Author Topic: Looking for some advice on an Atlantic Coat NOBO ride.  (Read 521 times)

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Offline Ricky Cain

Looking for some advice on an Atlantic Coat NOBO ride.
« on: January 24, 2025, 05:47:44 pm »
I looked and it had been awhile since someone asked anything about the Atlantic Coast, Greenway, and other trails. I will be heading North from Georgia in April to Bangor. Anyone have any experience or resources I could lean on?

Thanks in advance,

Ricky Cain
Neah Bay, Washington to Savannah, Georgia 2003

Offline John Nettles

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Re: Looking for some advice on an Atlantic Coat NOBO ride.
« Reply #1 on: January 24, 2025, 08:23:16 pm »
 First, welcome to the ACA Forums. 
 
The problem with a route along the eastern seaboard is that the various routes have different issues.  ACA's Atlantic Coast Route (AC) route tries to avoid heavy traffic and congestion by heading inland which takes up a lot of miles.  The East Coast Greenway (ECG) does the more direct route method, but they use some extremely heavy traffic roads (they call "high stress roads"), many of which I think are extremely poor choices for bicycling much less touring. Here is the ECG map:  https://map.greenway.org/
 
I did the ACA's AC southbound way back in 87 as part of a USA Perimeter tour but traffic has obviously only increased since then.  When I rode the AC, I broke off in Washington due to all the traffic and hit the Blue Ridge Parkway until I got to around Blowing Rock and headed back to AC route as I had to visit relatives in Columbia, SC.   
 
You don’t say where you are leaving from in Georgia, but I will assume Savannah since that is where you ended your previous trip.  If I were doing it, I would head up on ACA’s AC coast route to Virginia Beach and then take ACA’s DelMarVa Route to Lewes, DE, where I would take the ferry to Cape May, NJ.  From there, I would create my own route and go inland a little and take the various rail trails and less-traffic roads (RWGPS’s or Strava’s heatmaps are great for this) up to around Lakehurst, NJ.  I would stay off the coast mostly due to traffic and congestion; just not my cup of tea.  From Lakehurst, I would connect to ACA’s CNYC route.  Take that north through NYC (uses trails) to near Poughkeepsie where I would rejoin the AC route to Bangor. 
 
I would definitely review the routes using AADT maps and Google Maps’ Streetview to ensure that traffic has not increased beyond your comfort zone since the routes were last updated.   
 
Good luck and stay safe! 
 
Tailwinds, John

Offline Ricky Cain

Re: Looking for some advice on an Atlantic Coat NOBO ride.
« Reply #2 on: January 25, 2025, 07:38:28 am »
Thanks John that's exactly the kind of advice I am looking for. Sorry for being vague about the start and you are correct Savannah would be ideal, but certainly considering all options before looking myself into something that may be more dangerous than it's worth. With doing the Northern Tier followed by a route down the West Coast, it seemed cool to kind of work this into some kind of pseudo perimeter ride, but I am by no means a purist when it comes to this stuff. Want to have fun :)

Offline BikeliciousBabe

Re: Looking for some advice on an Atlantic Coat NOBO ride.
« Reply #3 on: February 04, 2025, 09:16:17 am »
Thanks John that's exactly the kind of advice I am looking for. Sorry for being vague about the start and you are correct Savannah would be ideal, but certainly considering all options before looking myself into something that may be more dangerous than it's worth. With doing the Northern Tier followed by a route down the West Coast, it seemed cool to kind of work this into some kind of pseudo perimeter ride, but I am by no means a purist when it comes to this stuff. Want to have fun :)
I would not ride the ECG in PA.  South of Philly it uses PA 291, which is called "Industrial Highway", and for good reason.  It also uses some very busty roads/streets in Philly to get north.  I would stick to the ACA route north of Philly.  The route up the Delaware River using both the PA and NJ side is really nice.  I can give you a slight detour between Belvidere, NJ and Portland, PA that will cut out some hills.  You might even see a bear north of Delaware Water Gap, PA.  (Saw two cubs while driving up there two years ago and have seen a cub at Worthington State Forest campground whole cycling.)