. Bicycle Route System in 1978. However, it’s only recently begun to take shape.

Eighteen new bike routes in five states have recently been designated, adding nearly 3,000 miles to the U.S. Bicycle Route System, a developing complex of officially recognized, publicly-accessible travel paths across the country. The latest routes — in California, Indiana, Ohio, Utah, and Washington State — represent the largest addition to the bike network to date, both in number and total mileage. 

OHIO - Did you know that Ohio has a strategic statewide bicycling network?
It’s called the State and US Bike Route System (S/USBR), and it’s made up of more than 3,000 miles of on- and off-road bike facilities that connect over 400 communities across the state.