In the original determination for choosing the roadpath route, the requirements were simple: (1) The roadpath must be a hard surface road; (2) The roadpath must be contiguous across the entire route, (3) The roadpath must not be an Interstate Highway (or any highway which would exclude bicycles) and (4) The roadpath route, in describing the "Northern" and/or "Northernmost" Highways, has as a definition, those highways which remain within the United States nearest to the USA/CAN border without crossing into Canada.

This contiguous roadpath traverses a distance of 4,872 miles, with the western terminus end at the Cape Flattery Trailhead in Neah Bay, Washington, a foot path to the northern most lighthouse in Washington and the eastern terminus end at the West Quoddy Head where a lighthouse of the same name is located and this point is the easternmost point in the United States.

This is a brand new National Scenic Byway, one which has its origin found within my personal desire to travel (as a recreational passage) across the top of the United States. In the fall of 2025, I left the west coast of Washington state headed eastbound on this roadpath with the desire to drive and document the route, recording the specific highways traveled, as well as locations for camping and/or overnighting. I was only able to drive to the state of Minnesota before the temperatures plummeted to near freeze at night, causing me to turn right and drive south to a warmer region (south Texas) for the winter.

Then, in the middle of February 2026, with the temperatures in south Texas soaring into the eighties, I departed my winter hiatus to begin my northbound Journey On™ through North America, traveling east by northeast through the Interior Lowlands Region, then into the Appalachian Mountains Region where I turned northeast into and through New England to the eastern terminus of this new National Scenic Byway, is the easternmost point in the lower 48 states, a coastal lighthouse know as West Quoddy Head Lighthouse located not far from the town of Lubec, Maine, from whence I will begin the logistical eastbound drive of the North Tier Route.

Contrived within his mind, then mapped, next driven, then written down within the roadpath section of the website and finally published online for any and all to use, this transcontinental journey has been a longtime work of Tommy Michel, one of the Wayƒarers associated with The Wayƒarers Journal.

Currently, with more than half of the route driven and photographed, with plans of even more to be done during the 2026 Wayƒarering Journey On™ this northernmost route is scheduled to be completed by the end of 2026. Only time will tell!

On 15 February, 2026, I pack out of South Texas and begin the nearly three thousand mile long trip to the eastern terminus of the Northern Tier Route (NTR), located at the easternmost point in the United States at West Quoddy Head Lighthouse on the coast of Maine, even stopping along the roadpath to visit my youngest sibling who now lives near Weathersfield, Vermont. This Journey On, in itself was a major task to accomplish so at to be on location at the eastern terminus of the NTR and to be able to begin my Westbound Transcontinental Journey On.

So after the initial three plus months of driving in the northeast direction, I was able to initiate the 2026 NTR, leaving the West Quoddy Head Lighthouse and begin this westbound Journey On. My plan is for this nearly 4,900 mile Journey On to take no more than two months, just under 9 weeks, sone sixty-one days, arriving in the town of Oak Harbor, Washington before the end of July 2026.

As of 21 June, twenty-one days in, (one-third of the allocated days) I have completed the first five states, and currently have started on the state of Ohio with a total of 1426 miles driven (about 30 percent of the total miles) on the NTR during the 2026 Journey On thus far.

During September of 2025, I was to depart from the state of Washington on my first eastbound attempt for a transcontinental crossing on the Northern Tier Route. After leaving the last campground in eastern Washington, Deer Creek Forest Camp, I continued eastward through Idaho, across all of Montana and North Dakota, when after entering the state of Minnesota, the temperature plummeted into the low thirties during the first week in October 2025. I endured for almost another week before I succumbed to my overpowering desire to move south in order to stay warm.

My Journey On for this years traverse on the Northern Tier Route is a distance of 1,857 miles.

During my drive south to Texas during the end of October, I began planning my next attempt for my transcontinental crossing of the Northern Tier Route.

This year, my journey begins on Whidbey Island, an island just to the south of Anacortes, Washington, then continues east until just after leaving the Rocky Mountains in Montana. After entering the Great Plains, I then drive a short distance into the plains to Shelby, Montana before I depart from the Northern Tier Route and continue my migration south for the winter.

My journey for this traverse on the Northern Tier Route is a distance of 765 miles.