Routes & Course

Queen City Century Route Options

QCC ROUTES FOR 2024


The main Queen City route is a beautiful, historic through the Missouri Ozarks. You'll see the old Frisco Highline and Leaky Roof railroad beds, Phenix Quarry - which produced marble for the Chicago Stock Exchange and Missouri Capitol, Walnut Grove - location of Laura Ingalls Wilder's On the Banks of Plum Creek, and more historical farms, barns, schools, and homes than you can shake a stick at.

The Missouri Ozarks are hilly. Most of those hills are reserved for the 80 and 100 mile routes, which feature 3100 and 4400 feet of climbing, respectively. Most riders consider the Century route quite challenging. If you're not quite up for the challenge this early in the season, you might consider a shorter route option. Since the route is out and back, you can shorten your route at any time by turning around.

Those looking for a more leisurely and supported ride can opt for the 24-mile no-drop guided tour of Springfield's nationally recognized trail and bicycle route system. This ride will take riders through Springfield on a mixture of bike paths, paved trail, and local roadways - with stops along the way to check out historical and other sites. Riders will stay together in a group with the guide, who is a long-time Springfield cyclist who spent a career developing the area's bicycle and trails system.

You'll be well supported, with SAG Stops every 8-16 miles and roving SAG ready to help if you run into trouble, and a delicious meal at the end of the ride - at our ride afterparty at Mother's Brewing Company.

Routes are well marked on the road with an orange "Q" and directional arrow.

2024 GPS MAPS

Early Packet Pickup
Friday June 16th - 4-7pm
Upper Atrium Double Tree Hilton
2431 N Glenstone Ave
Springfield, MO 65803


On-Site Registration opens

Saturday, June 15th, 6:00am


Route - Start Time

Century Ride: 7:00am

All Other Lengths: 8am

24 Mile No-Drop Guided Tour of Springfield: 8:15am
Lunch: 11:30am-4:00pm
Route Closure (All Riders In): 3:30pm

Be sure to plan your ride length and stops so as to arrive at Devil's Gates by the time indicated, lunch (if wanted) during the time frame shown, and off the course by 5pm.

Routes and Rest Stops

Queen City Century Main Route: 10-100 mile options

Out-and-Back Route Route - Length: 10-100 miles - Climbing (full century) : 4400ft

The 2022 Queen City Century features the historic Frisco Highline Railroad - via the paved portion of the Frisco Highline Trail - and the Leaky Roof Railroad, a fascinating historical railroad important to the development of the region, which parallels our route between Ash Grove and Walnut Grove. The route is out and back from Best of Luck Beer Hall in downtown Springfield.

This out-and-back route starts in downtown Springfield and heads to the Frisco High Line Trail, Willard Trailhead to Ash Grove, Phenix Quarry, Walnut Grove, Willard Soccer Park, and Robberson Prairie Baptist Church. Riders can adjust ride length by turning around and whatever mileage midpoint they desire. The route visits or crosses several of the statewide and national bicycle touring routes that MoBikeFed helps develop and maintain in Missouri:

Queen City Guided Tour

Guided Loop Route Route Length: 24 miles Climbing: 724ft

Queen City Guided Ride - loop route - 24 miles

The guided tour/trail route option for the Queen City Century 2022 is a circuit of some of the best trails, scenery, and historic attractions of the Springfield area.

Route highlights:

The route visits or crosses several of the statewide and national bicycle touring routes that MoBikeFed helps develop and maintain in Missouri:

QCC Guided Tour Maps and Cue Sheets

SAG Stops and Support

The century route features four rest stops where you can rest, relax, and enjoy snacks, drinks, and restrooms. It also includes two water stops, with water and limited snacks available. The routes make double-use of most SAG stops, so that we have SAG stops every 8-16 miles along the entire course.

Note that most stops are fully stocked SAGs with volunteers, plenty of food, water, Gatorade powder, and restrooms. A few stops--marked on your maps a "Water Stops"--are more basic with water, a few snacks on hand, and no restrooms available. Check your map for details.

We will have roving SAG drivers on the course at all times. If you have mechanical trouble or need a pick-up for any reason, just call.

Whether you enjoy a short flat, ride or long road ride on beautiful country roads, Queen City Century has it for you! Many thanks to local riders who have spent many hours evaluating potential QCC routes and giving feedback and suggestions.

How to Navigate the Routes with your RideWithGPS Mobile App (FREE)

Because MoBikeFed has a RideWithGPS Club Account, you can use the RideWithGPS app to navigate the route. Even with a basic RideWithGPS account (FREE) you will be able to access all paid features of the RideWithGPS app on the QCC routes (and all MoBikeFed organizational routes), including voice navigation and offline navigation.

To get the QCC routes on your RideWithGPS app:

 - Visit the RWGPS event page here

 - Click the "RSVP" link to sign up for the event on RideWithGPS. If you don't have a RideWithGPS account already, it will prompt you to create an acccount.  Remember that all you need is the Basic (FREE) RideWithGPS account. Also, you will see instructions for downloading & installing the RideWithGPS app for your mobile device.

 - Now you can find the event in the RideWithGPS app under "More" and "My Events"

 - In the RideWithGPS app, tap the route you are planning to ride and "Save". This saves the route to your phone so you can ride even if you have no data connection - and also allows you to put your device into Airplane Mode in order to save battery.

 - When you navigate the route, you will hear voice navigation directions at turns, upcoming Rest Stops, etc (note this may require some setup in your app - in Settings make sure all audio & spoken alerts, chimes, etc are enabled - and make sure your phone's VOLUME is set high enough to hear them)

 - SUGGESTION: Once you start the ride, turn your phone to "Airplane Mode". This saves battery and should allow most phones to ride all day with navigation, without running down the battery.

 - SUGGESTION: Bring a battery backup/charger just in case.

Ready to Ride?

Sign up today for this year's event and help support Missouri cycling advocacy and the Missouri Bicycle and Pedestrian Federation. Save time on ride-day, fill out our waiver (Located at bottom of the registration page) ahead of time.

Register