Originally Posted by JMo (& piglet)

Hi James - there is an official Trans-America Trail route, in that the concept of crossing the whole of the USA on a series of unsurfaced roads and trails was originally conceived by Sam Correro, who rode and logged and mapped his route across the country - originally from Tennessee to Oregon, but now recently extended all the way to the east coast in Virginia and North Carolina too.

www.TransAmTrail.com

Before the advent of wide-spread GPS use and more detailed GPS mapping, Sam's roll charts and maps were the most detailed way to describe and follow the route. These days, people have track-logged their own journeys, and the link Davo posted above is essentially a collection of crowd-sourced routes, that generally follow the 'official' route, but utilise some alternatives - such as offering more technical sections and conversely easier/bigger-bike route options too.

Sam will tell you that the Trans-Am Trail is foremost a guide - taking you though some of the best adventure/dual-sport riding the United States has to offer. You can try and following it exactly, or you can utilise his route as part of your own personal planning, and deviate as you wish - either to sight-see or ride a number of side trails in the areas you're passing though.

Certainly when riding over 5000 miles of mainly unpaved roads and trails, almost inevitably you'll have to deviate from the official route at some point anyway - if only to avoid sections blocked by fallen trees, landslides, snow, flooding etc. - but fundamentally Sam's has ridden every inch of his official route, and he continues to update and revise various sections so the information is accurate and as up-to-date as it can be, and fundamentally should not lead you down any dead-ends or onto private land for example.

Whether you need to purchase his maps and roll charts, or simply his GPS downloads for each state really depends on how you like to plan and navigate. I've been quite happy just using his GPS tracks, and working out my own fuel and camping/accommodation stops - but other people may like more information during their initial planning stage - which the maps provide.

I've ridden the TAT twice now - most recently end to end in it's entirety, and previously by breaking it up into three sections due to the time of year I was riding (end of the autumn followed by early spring).

I have also subsequently revisited some favourite sections when passing through particular States, and also incorporated a few alternative trails in those areas with which I am already familiar.

If your intention is to ride the full TAT, then I'd recommend getting at least Sam's GPS tracks from the link above.

Hope that helps!

Jenny x