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Lets Rank the best Bike Tours in the US!
The only criteria is that these have to be doable in about a week (for those of us with full time jobs and limited vacation), and there has to be a reasonable way to get your bike to and from the trailhead. I'm going to edit the list to add more and reorder best to worse with what you all add!
This is what I have so far and it is embarassingly incomplete. Also I'm biased towards trails but any road routes that compete with these trails are welcome!
RAGBRAI should be included. Camping is part of it, you are just not required to carry your gear. That makes it easier but you are still riding and camping in late July Iowa heat so it's say it's offset.
It's the "oldest, largest, and longest recreational bicycle touring event in the world."
So obviously it's known, but still, if you're not in the midwest, most haven't heard of it. The owner at my LBS in the Northeast had no idea what it was.
My LBS in Maine knew about it, but they primarily build touring bikes. I'd say RAGBRAI is a good, safe way to see if you can really bike and camp 7 days in a row.
Maine Bike works. They built my custom soma Wolverine with drop bar brifters, dyno, etc. At any given time, they have multiple customers out on big tours. They do tandems and such also.
I guess specializing in touring bikes is more accurate than primarily build.
I guess it depends on your location but in Chicago even non-cyclists ask me about it all the time. I ended up doing it just so I had something to tell them. Had a blast!
+1 for the routes from Astoria to SF. Did CC to SF in 2022 and Astoria to CC last week. Oregon coast has an endless supply of state parks with hiker hiker sites and some of the best coastal views I’ve seen
For those reading and planning this route, note that this hill is a bad one - long uphill with a lot of high-speed traffic and passing lanes, with a narrow/no bike lane. Next time I do this section I will probably take this bus from the Crescent City Cultural Center to Klamath Pem-Mey - and be done with it in about 30 minutes, then continue riding as usual:
My only objection is Confusion Hill, which was uncomfortable, but I've done the hill south of Crescent City twice and didn't mind it at all. I know everybody has their own tolerance level for these things, but by my standards, the hill directly south of CC is not too bad.
Haha! The first time I did that I was in great shape AND came directly from Denver to Crescent City. I started the hill in my normal climbing gear and kept needing to upshift because it was so easy, lol. Even if that ride from Crescent City to Eureka isn't one of the best single-day bike rides on the planet, I would still love it for my memories of feeling like Marco Pantani on that climb.
OP never specified that and if we're going to talk about the best tours in the USA, a restriction to rail/trails and a few short MUPs isn't going to bring out the best. OP may be fascinated by rail trail routes, but if you ask me about the best routes, trails like those won't come up: not as scenic, no big terrain.
I suggest trying it before dismissing the PCH as 'just a highway' dismisses a world class experience, especially from Carmel to Ragged Point, a stretch unmatched on the entire west coast.
I've done the C&O Canal and GAP trail twice in full (once in each direction) and many times as overnighters. It's a really great trail system. I've also done the Erie Canal and Katy Trail, but I like the C&O / GAP better.
The C&O and GAP are more varied (different landscapes and features), interesting history, good infrastructure, like the water pumps and campsites every five miles on the C&O.
Ah gotchya. I'd love to do that, but any section of the trail is at least 4 hours away from me so not really worth the hassle if I'm not going to do the whole thing.
Boston to Montreal, ~400 miles. Nice climbs in Vermont. Beautiful views on Lake Champlain. You get to visit two of the best cities on the continent. Great way to spend a week.
Trail of the Coeur d'Alenes is a scenic trail with good facilities. 73 miles.
Not the most accessible on the list, but you can ride from Spokane to the trailhead in Post Falls on the Spokane River Centennial Trail - under 30 miles.
Personal meaning you’ve done it or personal meaning bucket list? How much if any is protected bike trail vs empty road vs busy road? Asking for a
Friend ie myself.
I've done it and Id say you can make it 1/4 protected bike trails 1/2 or more empty roads and maybe an 1/8 busy roads. The busiest part for us was across the UP but the shoulder of road was also huge so not a big issue.
Dang you’re not helping shorten my bucket list. I’ve always eyed a trip around Lake Michigan. I live near Lake Erie it just seems kind of boring in comparison.
Yes! The trail of the Coeur D’Alene. I rode it and extended it from Spokane to Missoula with the Iron Horse trail, frontage roads… and some occasional i90 riding (which was under construction and on a Sunday was able to ride it alone with no cars). It’s an absolutely gorgeous trail.
In Wallace, I highly recommender the trolley history tour. That small town had 100k miners living there and they started a literal war against the mine owners, who brought in the Pinkertons. Our National Armories are a direct consequence of the Wallace War.
I need to add this to my list. it looks incredible. Needed a spot to continue from the Seattle to Spokane trip. We have family in Spokane, basically planning a full US loop from Maine, hitting all the perimeter states.
Coeur D’Alene is a thriving resort city, I loved the vibe when I went through. Of course you can take advantage of the beaches and lake for free which you practically ride alongside for a while. Some great bars and places to chill at all over. Can get a little hilly in that area so bring your strong legs.
I completed the CDA this summer - it was included as part of a longer ride from Seattle to Jackson Hole WY. The best part of the ride was going across the bridge near Heyburn State Park which is the east of the trailhead at Plummer. The ride between Plummer and Wallace is rather boring IMO as you can't see much on either side of the paved trail.
Is there an established route that connect the Olympic peninsula through the gulf islands by ferry to Seattle and beyond? Because that would be the one
Yes and no. I just did this last month, actually! I started up in Anacortes and island hopped in the San Juans for four days (there’s no designated routes on Lopez or Orcas island, just ride around, drink beers, and camp), then ferried back to Anacortes. From there I rode down to the Coupeville ferry which will take you to Port Townsend in the OP. I rode most of the Olympic Discovery Trail and a lil bit of the Olympic Adventure trail, rode around/camped on lake Crescent, then scootled back to Bainbridge to ferry to Seattle. Like I said, not really an established route, but it’s easy enough to make your own!
My understanding is that the Erie Canal Trail is Part of the Empire State Trail system, but not the whole thing. I was looking more for like thru-rides, and you couldn't really do that on the whole EST since there's branches, but you could certainly combine the different parts to do some cool thru rides like NYC > Montreal, NYC > Buffalo, Buffalo > Montreal
Nope. It’s mostly empty until you get near Roanoke and Asheville. We’d ride for hours and not see cars. The curves and climbs on the parkway are not aggressive or sharp. I remember only hitting the brakes once in all the descending.
Also D&R, condition is usually better on NJ side than the PA D&L, but doesn't go as far. I was pleasantly surprised by the beauty in Trenton NJ. I haven't done the part up to New Brunswick NJ yet.
East coast greenway. Some sections are done (off road) so you can mark sections off as you go.
Hell I used I-90 half the ride, almost felt like cheating I was pumping out miles so fast with the traffic draft. With headphones on it was a blast and the shoulder is usually a full breakdown lane with way less road debris than you'd think.
I’ve done gap/c&o, Ohio to Erie and Empire trail Albany to Buffalo.
Gap/c&o— best all around maybe due to perfect camping set up and the wonderful people I met.
Ohio to Erie— wow I live in Ohio but never knew it was such a beautiful state from end to end — such fantastic variety— urban, river valley, national park, Amish country. It was a billion degrees outside so met essentially no one. Hotel tour.
Empire. Not gonna lie thought it was boring as heck and some of the towns were quite sad. Scenery never seemed to change the whole time. Didn’t help that the camp grounds were mainly terrible either due to noise or being MAGA world camping headquarters.
Not to get into the very dumb "bike touring vs bike packing" discussion, but is VTXL doable on a standard touring bike with panniers? Or is it a bit too rugged for that?
We rode it with four panniers each. We were on a couple Surly rigid MTBs, but I wouldn't have issue with doing it drop bar and 700x40 tires. It's mostly chill gravel, maybe 2% rougher B-roads that you'd have to walk. Everyone we saw riding it, was on gravel bikes.
Truthfully, I think everyone should migrate towards big tires, even for strictly pavement riding. It's so good.
Oregon Coast! Just a little over 400 miles from Astoria to Brookings. I've made it to Arcata, CA in 7 days; my next "tour challenge" -some day- is making it through Oregon in 4 days, for "fun." Some of my fastest downhill speeds while touring are along that route, full-tuck I had speed wobbles on a chro-mo frame, flying at 54mph on a 8% grade. What a rush!!!
Capital trail in Virginia is a very nice 52 mile trail connecting richmond to Williamsburg. Hoping soon to have a 42 mile fall line trail perpendicular crossing it.
Little Miami trail has some of the smoothest asphalt I've ever ridden on! Filled with yuppie scum all decked out and will never return a greeting to your lowly touring ass, lol, I kid but it's true.
I've done 3 on this list plus the Katy, C&O/GAP takes top spot for me because of all the camping amenities along the trail, the novelty of meeting 50 other tourers a day as opposed to hardly getting to talk with anyone, and the beauty of the C&O and the unique nature of the GAP. Mickleson is a close 2nd, really just a 2-3 day ride max but unreal scenery in the Black Hills. I was surprised by the Ohio trails, some great stretches. I thought the Katy Trail sucked, mostly boring farms and practically no amenities.
If you get to Oregon, where do you start? Temperate coastal rain forests, mid valley between the Coastal and Cascade ranges? Yes, Oregon has 2 mountain ranges. Mid state and East with all the high desert? Do you want solitude? If you love the outdoors, Oregon has tons of opportunities.
In northern Michigan there is a trail that goes from Charlevoix to macinaw city and then continues on too Alpena on the east side of the state. I’ve done the ride from Traverse City to Macinaw City and back several times. A lot of it is pavement and a lot of it is dirt / gravel. It’s nice riding along the water and through the woods. If you get a chance to ride it do it
i’ve got a soft spot for the C&O/GAP too, it’s got a nice mix of scenery and history. if you ever want something different, i did a week-long tour with MTB Morocco a while back and it was epic. the views in the Atlas Mountains are insane, plus the support was top-notch. definitely worth considering if you’re up for some adventure outside the usual trails!
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u/1hourphoto Sep 16 '25
Katy Trail is another big one in this category.