Noonievut

With bike touring you may come across gravel roads, fire roads, etc, and touring bikes often have tires with enough volume to handle such a thing, but has anyone done tours on cross/touring bikes where you mainly ride on non-paved roads (but not necessarily an extreme route as with say the tour divide)?

I was thinking that it would be fun to use one of my gravel bikes (both can accept panniers) for a gravel/dirt-only tour where I would camp off the beaten track. I would choose a general destination, and then ride there on a meandering route, exploring some spots that I may have overlooked if thinking I'm "road" touring.

I would probably use two panniers (I have those), but would have to add a small tent, sleeping mat and a lighter bag than the one I use with the family. Not sure how the extra weight would affect riding on these harsher roads, or handling on washed out gravel, etc.

Please share your experiences and feel free to pass along any tips related to such an adventure.