Tat 2018
 

Hello,
I'm going to ride the TAT next year.
The question is, how to navigate?
It is good enough, just to navigate by the GPS and the waypoints, or it is recommended to buy also the roll charts and maps.
Thank you
Martin

Hi, I am planning the same and will use my garmin GPS with TAT pre-loaded card.

When are you going, and where are you based?

Hi,
The plan is to ship the bike, BMW X-Challenge, end of April from Germany to Orlando/Florida. From there exploring the south states and joining the TAT in Colorado. Will use also a Garmin GPS and going to buy the tracks.
Whats your plans?
Martin

Planning on shipping to NY beginning of June, riding E-W and then South to Mexico, 2x XT600s it looks like at the moment. Frantically trying to organise things.

How much is your shipping and who are you using?

Shipping is not yet decided. There are a few options.
Lufthansa aircargo is the easiest but also the most expensive option. It is € 2700 all inclusive even customs handling.
After finishing the TAT I'm going to visit the HU meeting in California in Sept. then heading south to Mexiko/Baja.

TAT Tracks
 

I'm curious what sort of "pre-loaded" card you will be using. Does it have .gpx tracks for the different routes? These are ever changing I understand and may be updated somewhere. I haven't started and serious research yet so if you have a .gpx track source I'd like to get the link.

GPS Maps - T.A.T
 

Hi Guys, I have found these online, I have no idea on their reliability or how current they are ?

link - https://sites.google.com/site/gpskev...-america-trail

Hay Guys
I'm looking to do this trip in 2019. I'm finding it hard to get a GPX file of the route, is the TAT an actual set route? or is it just a term used for a Trans America route?
I'm also considering doing the TCAT instead.
Let me know if anyone would be interested in joining me, I will be shipping from Europe possibly from the uk

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

TAT in early in spring
 

Hi Jenny,

I see you said that you've done part of the TAT in early spring. I am planning on coming across next year to do the TAT in March/April so a very similar timing. I would be interested to hear your experience of what parts were doable and what weren't? My goal is to try ride as much of it as possible, and most likely get to the more snow prone areas (i.e. colorado) by mid-april.

Cheers,
Tam

Hi Tam - is your plan to ride the whole TAT as far as Oregon, or are you time limited? Either way, once you reach Trinidad in Colorado at that time of year, you're going to have to reroute around the high passes, as they will still be closed due to snow.

If you stay south (on highway 160) you ought to be able to pick things up again west of Durango/Cortez (ie. Dove Creek on the TAT - heading west towards Monticello) - which is what I did in early 2009 - although again you'll almost certainly have to bypass the TAT section through the La Sal mountains via Geyser Pass - you have two options there, hug the west side of the mountains on trails that run alongside high 191 north (again, what I did in 2009), or take the Lockheart Basin trail which is part of the UTBDR route from Canyonlands up to Moab on the west side of hwy 191.

You're probably going to need to reroute the current TAT once you get north west of Castle Dale UT too, as the mountains between there and Ephraim are also over 10,000ft.

note. you might also have issues still in southern Idaho (between Arco and Sun Valley) depending on what the snow fall has been like that winter.


Otherwise, the majority of the first half (ie. prior to Trinidad CO) ought to remain do-able earlier in your trip as long as there hasn't been too much rain or flooding. When I was there in early March 2009 Tennessee and Mississippi was a mud-bath on the trails, but since the route skips regularly between paved and short[er] unpaved sections, you can work around easily enough and not miss too much.

for info. I was certainly able to ride the Tail of the Dragon and a chunk of the Blue Ridge Parkway prior to starting the TAT in Tellico Plains that year, but it was chilly still.

Things really started to flow on the TAT once you cross into Arkansas, and as long as the weather is on your side (ie. not raining) Oklahoma is navigable too, and you can always use the grid like nature of the road/trail layout to avoid certain washed-out and flooded sections too if required.

Basically, at that time of year you need to be flexible, and be prepared to forfeit all the high elevation passes in CO and UT.

However, one thing I would recommend is take the half-day train ride on the Durango-Silverton [Steam] Railway; and if hwy 550 is open all the way through, then ride that paved road to Ouray and head towards Moab that way - epic scenery and a taste of what the 10,000+ft passes have to offer, even if you're not on the dirt.

Hope that helps!

Jenny x

Hi Jenny,

Thank you for your detailed advice! I greatly appreciate it :)

In terms of time, I currently am planning a month to do the entire TAT. I assume that this is long enough? How long has it taken you to complete it?

Also, what bike do you have? Always interested to hear what others ride :)

Cheers,
Tam

Hi Tam - it really depends... the official TAT route as it stands now (from West Virginia to Oregon) is going to take you longer than four weeks realistically - certainly if you've any hope of actually seeing/absorbing anything, and not riding 16 hours a day...

Of course this time of year you are going to have to miss out large chunks of it - and typically those that coincide with the slower more technical terrain (in Colorado, and higher elevation in Utah and Idaho), but even then, 30 days would be pushing it from coast to coast.

If you want an illustration, there is my ride report from 2015 here on the HUBB - it took me 25 days on the actual TAT itself, but that was starting at the previous official start in Andrews NC (there has been another 500+ miles of TAT route added since then).

I'd say that was a realistic solo pace if you're confident in your riding skills and have packed light - oh, and aren't planning on camping much either... but even then I only had one day off (not riding), and towards the end was covering 300+ mile days some times just to make my target finish.

Ultimately though, if you have the maps and/or the GPS route, you can always streamline sections to stay on target - although I always say that's a shame since even the shortest section you might choose to miss could actually offer a highlight of your trip for one reason or another?

If you want my suggestion to cover as much TAT as possible earlier in the season, then I would ride from the east coast (the Blue Ridge Parkway is always scenic) and as much of the TAT route as you can in Virginia, North Carolina and Tennessee; and then streamline through Mississippi (this is basically what I did last spring on the G310GS - ride report here).

Pick the TAT up again once you cross in Arkansas and include the first couple of sections north in Oklahoma too - then straight-line on highway 412 from Tulsa to Boise City - that should see you in New Mexico within two days.

Realistically you'll only get as far as Trinidad (or possibly La Veta) on the TAT route in Colorado before the altitude gain means you'll need to hit the Highway again - my suggestion would be to stay south on 160 for Durango (ride the train for half a day!), then pick up the TAT again once you cross into Utah as I suggested above...

That way, you ought to be close to Moab around the 2+ week mark, which means it's feasible to ride as much of the rest of the TAT as possible and make it to the coast within a month.

But don't bust your arse or the bike just to try and keep to a tight schedule - it would be far better to miss out sections of trail than blast through them and for it all to become a blur... and it's also a shame to not have at least a little time to stop at some of the trail/road-side points of interest, since it really is the whole point of following this particular route after all?

So in that regard, another example of a short-cut to keep you heading west - once you reach Promontory Summit in Utah (definitely worth the visit, and essential if you love steam trains!), you can always forfeit the trail sections north of there through Craters of the Moon and across the mountains towards Sun Valley ID, and instead take I84 towards Boise and pick up the TAT again in that region for the final run west through Oregon to the coast.

Hope that helps!

Jenny x

Thanks Jenny! We have revised our trip to be 6 weeks. It looks also like we'll be doing the trail west to east rather than the traditional way so we most likely will unfortunately miss a fair bit of the more mountainous areas if we're starting in mid-march.

Another random question I had is how you found the cost of doing the trip? We're trying to work out the budget for it at the moment but it seems to be quite hard to find any budget info on any of the forums.

Hi Tam - I think you'll certainly appreciate the extra time - not only to give you some margin for a few days off here and there, but also for time to explore away from the main route and see some of the 'sideshows' as I call them - just off the top of my head (heading from west to east as is your plan) I'd try and include:

Unfortunately you're not going to be able to get up to Crater Lake (10,000+ft) in Oregon at that time of year as the road will be closed, but Fort Rock is a cool thing to see and not far off the TAT route east of there.

Craters of the Moon in Idaho (ice caves)

Promontory Summit in Utah (where the transcontinental railroad was joined - including replica working steam trains!)

Bonnieville Salt flats in Utah

Moab in Utah (do try and spend at least 3 days here, exploring the trail network - it is world class)

You'll have to forfeit the high passes in Colorado (and associated ski/mining towns - unless you want a long on-road detour), but if you take the southern route via Durango, the Durango-Silverton steam train ride up the valley there is another 'world class' tourist thing to do - note it only tends to go about half-way/half day at that time of year, but you'll probably be able to ride the highway as far as Silverton as long as there is not too much recent snow.

Once you get east of Colorado there is a big chunk of nothing through Oklahoma (note. there is 'Dorothy's house' in Liberal Kansas just off the TAT, and a typical overnight stop when heading in the other direction - however, unless you are a particular fan of the Wizard of Oz, it's not really that impressive ;o)

Once you get to eastern Arkansas/Mississippi, Memphis Tennessee is just over the river (Graceland etc.), and similarly it's worth a quick divert off the trail to visit the Jack Daniel's distillery tour in Lynchburg TN as you pass through there.

In eastern TN you've also got the Tail of the Dragon (hwy 129/Deal's Gap) which really is worth a ride - try to go early morning on a weekday to avoid the squids and traffic.

note. the TAT runs south of here, but the Great Smoky Mountains National Park in eastern TN is nice and scenic (slow 1-way road mind you) and if you want, 'Dollywood' (Dolly Parton's theme park/house) is not far north of there near Gatlinburg.

The current TAT actually runs through the eastern side of the Great Smoky Mountains NP now, so you can always short-cut there from Deal's Gap if you wish.

There is also the Wheels through Time museum in Maggie Valley NC, just east of there too (the TAT goes right through Maggie Valley now).

As I mentioned previously - once you've got the end of the TAT route, if you want to hit the east coast (I used First Landing VA as my 'official' east coast start in 2015) you can either take the rest of the Blue Ridge Parkway and cut across, or pick up the MABDR (Mid-Atlantic BDR route) which shares part of the Virginia TAT route - north (past Washington DC) and on to New York for example, if that is where you plan to ship home from?

As for costs - it is very hard to give an accurate figure, it's going to depend on how many nights you spend in motels vs camping (motels are an increasingly significant cost these days in the US), and if you want to pay for any tourist stuff off the main trail (although a good number of these are free, including the Jack Daniel's tour).

There is typically a charge for entering the National Parks - and if you plan to visit a number outside of the TAT, you can buy an annual pass for $80 which is usually good to cover two of you on individual bikes, unless the person on the gate is particularly mean... That said, if you're just riding the TAT itself, I wouldn't bother with a park pass - just be aware it is typically $10 per vehicle for an individual ticket if you do want/need to enter one.

Generally speaking though, fuel is still cheap in the USA - it can be less than $2.50 a gallon (4 litres) on the east coast, rising to around $3.50 on the west coast.

Food in diners is affordable, although if you're coming from the UK/Europe, you'll be shocked at the price restaurants and bars charge you for a pint of 'craft' beer in a lot of places these days - $7-8 is not uncommon.

There are very few motels worth staying in that cost less than $40 these days, and a lot of even the 'low-mid' priced chain motels (Motel 6 & Super 8 for example) are in the $65-80 range now.

You can ride the whole TAT without camping (I did that in 2015 for example), and certainly at the time of year you're considering, I'd probably budget at the higher end for accommodation - it's nice to have a decent bed and a hot shower at the end of a long day riding, and especially if you experience poor weather which is almost inevitable at some point.

However, do try and take a basic/light-weight camp with you though - not only for emergencies, but because you will find a number of places where you'll think "You know it would be so cool to camp and wake up here the next morning!" (Arkansas is particularly nice in that regard I found).

So I hope that helps you - and anyone else reading this thread - to plan you schedule and budget a little?

Jenny x