@Jason

My sister and I are planning our first long tour together. We'll start the tour precisely one year from now (Mid-May 2015). We can be flexible with time and distance, but we're planning something between 1000 and 1500 miles. We plan to camp half the time, and hotel half the time. Anywhere in the continental US. What is your favorite touring route of this type?

indyfabz

Seattle up to ACA's Northern Tier route to Glacier National Park and then backtracking to the Great Parks North, Trans Am and Great Parks South, ending in Cortez, CO was nice. Mid-May might be a little early to ride the North Cascades Highway, but maybe not. Both times I crossed I left Seattle in late May, so I hit the climb around May 31/June 1. If you continue on to Durango you can fly out from there.

andrewclaus

Southbound along the Pacific Coast.

staehpj1 

Lots of great places to tour in the US, but the Pacific Coast is very nice and has inexpensive camping. You will meet and camp with lots of other bike tourists in the hiker biker sites. Oregon and Northern California are the nicest part in my opinion. You desired trip length matches that fairly well. Oh and it is always recommended that you go in North to South on that route.

Your choice, but I'd recommend camping the whole way or at least most of the time if your budget is tight at all. Maybe get a room once in a while if the weather is really bad.

Cyclebum

What staehpj1 said^^^^

Doug64

+4 for the Pacific Coast.

Another good reason in favor of this route is good public transportation (air, rail, bus) at many potential start and stop points along the route. It is easy to get to a good starting point and get home at the end. Mid-May and June can be wet on the Oregon Coast.

If you wanted to venture a little further afield, the ride from Vancouver, BC; Calgary, AB; south to Glacier National Park and then to Kalispell or Missoula, MT; makes a great ride. It is one of the most scenic rides I have ever done. Good transportation can also be found at both ends of this route as well. However, mid-May might be a little early for this ride.

staehpj1 

Yeah, I think it is fairly likely to have a bit of rain at that time. If you can hold off a few weeks I bet it would be drier. You might use weatherspark.com to help figure out the best time to go if your start date is at all flexible.

@Jason

Thanks all. Yes, our start time is flexible, and we'll definitely plan as best we can around the weather.

indyfabz

Forgot to mention that, this year, the entirety of Going to the Sun Rd. in Galcier National Park is not going to open until at least June 20th. That doesn't mean you won't be able to ride some of it before then, and there may be no restrictions for hikers and bikers during the weekends before that date.

fietsbob

Agree.. but my bias includes living (t)here for 17 years ..

in comparison with Austin TX hot for us is cool for y'all.

Flying ? consider an open jaw ticket from Seattle to San Francisco

or a loop you can use Amtrak to get back to Seattle from the Bay Area ..

Station in Emeryville on the east side of the bay has Bike Boxes they sell, to get your bikes on.

Shifty

Another vote for the west coast between Portland, OR and San Francisco.

Oregon Coast

wheelinthai

If I should cross the ocean, this would be my dream tour, Seattel to San Fran or Monterey.

surfjimc

I would do the Portland to SF ride, but I would go all the way through to San Luis Obispo. Then you get to ride through Santa Cruz, Monterey and the Big Sur Coastline, which is spectacular. You can catch the train there and take it back to San Fran or down to LA to catch a flight. It does get a bit urban in sections from SF to Monterey if that matters to you.

mev

+5 on Pacific Coast. My favorite parts are between Astoria, OR and San Luis Obispo - and I'd add to that to pick airports/train stations to make the trip.

If I extend close to the US, I'd also put in a recommendation for the Canadian Maritimes, starting in Saint John NB or Yarmouth NS and heading up via Cape Breton and then across to Newfoundland at Port Aux Basques and cycling across NF to St Johns.

@Jason

thanks