The Trans America Trail or TAT is a roughly 5,000 miles (8,000 km) cross continent vehicular route, intended to be a way to cross the United States using a minimum of paved roads for leisure, traveled by Dual-sport motorcycles, Off-road vehicle, or occasionally, Touring bicycle.
Contents
The trail was initially scouted by Sam Correro who spent 12 years to assemble the route and maintains the legality of the route by only using publicly accessible roads and trails.
Route
The original route starts in Eastern Tennessee and makes its way through Mississippi, Arkansas including the Ozarks, Oklahoma, New Mexico, Colorado, Utah, Idaho and finishes on the Oregon Coast. This route has since been modified by an open source community with start points on the New York and North Carolina coasts, and end points in Oregon and California.
The eastern portion of the route mainly consists of farm roads and forestry tracks which become more severe toward the Southern Rocky Mountains where it covers several high passes. The desert of Utah follows, then Sawtooth National Forest of Idaho and Deschutes National Forest Oregon.
Types of travelers
The trail is largely traveled by riders of motorcycles who can choose to be self sufficient by camping, often rough (or wild camping), motel supported or vehicle supported. Others choose to travel by ATV or 4x4 vehicle, often in overlander configuration.
Cyclists are fewer in number due to the time commitment and resources needed for such an undertaking.