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Washington
Anacortes
Okanogan
Kettle Falls
Idaho
Sandpoint
Montana
Libby
Whitefish
West Glacier
East Glacier
Cut Bank
Shelby
Havre
Malta
Glasgow
Wolf Point
North Dakota
Williston
Minot
Rugby
Devils Lake
Cooperstown
Fargo
Minnesota
Pelican Rapids
Battle Lake
Little Falls
Milaca
Stillwater
Minneapolis/St. Paul
Red Wing
Lake City
Wabasha
Winona
Wisconsin
La Crosse
Iowa
Lansing
Dyersville
Mt. Vernon
Muscatine
Illinois
Osceola
Iroquois
Indiana
Rensselaer
Fort Wayne
Ohio
Bowling Green
Fremont
Cleveland
Ashtabula
Pennsylvania
Erie
New York
Buffalo
Niagara Falls
Rochester
Ticonderoga
Vermont
Royalton
New Hampshire
Conway
Maine
Lewiston
Portland |
ANACORTES, WASHINGTON,
TO FARGO, NORTH DAKOTA
This portion of the Northern Tier begins in Anacortes,
Washington, which is located on a peninsula in Puget
Sound. At the start, the culmination of lush forest and
ocean feeds and moistens the soul. Heading eastward
along the rushing Skagit River, you carry that feeling
up to the top of Rainy and Washington passes in the
Cascade Mountains. Descending to the east side of the
Cascades brings you into the drier part of the state and
the widely known orchard country of the Okanogan Valley.
Leaving this valley, you'll be climbing and descending
several more passes full of ponderosa pines and finding
many sleepy farming communities down along the rivers
you cross. The river valleys tend to run in a
north-south direction across the northwestern part of
the United States, and because the route travels west to
east, you will be working your way up and down. There
are plenty of towns, rivers, lakes, mountains, and
forests in eastern Washington, Idaho, and Glacier
National Park in western Montana until you reach Cut
Bank, on the eastern slope of the Rocky Mountains.
Cut Bank is the beginning
of the Great Plains, and from here on you'll start
praying for tailwinds. Supposedly, heading eastward,
tailwinds predominate in the summer. The route uses U.S.
Highway 2, the main road through central and eastern
Montana along the railroad. Wherever possible, side
roads are used to relieve the monotony of being on the
highway. Afternoon thundershowers are a constant
companion out on the Plains. You'll follow the Missouri
River from Havre, Montana, to New Town, North Dakota,
and the plains of Montana eventually transform into the
green rolling hills of western North Dakota. Sunflowers
are everywhere, and they become the crop of choice as
the terrain flattens out in eastern North Dakota.
FARGO, NORTH DAKOTA, TO
MUSCATINE, IOWA
Heading east from Fargo and Moorhead in the Red River
Valley, you begin to slowly leave the Great Plains.
Lakes and hills become the standard scenery, and the
resident mosquitoes increase in number. The route
follows the Mississippi River, until it heads east into
the cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul. Along the St.
Croix and Mississippi rivers, the towns are older and
the buildings much more historic.
At Prescott, Wisconsin, the
St. Croix joins the Mississippi, and the route again
follows that river southward for 175 miles. You'll leave
the river occasionally on less-traveled roads, but these
also mean climbing and descending the bluffs along the
river. As you enter Iowa, you may think that the terrain
is going to flatten out, but the hills continue after
leaving the river. Small laid-back farm towns are
abundant through Iowa. The route ends in
Muscatine, an old industrial town located on the
Mississippi.
MUSCATINE, IOWA, TO PORTLAND, MAINE
Beginning at the Mississippi River, the route traverses
the large prairie farms of central Illinois and the
smaller farms of Indiana and Ohio, eventually reaching
the shore of Lake Erie at Huron, Ohio. Heading through
busy Cleveland, you'll pass the Rock and Roll Hall of
Fame, the Science Center and its IMAX theater, a retired
Great Lakes iron ore freighter, and a World War II
submarine.
Along the lake shore in eastern Ohio and Pennsylvania,
the route passes through small towns, where tourists
flock to the shore during summer.
Leaving Erie, the route
enters the fruit and wine region of Pennsylvania and New
York and hugs the relatively rural lake shore to the
outskirts of Buffalo, New York. Views across Lake Erie
of the Buffalo skyline and Canada usher the cyclist into
the bustle of the southern end of the metropolis. From
Lackawanna to the Peace Bridge, you'll ride through a
depressed post-industrial area to emerge at the
lakefront Buffalo Naval and Military Park.
The route uses the Peace
Bridge into Canada and follows one of the most scenic
recreational trails in North America along the Niagara
River to Niagara Falls. Then you'll cross back into the
U.S., enjoying the view of the Niagara Gorge. Heading
east, the route uses the Erie Canalway Trail for 90
miles. At Palmyra, the route turns north to Lake
Ontario, where it follows the lake shore to Sodus Bay,
dips inland to Fair Haven, and then leaves the Great
Lakes to cross the Adirondack Mountains and arrive at
Ticonderoga on Lake Champlain. A visit to Fort
Ticonderoga will give meaning to Revolutionary War
history.
After a short ferry ride
over the lake, you are in New England, cycling through
Vermont farmland, forested hills, and picturesque
villages. In New Hampshire, the route follows the
Connecticut River, passing through the villages of
Orford with its ridge houses and Haverhill, a classic
New England village with its fenced village commons and
old homes. The route crosses the White Mountains, the
backbone of New Hampshire, on the famous Kancamagus
Highway. Mt. Washington, noted for its fierce weather,
is just a few miles north, and the Kancamagus shares
some of its weather reputation. Be prepared, even in
summer. Entering Maine, you'll traverse forests and
fields. Modifying the Northern Tier route, a spur from
Lewiston along the East Coast Greenway ends the ride in
Portland, Maine.
Portions of text provided by Adventure Cycling
Association
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