Stewardship, Because Routes Don’t Take Care of Themselves
Dirty Freehub routes don’t take care of themselves — and that’s where you come in.
Our Route Stewardship Program is a community-powered effort to keep Dirty Freehub routes accurate, safe, and rideable. Riders across the West use these routes every day, and maintaining them requires local knowledge, curious riders, and many eyes on the ground.
If you love exploring gravel roads and want to help care for the routes you ride, this program is a way to make a meaningful impact.
This is not about trail work or road maintenance. Instead, it’s about helping us identify issues, verify routes, and evaluate new ideas from the community.
Together, we can ensure Dirty Freehub routes remain a trusted resource for riders everywhere.
Watch the Route Stewardship Webinar
If you want a deeper look at how the program works, watch the webinar below.
Stewardship Roles
You can participate in the program in a way that fits your interests and riding style.
Some people focus on one role. Others move between roles over time.
1. Steward
Stewards help keep existing Dirty Freehub routes up to date.
They ride routes and submit updated comments, especially for routes that haven’t received feedback in several months.
This helps keep route information fresh and useful for the community.
Typical activities:
- Riding Dirty Freehub routes
- Noting changes or issues
- Submitting updated ride comments
- Helping verify rider-reported problems
This is the most common way people begin participating in the program.
2. Scout
Scouts help evaluate community-submitted routes that have not yet been reviewed by our team.
They ride proposed routes and determine whether the route meets Dirty Freehub’s quality standards.
Typical activities:
- Riding submitted route ideas
- Evaluating ride quality and safety
- Providing feedback to the Dirty Freehub team
- Helping shape which routes are eventually published
Scouts play an important role in maintaining the quality and reputation of the Dirty Freehub route library.
3. Explorer
Explorers are for riders who love adventure and discovery.
These routes are mapped but have not yet been verified on the ground. Your job is to ride them, confirm they go, and report back.
Explorers typically ride with a Garmin InReach or Spot device for safety.
Typical activities:
- Riding unverified mapped routes
- Confirming roads and connections exist
- Identifying access issues or barriers
- Reporting back route findings
This is true gravel exploration — and often the first ride a route has ever seen.
What You Get Out of It
This isn’t volunteer work for a certificate. Stewards get real perks:
- First look at new routes. Scouts and Explorers ride roads before anyone else sees them — you’re the first tracks on routes that don’t exist yet on the site.
- Direct line to the Dirty Freehub team. Your feedback shapes what gets published, updated, or pulled. You’re not shouting into a comment box; you’re part of the process.
- Deeper local knowledge. Riding with a steward’s eye means noticing things — road conditions, closures, hidden connectors — that make you a sharper rider on every route, not just the ones you’re stewarding.
- A real community. Stewards trade route ideas, swap intel, and find people to actually ride with. We get together quarterly to connect in person, share what we’ve found, and plan what’s next.
- Recognition in the community. Active stewards get a shoutout in the Dirty Freehub Team page.
- A reason to ride roads you’d otherwise skip. Stewardship gives you purpose on days you might not have picked a route on your own — turns “just another gravel ride” into something that matters.
At the end of the day, you’re helping build the resource you already rely on. That’s worth something.
Ready to Get Involved?
If you’d like to participate in the Route Stewardship Program, the next step is simple.
Questions, email routes.director@dirtyfreehub.org
