You don't need a "gravel" bike. You can always have a fun project by building up an old steel frame as your off roader. I built this from a bare frame long before "gravel bikes" were a thing among the big manufacturers and put in hundreds of miles on dirt roads / fire roads with it. 35mm tires. I never found a need for knobbies unless I went out into muddy trails, but even then I got through by just gearing down and pedaling it out. This pic is the bike with a commuter outfit.



Here is another that I rode to completed a 100 mile out-and-back that contained a 40 mile fire road section through a national forest.


Or get crazy with a drop bar mountain bike