Danny01

I've never done a solo tour and want to do this route before summer's end. I'm thinking about doing a credit card tour. I've never done that either. I'm thinking first night will be in Princeton, second night in Philly, third night in Elkton, fourth in Baltimore, and final night in Reston. I'm looking for input from anyone who's done NYC-DC. Can this route be done on nice roads with wide shoulders? Any suggestions for routing?

alan s 

ironwood

The Adventure Cycling Association has an Atlantic Coast route. It doesn't go through NYC; if I lived in NYC, I'd go Northwest and pick it up around Port Jervis , Then follow it to D.C.. Another resource would be the East Coast Greenway.

BobG

+1

Pick up the ACA route wherever convenient for you in NY, NJ or PA.

Here's a route through MD that I like. It leaves the ACA route just below Columbia PA avoiding the confusing tangle of roads that the ACA suggests closer to Baltimore. MD 27 most of the way. Some traffic but it's a designated bike route with a good shoulder. Some suburban twists and turns through Germantown and Gaithersburg then connecting with the C&O at Swain's Lock, mile 16.

https://goo.gl/guW5dz

etw

I have thought about doing that trip sometime as well, so I will be interested in seeing responses. You might find info at https://forums.adventurecycling.org as well

debade

We did the ride last year but a different route. You can check it out here https://www.crazyguyonabike.com/doc/FA2017.

ironwood

I suggested the OP go to Port Jervis so he could ride through the Deleware Water Gap, which I remember as one of the nicer parts of the route. When I did it, it was called the East Coast Bicycle Route, and the ACA was called Bikecentenial.

indyfabz

They have a relatively new Chicago to NYC route that hooks up with the Atlantic Coast route in Port Jervis. There is also a NYC spur for the Atlantic Coast route between Springfield, NJ and Lambertville, NJ.

Agree that the DWG (NJ side) is sweet. Just ride through there again last month on my way home from St. Albans, VT. Camped at Worthington State Forest. Saw a small bear cub on the way back to my site from the shower house.

Took a rest day there a few years ago and went canoeing:

Steve B.

The route is dependent on how much you want to ride thru dense urban area's like NY and eastern NJ, Philly, Baltimore, etc...

One option would be NJ Transit to New Brunswick, then the Raritan - Delaware canal trail down to Trenton. Then the East Coast Greenway the rest of the way.

I personally would rather skip Philly and Baltimore and explore routes that bye-pass both cities, then come into DC via one of the paths that branch out of DC.

alan s 

indyfabz

Most of the ECG in PA and into northern DE features some awful riding, including the aptly named Industrial Highway in the Chester, PA area.

The main ACA route doesn't actually go into or through Philadelphia. The spur does. You can get into the center of town virtually all off streets/roads.

Jim from Boston

FYI, on the Northeast Regional Discussion Forum was this similar thread, “Trip from NYC to D.C.," started in July 2017, with a few replies from May and June this year.

DIY masochist

I did this in the opposite direction as part of a larger tour. I did kind of what you described in your first post.

• DC to Baltimore
• Baltimore to Susquehanna State Park via route 40
• Susquehanna State Park over the Conowingo Dam (awesome) back down to route 40, Elkton, Elkton Rd to Newark DE, DE-4 to Wilmington (my journal says this was kinda sketchy), then I took SEPTA into Philly because I had nowhere to stay in Delaware that night
• Aramingo / Torresdale Ave out of Philly, Delaware Canal towpath. The path ends near some train tracks / junkyards between Levittown and Morrisville (you can see on Google Maps bike directions.) I pushed it along the train tracks for a while, then had to push it up a steep dirt hill, hop some other tracks, and back down to where the trail continues. Notes say this was very difficult with a fully loaded bike. After that, continued on the trail to Trenton and then to New Brunswick
• New Brunswick, Henry Hudson trail, hung out on the beach in Keansburg NJ, then rode to Atlantic Highlands and caught the ferry into Manhattan.

spinsheet

How hard would it be to incorporate the GAP and C&O Canal in there? That would get you from Pittsburgh to DC.

indyfabz

Easy...If one wanted to go way out of the way. Take a look at a map to see why.