Northern Tier US coast to coast route

[Darrel]

So, here may be a Very full hardy and overly ambitious plan, But I think one that would be AWESOME to create and ride. I would like to plot a route from Washington to Maine Through the US (not at all opposed to Canada either) that hits as much single track, gravel and spectacularness as possible! The bitch, as we all know, is developing a route through country we know absolutely nothing about! The beauty of this electronic age is all of the nuts in the world with similar bents can now pool their wisdom. So, I am calling for the aid of all the bikepacking nuts from WA to ME to give me some beta on getting from coast to coast! Additionally, from the techies some beta on how to set up a public google map and discussion group, either in bikepacking.net or out, and how to help spread the word. I'm in no GREAT hurry, eyeing it up as a 10 year plan to get it plotted. But who knows, if we can hammer it out, there's always next summer! 

[fotooutdoors]

In the east/central US, I would look into where it is legal to ride the North Country Trail.  Off-hand, I know that a large swath of Michigan is legal; check out the threads here, and http://mmba.org/library/maps/northcountrytrail/NCT_Entire_ROG.pdf, which is old, but useful.  I believe the NCT has a more up-to-date version, but I haven't been able to find it online.

Also, I would do some digging on a state-by-state basis to figure out what has already been plotted/ridden.

[Darrel]

Thanks for the input! The seed for this idea came from the NCT. I went to college in Ashland WI, not far from the NCT. A couple years ago, I looked at their website wondering if they had managed to complete the trail coast to coast over the past 30 years. I was disappointed that they really hadn't gotten any further and that they seemed rather anti-bike. Couldn't help but think if they embraced cycling, the trail would be complete, AND a true national treasure! So here we are, grass rooting it.

Have you ridden the sections in MI, particularly in the UP? (Thinking of cutting through Canada from Sault Saint Marie.)

[unitdrop_forge]

For Washington, there may be some good bits one could glean from the BestRest Northwest Passage route:  https://www.bestrestproducts.com/p-378-nwp-itinerary.aspx

Similarly, the backcountry discovery routes from Touratech are good resources:  http://www.backcountrydiscoveryroutes.com/WABDR
Hopefully when they complete the MT route it will be an East-West route.

For the upper peninsula, in addition to the North Country Trail, there is the Upper Peninsula Adventure Trail:  http://www.advrider.com/forums/showthread.php?t=627424

While not gravel/single, the newly minted Iron Belle trail will have good rail-trail sections to ferry through the mitten state:  http://michigantrails.org/michigans-iron-belle-trail

The motorcycle ones are mostly gravel / forest roads, but they can be an excellent resource to help you linkup with singletrack you find along the way.  I've motorcycled (KLR650) the Washington Backcountry route and plan to ride the Idaho one this summer.  Really beautiful areas.  I'm always torn between the two modes of exploring the world, but figure as long as it's on two wheels, it's never a bad day!