Great Lakes Gravel 2026

Great Lakes Gravel is a September gravel ultramarathon in Warmia and Mazury, a lake-filled region of northern Poland. The main route is now approximately 500 km, begins in Mikołajki, and allows riders 72 hours to finish, though the fastest riders have completed earlier routes in just over 17 hours. It is designed for long-distance gravel riders, not closed-road racing: self-paced, remote in sections, and long enough that bikepacking setups are practical. The route departs Mikołajki and heads north toward sparsely populated country near Poland’s border, then passes the Lake of Seven Islands reserve and proceeds toward Węgorzewo. One section follows an old railway line on good gravel before the course continues toward Gołdap. The most recent edition reverses the direction used previously, adds many kilometers of new gravel, and uses about half roads unfamiliar to riders from prior editions, while retaining the Mazury loop and the Land of a Thousand Lakes setting that has defined the race since its inception.