Hello all.
I am in the extreme beginning stages of planning a trip across North America on a ATV / Quad - or at the least I want to see if this will be possible.
I need help in where to find or purchase maps of off road trails, dirt roads, forest roads, back country roads, approved ATV paved and unpaved routes, etc. - basically ANY detailed map or other resource that will show me routes I can use. I've searched the internet as best as I can, but of course I'm very new to the ATV world and haven't been very lucky or I should say I want some good advice before I go and purchase useless maps.
Any advice on the use of maps or other resources to plan such a trip would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks.
Bobby M.

 

Big fan of this site (as some may have noticed). May not give you a route per se' but it's a start I believe; RiderPlanet USA - ATV Trails, Motorcycle Trails, Motocross Tracks

Keep us updated on where you go. If you come to KS I may join you on some.

 

Thanks John... may take me months to get this done, but I will start a blog and keep you in mind if my route takes me through KS. Thanks again.

 

Where you starting out from?

 

I would like to start in Wash. State and move east along the northern border (or there abouts) all the way to Maine and come back along the central corridor. It's going to take some serious planning, 20 some odd states to cross and I don't even know if this will be a possibility with an ATV but we'll see hopefully. Sort of a dream of mine. I'm retired and want to experience a once-in-a-lifetime adventure, so don't really care if it takes me a year to complete .

 

Here are all the maps for Michigan. https://www.michigan.gov/dnr/1,1607,...8330--,00.html They've opened up some county roads in the lower peninsula but in other counties everything is off limits unless it's a marked trail. And in the southern 1/3 of the state there aren't any trails. In the upper peninsula you can ride forest roads unless they're marked off limits. If you had a motorcycle you could cross the state mostly on trails but you can't do it on an atv.

 

It's impossible to legally ride across Washington. Western Washington offers limited riding. Much more opportunity in eastern Washington, but it'll have to be north central east. You can ride legally across the panhandle of Idaho (almost Washington to Montana) by combining forest service roads and trails. You're definitely gonna need a driver to pick you up at places. Good luck.

 

At this point some states will allow you to legally register RZRs and ride them on the road like a motorcycle. I teach in Ohio and have a student who drives a RZR to school every day because his family owns property in Michigan and he got it registered and plated there for on road use. Not sure if you would consider a side by side, but this might make your adventure easier.

 

There are no West to East roads/trails that will allow you to completely cross VT and NH from border to border. Maine is probably the closest thing you'll find in New England as far as trail coverage goes with Northern NH just getting interconnected this year to form a huge loop trail.

VASA - Vermont All Terrain Vehicle Sportsman's Association is information for VT. Haven't ridden there in years other than getting firewood from a property my family owns.

The New Hampshire Division of Parks and Recreation : Trail Information is information for NH. http://www.nhstateparks.org/uploads/...Trails-Map.pdf shows the new northern loop that covers a good portiion of Northern NH.

ATVs: Maine IF&W has information on registering a quad in Maine. You can do it online and they will mail it to you. ATV Maine has information on clubs in Maine.

Most of the trails in New England close in December for snowmobile season and don't open until May 23rd so the riding season can be short here. There are a few trail systems open in NH that allow ATVs but not enough to get anywhere near across the state.

A Canadian couple crossed the US from north to south. See: Quadtrek.net

 

Thanks everyone... I think I've realized it will take more then expected to accomplish such an adventure. It's a hell of a dream for me but too much logistics, planning, etc for my intelligence to tackle. Sticking to known trails, maybe travel via automobile to great locations/states/trails and have individual ATV adventures. Most important thing is getting out there!
Thanks again to all the responses!