LetDiceFly

Next spring I am planning a tour through the Southeastern US. This is the one area of the country I am unfamiliar with. My initial thinking is to ride from Kansas City to Florida, but I am just beginning to think about this and don't know if I want to head South first and then ride east through the Southern states or head east and come south on the Atlantic Coast. I am looking for any and all suggestions, good stretches of highway, campsites, and must see points of interest. I am particularly interested in national and state parks, especially unique geological sites. My previous touring as been mostly on the Pacific Coast where there are hike/bike campsites and in the Sierras and California deserts where wild camping is practical. I am wondering what inexpensive options I will have in the East.

Doconabike

Though I have done most of my bike touring in New England, I have visited some beautiful areas in the Southeast.

I highly recommend stopping by Little River Canyon in Northeast Alabama.
https://www.nps.gov/archive/liri/home/home.htm
Little River Canyon is geologically fascinating and is also great for swimming. The area is gorgeous, there are great small roads for biking, and there is plenty of opportunity for "commando camping." If you do go there, make sure you take a private guided tour of Manitou Canverns in Fort Payne. There are guides at https://www.trueadventuresports.com/home.html who will open the cave entrance and show you around for a reasonable fee.

As for other routes, you might consider buying the "Southern Tier Route" map collection from Adventure Cycling. You may already know of the resources of Adventure Cycling, but in case you don't look at
https://www.adventurecycling.org/routes/southerntier.cfm

For interesting history, don't forget the Native American sites of Rock Eagle and Ocmulgee in Georgia. These are both spectacular in a quiet, uncrowded way.
https://www.georgia4h.org/public/faci...trockeagle.htm
https://www.nps.gov/ocmu/

As another idea, if you like history, you could try the Underground Railroad route
https://www.adventurecycling.org/rout...ndrailroad.cfm
It would be inspiring to ponder the bravery of the folks who escaped slavery and those who helped them.

Good luck in your tour. When you are done, please post a trip report so we can learn from you.

jamawani 

One way or the other you will be wet.
Plan on it. Either from rain coming down or the humidity.



5 to 6 inches of rain per month - sometimes more.

As for camping, the Southeast is the least outdoors-oriented region of the country if if doesn't involve either a gun or an SUV. Half of the Kentucky and Georgia state parks have championship golf courses - as if playing golf is the best way to experience the natural world - one that has been planted, fertilized, herbicided, and mowed. Public campsites are geared towards RVs - with all the amenities. People who tent camp pay the same price at many COE and state park camp areas. Hiker/biker campsites are almost unheard of. There are a few canoe-in sites at Merchants Millpond in NC and a hiker/biker site on the Natchez Trace Parkway.

Dispersed camping is permitted on some national forest lands, although national forests are smaller and more scattered in the Southeast. Most importantly, federal lands are often very patchy, so you have to be sure you are on forest land. Most state forests and state wildlife management areas do not permit camping - even though a lot of those lands were purchased with federal $$$. It varies from state to state and from location to location.

A caveat about dispersed camping if you are alone. This may piss some people off - but Southerners are far less tolerant of people doing things that are considered out of the ordinary - like riding a bike a long ways. I say that as a person who has lived much of his life in the South, whose family goes back 400 years in the South, and who has biked all over the South. I did a long tour of the Deep South last winter/spring. There are some absolutely fabulous people in the South, but by and large, the South is the least bike tour friendly region of the country.

https://www.crazyguyonabike.com/doc/?...c_id=3402&v=JN
Just FYI.

LetDiceFly

I think rain will be nice as long as I don't run into a hurricane. I am so tired of the endlessly dry weather we have here in Southern California. I have all this waterproof gear and I don't think it has been more then damp. I used to live in Tulsa and Kansas City and had real weather. I road from Seattle to LA a few years ago and I only had one day of rain in Oregon.

I'm thinking now of taking the Southwest Chief Amtrak to Kansas City to start. From there cycle to the East Coast along the Adventure Cycling Transamerica route then travel south on the East Coast route down to Miami or the Keys. The final leg of my journey will probably be from Florida to New Orleans where I will pick up Amtrak again to return home. I haven't calculated the mileage yet but I imagine it will be similar to a coast to coast distance.

kk4df

I'm in Georgia, and I absolutely love riding in the N. Georgia mountains. Up around Dahlonega, both north and east of there is my favorite riding area. There's so much history and beauty up in the small mountain communities. All through northern Alabama, southeastern Tennessee, and north Georgia are beautiful parts of the Appalachian mountains. Plenty of camping options at the state parks.