Bikepacking in the Mid-Atlantic - Routes?

[Cosmo K]

I'm having a hard time locating 100 - 300 mile bikepacking routes in the mid atlantic.  If anyone can point me in the right direction or has done any, your guidance would be appreciated!   Thanks

[29ftw]

I'm having a hard time locating 100 - 300 mile bikepacking routes in the mid atlantic.  If anyone can point me in the right direction or has done any, your guidance would be appreciated!   Thanks

The C&O canal is down the street from you..not really an mtb route but great nonetheless.

[fotooutdoors]

I personally don't have any routes in mind, but I'm pretty sure that you could link up that length of route in the Monongahela National Forest or George Washington National Forest.  I seem to remember a trip report here on bikepacking.net of a guy who did a route in the Monongahela National Forest.  All the biking I did in George Washington (no longer in the area) was day trips, but there are a ton of Forest Service Roads and trails open to bikes (the latter not always so ride-able at my skill level) to build a good route.  Possible trailheads look like a 3-5 hour trip for you.

[jon_baler]

I did a 3 day, 2 night trip last fall in the George Washington National forest - stokesville to douthat.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/jon_baler/sets/72157624916552953/

[FeloniousDunk]

I really hope someone will point you to a few options because I'm looking for the same thing!   Here's the realization I've come to for now about mid-Atlantic BPing of that length:  If you don't think about a clear point-to-point like they get our west, but either think about circuitous loops or very serpentine point-to-points, you'll find several options.  (And now here's hoping that someone responds by saying I'm crazy and giving some examples!  ) 

I've messed around with a few selfmade routes but I haven't found anything that I think is worth recomending, yet.  I've done a few loops around the Pisgah National Forest in western NC and one of the aformentioned point-to-points from Ivestor Gap to Linville Falls that got to over 200 miles when including the ride home.  My biggest hope was for a route I plotted, then rode with my wife, from Damascus to north of Fincastle VA.   That general heading still has my interest but there were some significant sections that were on the NatGeo Maps but not on the ground...read - bear trail.  And some super slow sections that weren't HAB.

Good luck!

[novarider]

Take the GAP (Great Allegheny Passage) to the C&O. AKA Pittsburgh to Georgetown Waterfront. Just over 300 miles

[bikpdlr]

The Adventure Cycling Association has a 400 mile loop that begins and ends in Blacksburg, VA called the Allegheny Mountains Loop.

I'm planning a group ITT on October 12th 2012 if you want to join us.

There is a tracker page set up on Trackleaders.com, so if you have a Spot, your friends can follow along.

Here's a link for more info on the loop.  I had hoped to ITT the route this year, but work got in the way.

http://www.bikepacking.net/forum/index.php/topic,2479.0.html

[BikePacker]

MarkMyWord - The American Discovery Trail ( http://www.discoverytrail.org/ ) runs nearby you from the Atlantic to Pacific and the aforementioned C&O Towpath, you will find, is part of it.  Heading west, it drops s/w out of Cumberland and gets more challenging thru some remote parts of WV on its way to Parkersburg.