30-day road trip ideas for the US
 

Hi All

First time posting here after browsing the forums for awhile - and apologies if the question is repetitive to what else is out there - feel free to point me in the right direction.

Now to the topic / question - I am looking for ideas or full itineraries that people may have already taken to help form a route to see the US (I am not a US resident). I'm at early stages of planning a motorbike road trip for ~30 days some time in the summer, when travel restrictions (hopefully) normalise. Idea would be to buy a motorbike in one of the easier-to-register states (have relatives in Texas) and sell it at the back end. I am flexible on time (i.e. +/-10 days is not an issue), as I am currently on a lengthy gardening leave between jobs.

I have been riding motorbikes for last 5 years in Europe (both on-road and off-road / enduro), but would really be focusing on paved riding only, with a goal of avoiding interstates and highways as much as possible.

In terms of general framework for the trip, would love to focus on (in no particular order): 1) covering as many of the the various different US biomes as possible - mountains, deserts, plains, coastal, etc.; 2) riding interesting roads with beautiful scenery; 3) visiting as many of the different distinct rural / small town parts of the US as possible; 4) not particularly keen on seeing or staying close to big cities; 5) happy to ride 6-7 hrs a day and focus on riding + close to road sightseeing, without too much hiking or staying parked, which I think gives me an average range of ~200 miles per day

With the above, a couple of broader ideas I had were: 1) a circular route in the "Western states" (everything west of Dakotas / Kansas etc) - can fit into ~4k miles with ~1-2k miles to spare; 2) point-to-point going from Northwest (e.g. Seattle) via the coast South, then cutting through the country towards the East coast (or the other way around) - probably similar distance but i feel like i'm missing the mountainous states.

Would love to hear any thoughts on the above, plus if anyone has pre-made itineraries, can point me to good online guides / physical retail books - that would be much appreciated.

Many thanks!

I would probably recommend something like a ride up or down the west coast on Highway 101 or close to it, and then weather permitting head inland to visit a few of the major parks: Yellowstone, Yosemite, the Grand Canyon, Bryce/Zion. That could easily take you 30 days.

And when you say you are planning for 'summer', I assume summer of 2022 or later - I wouldn't count on things being "back to normal" this coming summer.

Summer is hot--sometimes ridiculously hot. In August I try to maintain altitude, which means mountain states, or stay right on the coast. There's little sense in trying to span from one coast to the other unless you like long stretches of straight highways contemplating unchanging horizons. And Texas, being hot with a tendency to thunderstorms and hurricanes, would be far off-course for anything I'd plan during August.

Unless I'm misunderstanding, you're looking for two-lane motorcycling roads (winding, smooth pavement, not insanely crowded), with points of interest at the roadside or within short walks. I'd start in Washington State, Colorado or California for ease of securing a bike as a non-resident. There's plenty of riding, plenty to see, and after 30 days you can trace your route on a map of the country and notice how little ground you've actually covered compared to what's available.

Two other obvious points: first, purchase and sales for a 30 day trip is fairly marginal. Second, a lot of the more popular attractions will be totally swamped, booked out, packed with slow-moving traffic; I'm thinking of Yellowstone, Yosemite, Glacier, Rainier, etc. This summer shows signs of being worse than ever in this respect. For me, that means I try to park and get away from the teeming hordes, usually on foot. That's not what you're describing.

Hope that's helpful. Note that there is much to consider, and therefore most of us will miss the point when trying to answer. You might have more success asking specific questions after you narrow things down for yourself.

Edit to add: I just noticed that you seem to think "everything" west of the Dakotas would fit into a 4-6000 mile trip. Oh my. I just took a 3500 mile road trip through Washington, Oregon, Nevada, Utah, Idaho in my van, hardly went anyplace at all considering what's out there, and returned home after 2.5 weeks frustrated by how little I'd seen and done....and I'm an old hand at this and didn't actually try to see many of the usual sights because I've basically seen them all multiple times. Maybe my taste is different from yours, but still.

Starting in Texas, with a goal of riding paved roads for 30 days, and seeing as many of the 'biomes' as possible- did I get that right?

Well, the USA is a pretty big place, so I'd recommend focusing on two or three states (or less) and give yourself time to really do some exploring. I've lived in Colorado most of my life and never get tired of the riding here.

If you were to concentrate on the Rocky Mountain states of New Mexico, Colorado, and Wyoming, each state, by itself, would easily yield a good 30 day trip. But if you did include the three you would have low desert, high desert, juniper/pinon forests, ponderosa pine forest, high alpine and tundra to traverse.


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You could also spend time on the Great Plains ,although that would not be my choice for good riding. I usually ride out there in the winter when the mountains are snowed in.

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...........................shu

Thanks a lot for all the responses - some very helpful tips there.
Just a quick add: when I say 4k miles for everything, what I mean is you can draw a 4k mile circle around - so definitely not planning to just do that.

It seems most of suggestions advise to focus on a smaller number of states, which I think makes sense. Will be plotting a "must see" targets and routing around that and come back with specific q's.

Starting and end-point does not have to be Texas (although end-point there would be more convenient just considering I have someone to manage the sale).

One quick question on:

"Two other obvious points: first, purchase and sales for a 30 day trip is fairly marginal."

When you say fairly marginal is that relative to renting or shipping in? I looked at EagleRider and a 30 day rental with insurance would end up at ~$5k (ex. consumables) for their cheapest bikes (e.g. MT07 or RnineT - which i'm comfortable doing long-distance in as I typically travel extremely light) - my assumption is 5-6k miles depreciation + insurance on a purchased bike would come significantly below that, unless I am really missing something on costs involved on purchasing?

Regards

I agree with points made by others. 30 days will allow you see a tiny part of the USA. I think it's a good idea to avoid trying to cover too much ground.

I started thinking about suggesting a variety of routes, and decided to pick one, starting in Texas (assuming that your base will be Dallas or Houston?).

Head west - Big Bend - Marfa - Albuquerque - Taos - Mesa Verde - Moab - Antelope Canyon - Monument Valley - Grand Canyon - Sedona - Phoenix - Alamagordo - Abilene - back to the start. 5000 Km in 30 days. The negative of this is that it's all in somewhat similar climate.

So, other options starting somewhere else - New England, Pacific Coast, Route 66, Great Lakes...

You might consider stringing together a series of Scenic Byways. Interesting historical references and maps can be found here. The scenery and riding on these will be some of the best you'll find, and the least commercialized.

https://scenicbyways.info/



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Hi
Google GPSKevin and have a look at his website for ideas and/or GPS files.

I can recommend ’Unchained Tours’, they ship your bike over from the UK. You can do a tour with them or your own, it’s very relaxed and you’re in total charge of your spending as you only pay them for shipping.

When I looked into it I surmised that if you go for less than 3 weeks it’s cheaper to hire, 4 weeks it’s cheaper to ship. For our 3 weeks it was about the same so worth shipping for lots of reasons - the locals certainly wanted to chat. I don’t know anything about buying/selling.

We saw lots in just over 3 weeks: 5,000 miles and 6 states.
It sounds a lot but the roads are excellent and there is little traffic so you’re average, daily, mileage is much higher than Europe.

That sounds like an interesting option for shipping a bike from the UK, but where do they ship to? Presumably somewhere on the East Coast?

If so, this is a major drawback in my opinion, because most of the interesting nature/riding is in the western US. While there certainly stuff to see on the East Coast, it pales in comparison to the West. And I say this as a resident of Washington, DC, not someone out West!

A quick glance at their website suggests they offer "on your own bike" tours mostly in western Canada, US, and Alaska. The site is very vague on prices, schedules, and locations.

My early suggestion that a month is "marginal" in terms of buying and selling a bike may seem unduly glum, but personally if I've only got a month of free time, the last thing I want to be doing in an unfamiliar country is arranging to buy, then sell onwards, a motorbike. That takes time, involves unknowable and uncontrollable variables, and it usually transpires in unappealing locations like large metropolitan areas when what I'd really prefer to be doing is roaming the mountains, deserts, and seacoast. YMMV.

Also worth noting: there are cheaper ways to rent motorcycles than from Eaglerider. These include peer-to-peer rentals, with which I've had some success. Caveat emptor, of course.

Mark

It depends on the trip. For a coast to coast they ship into Norfolk and back from Santa Rosa, for west US they ship to and from Santa Rosa, for Alaska they ship into Anchorage and back from Santa Rosa. Some years they will do 2 different trips which you can link up to make 1 big one.

It’s not a normal bike holiday company, you only pay for the shipping but you get all the info you need: insurance etc... You are free to pick up your bike, do your own thing then drop the bike off for shipping home. Or you can join the ride leader or you can do part of his itinerary and part of yours.

If the OP is interested I suggest contacting Chris at Unchained - I have no affiliation with the company only that I went on a trip with Chris, which was great and I’ve got a few friends who have used his services on more than 1 occasion - some have been 3 or 4 times.

That kind of flexibility sounds good! If I were in the UK rather than in the US I would check them out.

Check out Butler maps for each state in the US. These maps show the best rides on and off road. Stellar resource.