hendan

Hey, I'm a first time tourer, planning a cross country route, from the northwest to the south east, going through the north east.

My current estimate is that my trip will cover between 4500 and 6000 miles, and I plan to do it over a 6 month time period.

For the first leg of the trip, I'll be going from about Walla Walla, Washington to Berrien Springs, Michigan, between July 1 and the middle of August (the time slot is fairly fixed), but I'm having difficulty determining a route, or even knowing where to start looking, to figure out such things. Anyone able to give me any good leads?

Someone suggested taking US Highway 12, which would be simple enough to follow, but apparently is not such a great bike route through Idaho. Google Maps has a cool "Bike Route" option, but something about turning on average every 2 miles seems a bit ridiculous. lol.

valygrl

Here's someplace to start:
https://www.adventurecycling.org/rout...route-network/
https://www.adventurecycling.org/task...0A0B4605CA2014

You can buy the maps (lots of useful info, details about roads, services, camping) or just look at the routes & gps tracks and use the routes.

Routes you might be particularly interested in:
Lewis and Clark
Northern Tier
Transamerica
Atalantic Coast

Cyclebum

Welcome to BF. Valygrl's advice is solid, especially for a first tour. You'll likely save the price of the maps overnighting in free/low cost camping spots that they'll point to, not to mention all the other info. Study the next days routing as you lay in your tent at night.

That's a pretty ambitious plan you've got. Consider doing an overnighter or two before heading out to test your gear, and your ressolve.

This link is for the world's premier cycle touring site.