Northern Cross Country Trip

[yport]

Working on a cross country trip on the Great Northern Trail ... from east coast across Route 2 all the way to Washington ...

Then returning eastward along the Oregon Trail ... or as close to it as you can follow.

Anyone done either of these trails and have any helpful information?

Thanks

 

[uncledon]

Well Glenn, I haven't run this route in its entirety, but have run it across the UP of Michigan, Wisconsin, and Minnesota. I love trips on the back roads as compared to the interstate highways. I appears that they consider US-28 across the UP as part of the route as well as US-2. There are so many great places to stop and see all across both routes in Michigan's UP. Last summer my sibs and I took a trip out to the Black Hills and took US-2 across the UP and over into MN before we jumped off to take some more direct roads to connect with I94 at Fargo.

One really neat thing we did was NOT make reservations at campgrounds, but instead since we were travelling during the week, we used city and municipal campgrounds which were much less crowded and had all the amenities. Of course, we were not laying over for days, so it worked well. The nice thing was they are always in little towns or just outside, so within walking distance to everything. Little towns have some great character if you take time to investigate them.

I've attached some links we found useful in case your interested:

This link you may already be aware of:
https://roadtripusa.com/the-great-northern/

These two were very useful in locating/contacting campgrounds:
https://freecampsites.net/

https://usparkadvisor.com/

 

[yport]

Well Glenn, I haven't run this route in its entirety, but have run it across the UP of Michigan, Wisconsin, and Minnesota. I love trips on the back roads as compared to the interstate highways. I appears that they consider US-28 across the UP as part of the route as well as US-2. There are so many great places to stop and see all across both routes in Michigan's UP. Last summer my sibs and I took a trip out to the Black Hills and took US-2 across the UP and over into MN before we jumped off to take some more direct roads to connect with I94 at Fargo.

One really neat thing we did was NOT make reservations at campgrounds, but instead since we were travelling during the week, we used city and municipal campgrounds which were much less crowded and had all the amenities. Of course, we were not laying over for days, so it worked well. The nice thing was they are always in little towns or just outside, so within walking distance to everything. Little towns have some great character if you take time to investigate them.

I've attached some links we found useful in case your interested:

This link you may already be aware of:
https://roadtripusa.com/the-great-northern/

These two were very useful in locating/contacting campgrounds:
https://freecampsites.net/

https://usparkadvisor.com/

Thanks Uncledon ... good info, and yes...we like to stay off the main highways and absorb the country as we go ... not making reservations until maybe the day before. Thanks for the campground info ...

 

[dewwood]

We have traveled US 2 from Machinac Bridge to North Cascades NP in Washington, it is a beautiful drive and not a lot of traffic. From West Glacier to the North Cascades is one of the most beautiful drives we have been on. I should say that US 2 turns south to Spokane but we went north to Washington Route 20 which runs through the Cascades. The only area that was not so nice was around Williston ND in the oil fields, the traffic was heavy trucks and no campgrounds although we did stay in the north unit of Teddy Roosevelt NP and it was very nice.

We have traveled quite a bit of the Oregon Trail as well. The area around the Black Hills(Rapid City, SD) is not exactly on the trail but well worth spending some time there. Scottsbluff, Nebraska has a nice visitor center with a lot of info on the trail and there is a good campground not far from there but I can't remember the name.

Good luck with your travels and enjoy!

 

[travelin2]

X2 everything dewwood says. We came through Williston during the height of the boom, ugly. Probably better traveling today, the boom is a bust and the road construction should be done. We stayed in Minot ND to the east and Malta MT to the west.


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[NYSUPstater]

Don't forget fuel (truck) stops. Don't plan on being in any hurry either. We did the Rte 2 trip in '99 via a Lincoln Town Car. Beautiful drive (absolutely LOVED the Mackinaw Bridge), but took a bit of time from Thief River Falls to MI (interstate road system).

 

[MikeR]

We have traveled US 2 many times from Michigan to as far as Washington. We take that route any time we are heading west and want to use a northern route. I totally agree with a previous post, other than going through it, don't plan on staying in Williston, ND. South of Williston is Theodore Roosevelt National Park. Well worth the drive down. There are two sections to the park, a north and south. We camped in the north section and really enjoyed it. The south section is down by I-90 and gets most of the park traffic. We also tended to stay in city and county campgrounds along the route. Enjoy the trip!

 

[yport]

Sweet ~ great info all. We altered the route somewhat. Will still do most all of Route 2 across the country and take your advise. Instead of Oregon Trail we are now going to follow Route 101 along the west coast from WA to San Francisco (everyone tells us not to miss that ride while out there) and then return east following most of Route 50 exploring.

We had an awesome trip last year taking 2 months to explore along I-10 to San Diego and then I-40 eastward. If anyone wants a great itinerary for that route PM me your email and I'll send along.

Thanks again friends ....

Glenn