AVL Sounds Fest Ride Guide

The AVL Sounds Fest Ride Guide connects all the bikeable venues via the best routes. We do not recommend riding to The Mule or Highland Brewing.

Hellbender and French Broad River Brewing are the furthest recommended venues for cycling. When riding to these venues, please exercise additional caution at Biltmore Avenue by Hendersonville Road when making a turn across multiple traffic lanes.

The Ride Guide focuses on downtown, the River Arts District, and West Asheville. The AVL Sounds Fest Ride Guide was created using Ride With GPS (RWGPS). It’s a mapping and route-finding application similar to Strava.

To access these resources, follow these steps:

1. Click this special pre-approval link, which pre-approves you as an Asheville on Bikes annual member. It will prompt you to either set up a new free account or link your existing RWGPS account to our club account. Then you’ll have access to all the members-only routes in our Club account. For any route in our Club account, you have all the pro (normally paid) features of Ride With GPS, including turn-by-turn navigation and offline mapping.
2. Download the Ride With GPS app on your phone and make sure it is working before riding the City!

How to Use The Guide

Routes between venues are divided into the “Collections” section of our RWGPS page. To find a route from one venue to another, open the collection of routes that begin from your intended starting point. Certain venues are grouped due to their proximity. 

For example, Third Room, Fitz and the Wolfe, and Asheville Music Hall are located downtown and therefore grouped in the From Downtown venues & To Downtown (Asheville Music Hall, Fitz, Third Room).

Fleetwood’s and One World Brewing in West Asheville are next to one another, so routes to and from these venues are found in the To West AVL & From West AVL collections. Hellbender and French Broad River Brewery are located near Biltmore Village, and those routes can be found in the collections: To Hellbender, French Broad Brewing & From Hellbender, French Broad Brewing.

The remaining list of to-and-from routes is listed below. Routes may vary to- and from- venues to create a route that accommodates if the rider is going primarily up or downhill. Roads without bike lanes or shoulders tend to have lower traffic volumes or speed limits. 

About Riding in Asheville

Asheville, NC is recognized by the League of American Bicyclists as a Bronze Level Bicycle Friendly Community. Asheville also leads North Carolina in bicycle & pedestrian injuries and death. The city has held this dubious distinction for over 15 years. When riding in Asheville, be Ride Ready.

Ride Readiness

• Wear a helmet
• Equip your bicycle with front and rear bike lights
• Carry a lock to secure your bike when it’s parked
• Carry a water bottle and avoid dehydration
• Be predictable and communicate with other people in the public rights of way
• Anticipate conflicts & avoid unnecessary risks
• Activate the “Safe Habit of Riding”

About AVL Sounds Fest

AVL Sounds Fest (formerly AVL Fest) is a venue-based music festival returning to the Blue Ridge Mountains August 6-9, 2026. Presented by Asheville-based Wicked Weed Brewing and Worthwhile Sounds, AVL Sounds Fest features over 15 local venues and 200+ artists and performers. Pass holders can use their wristbands to enjoy an exceptional genre-bending lineup of local, regional, and national talent.

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