Non-Indians (American kind) should note that in the U.S. there are many Indian reservations that are closed to non-Indians. There are many public roads that pass through reservations, which are open to the public. But venturing off the public road can get you into trouble with the tribal police. The worst jails in the U.S. are supposed to be the Indian jails, due to lack of funding by the US government.

Check before venturing onto Indian reservations.

I am fairly certain (just from experience) that the Navajo Reservation is open, as there were many places to go for tourists, and quite a few of us "bellaganos" (I think that is the spelling, but that is what us "white" people were called-not sure if it was an insulting term...) worked there, plus the many denominations of missionaries who frequented the land, so people going up there, passing through on back roads, would not have any problems.

That being said, I didn't think of the other tribes and their allowance of non-tribal members on their land. That would be something for someone to look at on a map, and inquire before heading through there.

Thanks guys, I shall check out those maps.

The reservations sound very much like the situation in Australia where you need permission to travel through the Aboriginal areas. I'll take care to respect the provisions of the law - wouldn't want an arrow in my back :rofl:

If you are just doing initial planning and want to see the USGS overlay for a particular area, try using Nasa's World Wind 1.4

You can move to an area, load the USGS Topo overlay and see some very good detail on the entire nation. It will take awhile to load and the overlay ends at the US/Canada or US/Mexico Border.

Its got a nice 3D effect to it so you get a feel for elevations, cliffs and whether or not a route may work, before you spend much money on full detailed maps.

Nice little tool if you haven't used it.

Nice Blog
 

Brian's Bliss His trip on the TAT.

Thanks for that ref: I've just spent a nice hour reading his log. A well written and quite an interesting account of this route.

Jerry Counts can hook you up if you want to go South to North on the West Coast
Mexico to Canada - Dual Sport Adventure

Canada to Mexico
 

Buy the Book
"Cycling the Great Divide" Michael McCoy
The Route was designed for Mountain bicycles but is perfect for Dual Purpose Bikes. It starts in Canada and ends in Mexico.
Check out this web site. Great Photos and some GPS info.
Great Divide Intro

Thanks Seb - that's what I'm talkin' about! It looks like the America I want to travel through although some of his comments about seeing Idaho etc before it gets over developed seem strange to us British who can't move without knocking elbows with each other!

Montana looks a wonderful place.

Trans America trail
 

Road Less Traveled - an off-road adventure documentary, 35 days on the Trans-America Trail : BMW, Honda, Suzuki, Yamaha, Kawasaki, KTM, dual-sport, dual sport, dualsport, dvd, tat maps, bike-cam, video, sam correro,
Check these blokes out, they are making a doco about the trans America trail, would be a great ride.

Thanks mate, I'm reading through their notes! I think we should keep this between ourselves now, it looks too good and I can easily envisage it getting too popular and losing its' mystique.

I notice your are from Australia - I've also been looking at similar routes across your country but there are soooo many from which to choose.

PS - chack out the guy being struck by lightning as he worked on his bike - it's the funniest thing you will see all day :) Road Less Traveled - A Documentary by James Beatty - click on the "play movie" :thumbup1: