Route advice- New Jersey to Seattle
 

Hi there,

I already posted in the "Longdistance Forum" but valygrl suggested I'd move over here.

I am planning a tour from Point Pleasant, NJ to Seattle, WA via Badlands and Yellowstone. So far I have not been able to find a route online (on e.g. mapmyride.com, bikely.com). Has anyone done it and would be willing to share? Or give me advice for parts of the route, e.g. what is the best (with least amount of traffic...and hills...) way to get across PA?
Thank you!

Pennsylvania has signed bike routes, and the maps are available online here.

I rode from Seattle to Philadelphia last summer, and I went through Yellowstone, though not the badlands. I have maps for most days and some route notes on my blog. Hope that helps.

You can get traffic, hills, or traffic and hills in PA. There are a couple of choices I'd recommend:

PA Bike Route "S" from its start at the Delaware River crossing the state. The S route is wells-signed and often has broad shoulders. Also, part of it is the Adventure Cycling Association Atlantic Coast Route, so folks are used to seeing touring cyclists. And because it goes through a populated part of the state, there are often side streets and roads you can use if you don't like portions of the S route.

Alternately, you can cross the river at Philadelphia and take the Schuylkill River Trail to near Phoenixville and pick up the S route there. That gives you 20 some miles avoiding traffic in Philly's suburbs. Philadelphia is a bike-friendly city, and worth the trip to see. Bikely shows this route, which is used for an annual Pittsburgh to Philly endurance race - look up "Crush the Commonwealth."

Porbably the flatest way across PA is the nothern tier route. Forget which one it is, but it uses U.S. 6 to near Erie.

Check out Adventure Cycling Association. They have a system of routes across the country. Their Northern Tier route goes through Erie. If you are nor dead set on Yellowstone (IMO, a not nice place to bike because of traffic) and the badlands, the NT route will take you to just outside of Anacortes, WA where you can pick up their Pacific Coast route to Seattle. I have done the entire NT route. It's very nice and includes Going to the Sun Road, arguably the most scenic road in the U.S.

There aslo appears to be a way to connect the NT route around Erie with their Trans Am route, which does go through Yellowstone. The connection may be via their Underground Railroad route. You could take the Trans Am to Missoula, MT, then the Great Parks route to Whitefish and the NT and Pacific Coast routes to Seattle.

Anyway....Check out the routes and maps section on their web site.

For got to mention that if you are not good at planning routes, the AC maps are great. They show campgrounds, bike shops, motels, grocery stores, libraries and restaraunts and contact information for many of them. They also show route profiles for the mountainous/hilly sections.

Thank you for all the info! That is great. Can't wait to start...

Another resource I've found useful for route planning is the map at www.warmshowers.org, a site for people who are willing to host touring cyclist. At the bottom of the map you can check a show ACA routes.

I went a similar route in 04. Started near Portland rather than Seattle though.
Ended in Jersey
I did go Badlands and Yellowstone.
Here's a quick summary of my route. More detail can be gleaned from my log.
Sorry, no coast to coast map. Have fun!
http://www.xcountrybike.com/route.html