So You Want To Walk Across America

In early 2017, when I was finishing my senior year of high school and fostering the crackpot dream of walking across America, I discovered an informative article on the subject, written by an inspirational woman who had done it years prior, titled “So You Want To Walk Across America.” She has since taken down her article, so I thought I would give my Q&A the same name, now that I, too, have walked across America.

Table of Contents

1. General

How long does it take?
Where do you shower?
What do you eat?
What challenges will you face?
How far can you walk in a day?
How should you prepare for a cross-country walk?
How much should I save for a cross-country walk?
What do you do for water-especially in desert stretches?
How do you get mail?
Can you bring your dog?

2. Gear

Should your gear for a cross-country walk differ from that of a traditional backpacking trip in any way?
How many pairs of shoes do you go through?
What do you use for protection?
Should you go with a backpack or stroller (or both)?
What brand of stroller do you recommend?

3. Lodging

Where do you sleep?
What’s stealth camping?
What’s yard camping?
Which states is it easiest to find free, public land to camp at?

4. Routing

Should you go east or west?
What’s the best time to leave for a cross country walk?
How do you route?
Should you take the American Discovery Trail?
Should you take the Great American Rail Trail?
Any other advice?
Ugh … I have more questions, where should I ask them??

General

How long does it take?

6-8 months on average. Though it can be done in as little as 4 months, and as many as 12+.

Where do you shower?

Campgrounds, motels, truck stops, Trail Angel’s houses. Showers can be hard to come by. The longest I went without a shower is 2½ weeks. My average was 3-7 days.

What do you eat?

Standard backpacking food, dehydrated meals like the ones Mountain House make, or other dry goods, such as: granola bars, chocolate, peanut butter, nuts, tortillas, evaporated milk, beans, cereal, beef jerky, tuna, dried fruit, powdered eggs, instant rice/noodles. The list goes on and on ….

With a backpack, you can expect to carry, what, ~2-5 days worth of food? With a stroller, easily ~7-14 days worth.  Towns are rarely more than 50 miles apart, so you can buy hot food often. (On my route, I believe I only had three sections between towns that were over 90 miles?)

What challenges will you face?

Traffic and lack of available lodging are the most serious challenges you will face.

The greatest threat to your life when walking across America is a reckless driver. The only people I’m aware of who have died while attempting a cross-country walk were struck by motor vehicles. I highly recommend wearing a reflective vest and trying your best to stick to roads with little traffic, wide shoulders, or both.

Other challenges include: exposure to the elements, wild animals, physical injury, malnutrition, dehydration, gear failure, loneliness, dangerous men, etc. The usual backpacking risks.

How far can you walk in a day?

However many miles you want to! Average amount: ~15-25 miles per day, though you can do more, or less. The distance you can cover will occasionally depend on how far your next available lodging is.

How should you prepare for a cross-country walk?

It’s all mental. Sure, you can work out prior to departing, and that is highly recommended. But you can also weigh 250 pounds, have no backpacking experience, little money to your name, and have the time of your life…with the right mindset.

If you’ve never backpacked before, I encourage you to do multiple test runs with your gear. Simulate the real thing and see if long distance walking is something you would actually enjoy.

How much should I save for a cross-country walk? 

That depends on your means and your comfort level. You can sleep in ditches every night, eat ramen noodles for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, experience no gear failures, and scoot by on less than a grand. Alternatively, you can have a support vehicle following your every step, eat at restaurants daily, and easily rack up over ten grand in spending.

I think the ideal median amount to have for a single person is between 4-6 grand. Including the cost of gear and transportation.

You may receive donations along the way. You may even receive enough money to keep you perpetually afloat. Many walkers do with success.

Overall, I believe I spent roughly $2,000 in my 9 months on the road, with an additional $700 spent initially on gear. I also had the benefit of a mother willing to drive me to Delaware for free.

What do you do for water-especially in desert stretches?

I walked across America with both a stroller and a backpack, allowing me to carry an ample amount of water at any given time, up to 4 gallons in my longest 160 mile stretch from Fallon, UT, to Ely, Nevada. (A stretch that ultimately had two convenience stores along the way that I was previously unaware of.)

With a stroller, you should have no concerns about water.

With a backpack, you should have no problem carrying enough water in between towns, except for desert stretches and potentially, a time or two in the Midwest. On the American Discovery Trail, or a similar route, that means Nevada and possibly Utah.

Your options then are to, either, temporarily acquire a stroller (cheap, second hand ones are readily available for under $50), or cache water. Caching water is where you have jugs driven ahead and stored in safe, predetermined locations to collect along the way.

If you’re road-walking through desert sections, the likelihood of passing cars stopping to offer you water, occasionally, is fair.

How do you get mail?

General delivery is a service most post offices provide where your package(s) can be held at a location for 1-2 weeks. A valid ID is required to accept your packages.

Can you bring your dog?

Maybe! Lots of people have walked across America with their dog(s). I know of a couple who did it with three. One man even did it with his pet goat!

Gear

Should your gear for a cross-country walk differ from that of a traditional backpacking trip in any way?

Yes, you should have a free standing tent. They are not always necessary on traditional backpacking trips, but they are absolutely recommended for a cross-country walk. There will be times where it’s critical for you to be able to pitch your tent on a slab of concrete, or someplace else where it’s impossible to drive your stakes into the ground.

You should wear a reflective vest. They can be found on Amazon for less than $10. Here’s mine.

A sign explaining that you’re walking across America can also be beneficial. Not only will it encourage people to approach you to offer support, it can help discourage people from calling the police on you for road-walking.

A business card, of sorts, that lists your blog/social media information can be advantageous. Helps to validate what you’re doing and give you a sense of legitimacy, with not only prospective hosts, but to other people you meet on your journey. I never carried one, but I’ve heard other cross-country walkers praise their use.

With a stroller, I highly recommend having Slime self-sealing inner tubes. I got one to two dozen flats by the Midwest. When I switched to self-sealing inner tubes? That number went down to nearly 0. Even when my tires were filled with goatheads, like this: CLICK HERE I could pick them out and carry on with my day in seconds. You could also invest in tubeless tires to prevent flats.
You should also have a bike pump and a tube repair kit. 

If you have a battery pack like the Anker 20100mAh, I highly recommend pairing it with a 30W charger, like the one included in this bundle. That way the Anker 20100 will fully charge in ~4 hours as opposed to 22. I got one in Missouri and it was a game changer. This tip isn’t exclusive to cross-country walking, but worth throwing out there.

Otherwise, your gear will essentially be the same as it would be for any other backpacking trip.

How many pairs of shoes do you go through?

Expect to go through at least 2. Most likely 3-6.

What do you use for protection?

That depends on what you’re comfortable carrying. If you’re considering bringing a firearm, make sure you have all the proper permits. Otherwise, pepper spray and a knife are practical. An emergency locator beacon like the Spot 3 Satellite GPS or the Garmin in Reach Explorer+ could also save your life.

If you have a stroller, an alarm and lock for it are beneficial.
And a bear canister may be necessary in certain areas you will travel through.

Should you go with a backpack or stroller (or both)?

Despite my clear affinity for my stroller, Faith, I must admit that if you have the ability to, traveling with a lightweight backpack is ideal, but strollers are more popular with cross country walkers, so that should say something about their practicality. 

Backpacks afford you far less room for gear, forcing you to carry the bare minimum, and to resupply on food and water more frequently. You’ll also need to buy expensive ultralight gear that can rack into the thousands to make a backpack comfortable. (That, or bite the bullet and carry a hefty 40-60 pounder.)
However, backpacks can allow you to travel light, to easily slip into the woods to camp, to walk anywhere, whether it be on rugged, single-track trails, roadways, and everything in-between, making for an all-around safer walk.

Strollers, naturally, give you a LOT more room for gear, allowing you to carry all the necessities, and more. (Including up to two weeks worth of food, and gallons of water!) And because you’re not supporting all that weight on your back, you can buy cheap, heftier backpacking gear at a fraction of the cost. (That is what made a stroller necessary for me. I couldn’t afford to pay more than a few hundred for gear!)
However, strollers are bulky. They confine you to roadways and mild trails. They force you closer to traffic by making walking in the tall grass, or loose gravel, or sand, that borders roadways impossible. They make it difficult to camp in unmarked, undeveloped woods without plowing your stroller through underbrush. They can be impossible to lift over certain roadblocks. They can get flat tires, broken axles, you name it. And if you need to catch a ride somewhere and your driver doesn’t have a vehicle with an abundance of space in the back, you may be forced to completely dismantle your stroller to fit it in their trunk.

Not feeling a backpack OR stroller? Then consider the Dixon Roller Pack or Radical Design’s Wheelie walking trailers. They attach to your waist and allows you to pull your gear, hands free. Best of both worlds.

What brand of stroller do you recommend? 

Thule (specifically, their Chariot line) is a popular brand among cross-country walkers. Dare I say the most popular. There’s also Burley, Aosom, Booyah, DoggyRide, among others…
An old, second-hand stroller off Craigslist can work too.

Ideally, you want a jogging stroller with 16-20′ back wheels and metal rims.

Fun fact: before I got Faith, I tried out a red Aosom stroller. Turned out to be too large for my gear, so I opted for a medium-sized Booyah, which is the smallest “dog stroller” I could find with the same robust design/general setup I was looking for under $200.

Lodging

Where do you sleep?

Campgrounds, motels, Trail Angel’s houses, parks, public lands, etc.

You can use Couchsurfing or Warmshowers to find hosts to stay with. (Both sites were free to join until June 2020, when Couchsurfing began charging $14.29/year, and Warmshowers enacted a one-time registration fee of $30 for lifetime access.)

You can call local police departments to inquire about public lands under their jurisdiction that they may be able to give you permission to sleep at (ex: city parks). You can also inquire with local churches about using their land for a night. I have done both.

What’s stealth camping?

An unfortunate reality of cross-country walking.

Stealth camping is where you sleep somewhere unconventional, and undetected. Common stealth camping locations include graveyards, churchyards, under bridges, behind buildings, or in unestablished wilderness sites. Golden rule is to set up at sunset, and leave by sunrise.

You can utilize satellite mode on Google Maps to scan for suitable spots.

What’s yard camping?

Yard camping is where you knock on a stranger’s door, particularly in the countryside where property owners have acreage, and ask if you can pitch your tent on their land. Popular among some cross-country walkers, and done out of necessity when no public lands are available nearby.

Which state(s) is it easiest to find free, public land to camp?

If you’ll be walking through the same states that the American Discovery Trail passes through, then Nevada and Utah.

The east coast can be tough. It’s heavily wooded, but densely populated, and the majority of the land is private. An abundance of trails, including the C&O Canal, the West Bend Rail Trail, the Buckeye Trail, the Ohio to Erie Trail, the Cardinal Greenway, and the River to River Trail, help elevate this problem. The sheer number of people on the east coast also means a high number of motels within walking distances, and a greater chance of finding Couchsurfing or Warmshowers hosts. I stayed with far more Trail Angels on the east coast than the west and made some of my favorite memories because of it.

Once you hit the Gateway to the West, the Arches of St. Louis, Missouri, you’re in the clear. (In my opinion.)

You can look forward to:

The 240-mile Katy Trail that spans nearly the entire length of Missouri.
The 117 mile Flint Hills Trail of Kansas, a state that is 87% farmland, on a grid system, with an abundance of rural graveyards to sleep soundly in.
The Rockies of Colorado, with its plethora of public land (though the High Plains of Colorado can be challenging.)
Utah, which is roughly 64% public land.
And Nevada, where a whopping 75+% of land is publicly owned-the highest percentage among states in the U.S. 
California is where you’re back in the thick of things again. Though it’s worth noting that California does have a right to rest law, that gives you the ability to use public spaces free of discrimination, if you feel comfortable enough sleeping in city parks.

Routing

Should you start in the east or west?

Depends on timing and personal preference.

Most cross country walkers prefer to go east to west.

The main factors to consider are the Sierras/Rockies and the desert.

The Rockies have heavy snow pack anywhere from October to April-May. The Sierras, November-December to April-May. And it’s not ideal to cross any desert in the dead of summer, where temperatures can soar to over 100+ degrees, nor, really, in the winter, when they can plummet to below freezing at night.

What’s the best time to leave for a cross country walk?

If you want to start and finish your cross country walk in the same calendar year,

going east-to-west: late January to mid April, May if you’re fast

going west-to-east: late April to May (as early as March if you’re starting in southern California and passing through Arizona and New Mexico)

How do you route?

There are many sites you can use to route.

Including, but not limited to:

• Traildino which lists most of the long-distance trails in America, and has free gpx files to download
• TrailLink which lists every rail trail in America
• Bikepacking.com
• Adventure Cycling Association Route Map
• My “Perfect” Cross Country Route – 70% trail, 30% roadway, discussed in detail [HERE]
• Another Map of Trails Across the US in a convenient Google Maps file

With Google Maps you can also use satellite mode to zoom in on roadways to review their conditions.

And, nifty trick: with Google’s My Maps, if you plot a cycling route, every rail trail on the map will glow green.

Now you see them.  Now you don’t.

(Sorry, no advice on GPS apps, I’ve never used any! UPDATE: scratch that, I’ve begun using Maps.Me and I highly recommend it.)

Should you take the American Discovery Trail?

That depends. Do you care to thru-hike the American Discovery Trail, or do you just want to walk across America?

The American Discovery Trail utilizes a mixture of trails and roadways to form one comprehensive cross-country route. It’s amazing, but it’s also long. Like … really long. The northern route is 4,834 miles, and the southern is 5,057. That’s between 1000-2000 miles longer than a cross-country walk needs to be.

To do the American Discovery Trail in one calendar year, you’d need to walk 15 miles, six days a week, and it would take 11.7 months. If you walked 20 miles, every day, it’d still take 8.2 months.

That being said? If thru-hiking the American Discovery Trail is your dream, I don’t mean to discourage you. GO FOR IT! You’ll have an absolutely amazing time. Check out the (unofficial) ADT Guide for some more info.

But if you simply want to walk across America, with no real affinity for the ADT? You’re better off using the American Discovery Trail as a guideline, as most do. Getting on and off it when convenient. Doing so, I personally saved 1500 miles.

Should you take the Great American Rail Trail?

The Great American Rail Trail is only 52% complete. When it’s done, it will be the perfect cross-country route to avoid having to share a walkway with traffic. Until then, the Great American Rail Trail can still be great to utilize when routing.

Any other advice?

Don’t overthink this.

Ugh … I have more questions, where should I ask them? 

Feel free to ask me anytime via email or in the comments section below. If you have Facebook, I also recommend seeking advice from the American Discovery Trail group or the USA Crossers group. Lots of knowledgeable people in both.