East coast Appalachian Byway

Justin Lackey

Justin Lackey

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Hughesville, MD, USA
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Justin
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Lackey
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23175

Hi everyone,

I am in the super early stages of planning an overland trip up and down the east coast next summer. While looking for routes I ran across the website The Appalachian Byway and it says it is an overland route essentially along the appalachian trail from Maine to georgia. Has anyone heard of this or have experience with it? It would make the initial route planning stage a LOT faster
 
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I too am interested in this. I want to make an east coast trip before December and I would be starting in Florida. It would be easy to hit GA and start there.
 

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www.georgiaoverland.com

The Appalachian Byway: Josh Loveland

In April 2018, I received an email from Josh Loveland asking a few questions about the Georgia Overland website and my experience mapping and publishing The Georgia Traverse. The message went on to...
www.georgiaoverland.com

www.roadtripusa.com

Appalachian Trail - Driving Route | ROAD TRIP USA

Skip the blisters with an Appalachian Trail road trip following scenic two-lane roads through dozens of fascinating towns & historic sites.
www.roadtripusa.com www.roadtripusa.com

It is a lot more back road than off road.

Would definitely be cool to do though.
 
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OHHHHHH!!! This has peaked my interest!! I've always wanted to backpack the AT but this would be a very good sorta substitute possibly!!
 
Interesting, but not surprising, the route from MD into WV is only a few miles from me, roads I travel frequently.
Same with the Mid-Atlantic Overland route.

Thanks for the links. Most definitely something to look into!
 
I wouldn't mind trying this also. I was just talking about this route to @phoxxtwo a couple weeks ago.
 
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DevilDodge said:
www.roadtripusa.com

Appalachian Trail - Driving Route | ROAD TRIP USA

Skip the blisters with an Appalachian Trail road trip following scenic two-lane roads through dozens of fascinating towns & historic sites.
www.roadtripusa.com www.roadtripusa.com

It is a lot more back road than off road.

Would definitely be cool to do though.
Click to expand...

I agree with DevilDodge - it seems to just stay away from major highways. The section through MA runs near me - route 7 - isn't even a country road. Same with CT and VT. While it does parallel the AT, and if the plan was to stop and hike parts of the AT, it is a good route, but you might be disappointed with paved and highly traveled roads.

If you do the route, let me know and I can suggest an alternate route through MA that is more interesting.
 
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The east coast is too developed in my opinion, every time I toss on avoid highways trying to get somewhere it still lands me on byways 75% of the time. So if you’re okay with the idea that travel will be easy, but still having good views of mountains and rolling hills, the AT will be wonderful.
There are offshoots you can take to get in some camping and off-roading, you’ll just have to double back or loop around to get back on the beaten path.
This does peak my interest as I get ready to move to Florida from Maryland, that a trip from the Keys to the top of Maine will be a solid venture.
Following for certain, cheers on your journey!
 
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I was looking at the various websites (links by DevilDodge) that route you through the AT Byway and they seem very different. Road Trip USA is very basic and just routes you through paved country roads for the most part. The www.appalachianbyway.com site takes you through some good spots in MA, such as October Mountain which requires a decent vehicle with high clearance - from their description of MA "If you do not have a high-clearance four wheel drive vehicle, you should avoid Lenox-Whitney Place Road in October Mountain State Forest." I would have recommended that area so probably worth following their maps - I may even buy a few to check the states around me.
 
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I bought them all from the www.appalachianbyway.com site and have even been going back and forth through email with the guy who did the site. If you buy the gpx from him and talk with him he will give you some bypasses as well and said that he would be glad to meet up as we pass through his area.

He is pretty set on making this a big deal for the east coast. Im pretty excited to do this.

And my wife is on board.... might be buying her a Jeep tomorrow so she can drive too instead of just riding along.
 
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I now have the GPX files for much of it from appalachianbyway.com, so I'll upload them to Garmin Explore soon to get an idea of how much off-pavement it is. It sounds from the descriptions like Virginia has some of the best off-roading along the way.
 
DanW said:
I now have the GPX files for much of it from appalachianbyway.com, so I'll upload them to Garmin Explore soon to get an idea of how much off-pavement it is. It sounds from the descriptions like Virginia has some of the best off-roading along the way.
Click to expand...

What dont you have? GA was sold out when I got my maps from them.
 
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