Ray (webmaster) on 6/24/2017 7:10:26 PM:
As far as I know, any further expansion past Valentine is in limbo, and I would not expect any work to be done before your 2018 trip.
The entire trail is actual trail, not roads. But you will often hear of people using shoulders on the adjacent highway for portions of the trail. The main reasons for this are:
- Sections of the trail where the gravel is not well-packed enough, or too weedy.
- Places where a bridge is out. I came across two of these when I rode the trail 3 years ago.
- Some people just prefer solid pavement to packed gravel. Obviously skinny-tire road bikes are not good for the trail.