Cross US (and a bit of west coast Canada) tour | GTAMotorcycle.com

Cross US (and a bit of west coast Canada) tour

AlistairF

Member
Hey folks,

On Monday I depart on my longest trip till date. Starting off in Ajax, ON - I zip through the northern states up to BC then down to California and through Arizona, Texas, Arkansas,Tennessee etc and back home. I don't really have a fixed timeline so I won't be rushing through and would really like to enjoy the ride. I have googled "Top north american motorcycle routes" and tried to incorporate most of them into my trip.

Some of these are

Glacier national part, MT
HWY 1 - Oregon to LA
Three sisters, Texas
Coronado Trail, AZ
Arkansas Pig Trail, Arkansas
Cherohala Skyway, Tennessee
Deal's Gap (AKA "The Dragon" or "Tail of the Dragon") North Carolina, Tennessee
Blue Ridge Parkway North Carolina, Virginia

My furkot trip can be found here - https://trips.furkot.com/ts/0CfuRt

The bike is a 2014 Honda CTX. Has about 22,000kms on it. Just slapped on new tires and brakes. Hopefully she stays strong for the trip. https://www.instagram.com/p/BHx-9GehKQJ/

Would like to get some input/feedback on the route. If you have any suggestions on routes, food stops (big one), cheap accomodations, must see attractions, or just general tips/tricks for U.S touring, I would love to hear from you.


-Alistair
 
If paying for gas with credit card at the pump, many gas stations will ask for your 5 digit ZIP code - usually what works is just using the 3 numbers in your postal code with "00" at the end. So postal code M6S-5A1 becomes ZIP code 65100 - this works most of the time.

In Arizona, I would suggest you head north from Phoenix into Prescott and then across then 89A via Jerome, Sedona & Flagstaff and then link up with your normal route. The 89A is a remarkable road.

If you have the time and are so inclined - a stop in Birmingham, Alabama will take you to Barber Motorcycle Museum, which is a remarkable place with thousands of bikes.

After you ride Deals Gap, then your route getting to your next stop could be much more fun if you took a few of the roads slightly south which run through the parks. Since you have a bit of time, you also might want to stay in the area for a few days and explore the Smoky Mountains Park and adjacent parks. If you want to press on and not stick around for more days, an alternative would be to get yourself to Cherokee, North Carolina and take the Blue Ridge Parkway from the southern point all the way north - it's remarkable too and ridiculously scenic!

Looks like you are going to have an awesome time no matter what.
Safe Travels.
 
Couple of notes ....we did a similar trip last year.

Beartooth Pass and Chief Joseph Parkway are must do - just avoid Yellowstone on the weekend.

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in this screen shot you want to include Chief Joseph down in the green to the right and Beartooth near Alpine top left and enter Yeloowstone from there.

PCH further up can be really foggy so consider staying inland for a bit and catch Mount Ranier and Mount St Helens
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Your West Coast looks sensible but be sure to include Mount St. Helens ...not a long diversion and spectacular.

Further south ...you want to hug the coast all the way down from Manchester north of San Fran all the way down across the Golden Gate and down through Monterey and Carmel....that is the most spectacular part of the PCH. Spend some time in the Golden Gate Park and the Science Institute - fabulous. Stockton is flat out boring ...anything inland is hot, boring and dusty.
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This is what you want
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and you are missing all of it.
Use this route
https://goo.gl/maps/tG2q8EH3CfD2

PCH north of San Fran down to San Luis Obispo then cut over to Yosemite and do the Glacier Point road...180 degree sweep with no guard rail and it's way way down. :D

In BC - catching Hyder Alaska at Steward is fun but may be higher than you want tho a natural run is Glacier Nationl Park then Banff and Jasper by way of the Bow Valley Parkway.
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Go from Glacier to Canmore Al and straight up 93 through the mountains to Banff and Jasper...just make sure you catch Bow Valley on the way....it's not out of your way at all and is stunning.

Tweak your interest :D

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More pics here. https://500px.com/macdoc/galleries

Bryce, Arches and Zion Parks in Utah are excellent and quick drive throughs with stunning scenery - avoiding Salt Lake City is advisable as is avoiding LA ...both for traffic reasons.

Good for you using Furkot
 
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Consider seeing more of Colorado (Rocky Mountain National Park, Pike's Peak, Mount Evans, etc), it's absolutely gorgeous.

Also may want to adjust your route to be further south east of Texas and go to the coast. New Orleans, Savannah, Charleston, are all worth a visit and wouldn't add too much mileage to your trip/
 
If you're going through Arkansas spend some time in Eureka Springs. Cheap and biker friendly with a mix of architectural treats and steep streets.
 
In Arizona, I would suggest you head north from Phoenix into Prescott and then across then 89A via Jerome, Sedona & Flagstaff and then link up with your normal route. The 89A is a remarkable road.

You ain't kidding! Lots of great curves. Can't speak for the scenery because I was so focused on the road.

And Jerome is a really cool place. Much more interesting than Sedona.
 
Guys, this is all excellent information to have! Thanks so much for the route info and tips. I will be adjusting my rides to accomodate most of the suggestions mentioned above.
Will try to take as many pics and GoPro vids as possible
 
Good stuff...not sure if you are aware of it but Furkot incorporates several of the top motorcycle route sections in all areas if you select the correct set of green icons at the bottom when planning.
Click on the last orange bar on the right FIND
The choose the twisty road icon
Then choose Motorcycle Icon

Will give you the local area rides

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I turn off most of the bottom line of the Green bars and stick with just a couple of the route suggestions that are specific to motorcycling

Then click on the specific ride ..ie Translabrador ....will show you a short description and double clicking on the link below the name will give you the original route page..

https://trips.furkot.com/ts/ULNYZF

some even with way points or gpx files attached.

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Including a complete itinerary with camping info etc

Trans-Labrador Highway, Newfoundland
25 days / 7952 miles / 193 hours 36 minutes
Motorcycle ride up through New Brunswick, PEI, Nova Scotia, Newfoundland to Labrador to ride the Trans-Labrador Highway.
NormanSee more trips

DAY 1
61 Eldredge Road, Willington, CT, United States
9:00 am - 190.0 miles / 5 hours 2 minutes - 2:03 pm
2:18 pm - 158.3 miles / 3 hours 39 minutes - 5:58 pm
Acadia National Park, Mount Desert, ME, United States

DAY 2
Acadia National Park, Mount Desert, ME, United States
Overnight in Acadia National Park, first stop of trip
9:00 am - 31.7 miles / 48 minutes - 9:49 am
10:04 am - 190.0 miles / 3 hours 40 minutes - 2:45 pm
3:00 pm - 33.4 miles / 37 minutes - 3:38 pm
Lakeside Campground, Waterborough, NB

DAY 3
Lakeside Campground, Waterborough, NB
9:00 am - 156.6 miles / 3 hours 29 minutes - 12:30 pm
12:45 pm - 53.0 miles / an hour 4 minutes - 1:50 pm
Waterford Cottages and Campground, PE

etc
 
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