Planning to go around from Germany along the south border of Poland and continue up the baltic states. Maximizing gravel time, so where do I find the maps? Any other suggestions/recommendations? Cheers
Some of the guys (and girl "Hi Pumpy" ) did a tour from Krakow up to the Mazure region not far from the border to the Baltics. Talk to CosmSquig, he might give you a clue on where to go. Some links to read about the trip. http://www.advrider.com/forums/showthread.php?t=174591 http://www.advrider.com/forums/showthread.php?t=153164 Cheers
All Cosmo's pictures have gone! :eek1 So you will have to scroll a bit through the ride report until you find some photographic evidence from Bummer and myself, Robin. Have fun, the countries you head for a great for trail travelling. Hej, Joergen, hope you and Margita are well! Ela
Gone through both threads, and it looks great. It seems that you were mostly on tarmac though. My goal is to maximise gravel time. What is the best way/area of doing this? Thanks
I can help you with estonian maps. Map for Garmin you can find http://www.garmin.ee/?kontakt&activeTab=8 Paper map you can buy http://www.raamatukoi.ee/cgi-bin/raamat?159123 If you need help please send PM. It is possible to help also with some interesting GPS tracs.
Tarmo: Have you driven by the Garmion maps? Are they detailed and correct enough to find nice passable gravel? Bummer: Did that this morning.... Anyway, Thanks you all for helping out. I´m brand new to the forum and it seems really good!! Cheers!
Yes. If you get estonian map from Garmin estonian representative then that map is good enough to ride almost every smallest gravel road. But good paper map will be also very handy. Regio paper maps are best. Let me know when you will be here.
A suggestion for travelling north along the Belarus border: Google map This is just to give you an idea of the location. Ignore the routes. I have a Shell map of Poland, it shows gravel roads connecting the route points. I bought the map in Poland at a gas station. Starting from Lake Siemianowka go north to Jalowka, Bobrowniki, Krynki, Nowodziel,Siolko. The scenery is very nice, the roads are fine (at least in the summer). There was a mile or so of sandy road, as I recall, but otherwise no trouble.
You should PM PAWEL. He's done the great majority here in Poland. I, personally, have never seen a map of gravel roads here. There were alot of dirt and gravel roads, but in the last few years more and more of them are being covered. Helen
Hi there! All the PL-Rally'06 pics are here: https://cosmosquig.smugmug.com/gallery/2875043 Sorry that they got lost in the rally thread - the old server got cleaned up along with my pics, and so far I haven't updated the thread with new SmugMug links. Will do that soon (long winter is coming...). Now back to PL gravel roads: Robin, in fact there are several not-so-nice points about gravel roads in Poland: 1. The most beautiful ones are located in areas, which became nature parks, and are now illegal to ride, unless you get a special permit (forget it - no chance, unless you're forestman's neighbour). 2. Many of the legal ones actually lead to nowhere - they usually dead-end somewhere deep in a forest or fields. If you're unlucky, you may have problems with turning your bike back (if it's heavy). 3. Most of the gravel roads (the small ones) are not shown on any map 4. Some gravel roads are shown on the maps, but they are not distinguished from regular roads. No way to tell the difference... 5. Many gravel roads are turned into tarmac very quickly, so what was gravel in 2006, can be paved in 2007. In general, I have not heard of anybody who was successful touring PL mostly on gravel. Some short (up to 30km) stages - yes. But continuous gravel touring - I don't think it's possible. A better solution can be choosing a light offroad bike (KTM EXC, Yamaha WR, or at least Suzuki DRZ), sticking with some local guys (you can find them on www.forum.motocylistow.pl - a lot of them do speak English) and doing some hard enduro tours with them. This way it's possible to ride many km offroad in really great areas (yes, I'll post some pics ASAP :) ). ps. There's some good gravel riding in the Mazury region.
Hi Cosmo, Many thanks for your informative answer. We will rethink our journey and see how to redo it. Very nice pictures by the way. The fall is a beatiful time of year. Thanks!
For the Baltic States you can buy a paper map by Jana Seta (Latvian catographer). Their website is: http://www.kartes.lv/lat/1100_news.php Their maps show paved roads in red and gravel roads in yellow. You can get one map that covers all three Baltic States.
