The TransAmerica Trail is the ultimate rural driving route across the USA, starting in North Carolina at the Atlantic Ocean and ending in Oregon on the Pacific. It features thousands of miles of unpaved roads, mountain trails, and remote desert byways, with jaunts of narrow pavement intermixed. Originally for motorcycles, an we recently completed the grueling journey in an unlikely vehicle, a slightly modified 2025 Subaru Crosstrek Wilderness.
We just completed the TransAmerica Trail, driving 7,163 miles—3,184 of which were off-pavement over 29 days. We averaged just 25 MPH for the scenic, slow-going trip. I was the driver and Mercedes was the navigator.
TransAmerica Trail Details
This incredible route began in the mid-1980s when Mississippi adventure motorcycle enthusiast, Sam Correro, started mapping good riding routes. This grew to be a country-wide crossing eventually becoming the TransAmerica Trail.
We started the TransAmerica Trail trip June 19, 2025, in Nags Head, NC. From there, we went west through the Appalachian Mountains in North Carolina and Virginia. We continued on through 13 more states, going through 20 national forests, vast prairies, countless small towns, and elevations up to 12,460 ft., with much of it on dirt and gravel. Mercedes and I used paper maps, turn-by-turn directions, and digital GPX files purchased from the TransAmerica Trail’s website. We successfully reached Port Orford, OR on July 17, coincidentally our 21st wedding anniversary.
TAT Trials and Tribulations
The trip wasn’t all smooth sailing, however.
We dealt with downed trees, washed-out bridges, landslides, flooding, wildfires, and severe storms, and were forced to figure out 39 deviations from the route. This included areas of North Carolina still being cleaned up from 2024’s Hurricane Helene, and parts of Oklahoma experiencing flooding.
“Being the navigator for our TransAmerica Trail trip was challenging,” said Mercedes. “I had to constantly figure out on-the-fly deviations and hope they worked out without losing too much time or ending up in an even worse predicament.”
Our goal was to drive 200–250 miles a day. “This required great focus, research, patience, and flexibility to mitigate situations and find solutions,” Mercedes said.
We camped in a rooftop tent for 23 of 29 nights and only got motels due to severe weather.
No Escaping the Heat
Mercedes and I battled sweltering heat nearly the entire trip. Of our 29-day journey, 28 were at 90°F or above; six were at 100°F or greater, with the max being 111°F. Jungle-like humidity levels followed us all the way to Colorado. There, however, we had a morning with ice on the tent! We packed everything from sandals and shorts, wool socks and down jackets—and we used it all.
Making The Car Ready For The Trail
Subaru of America partnered with us, part of which included loaning us the car. As you may have read, the 2025 Crosstrek Wilderness was mildly modified under our direction. While an underdog to complete the rugged TransAmerica Trail, the car took us coast to coast without a single issue.
As long as you went slowly and carefully and picked the right lines off road, the Crosstrek Wilderness was extremely capable. On the pavement, it was comfortable and fun to drive. Plus, the air-conditioning worked excellently—something we needed on this trip!
The car was outfitted with a host of aftermarket parts and accessories including:
- BFGoodrich KO2 all-terrain tires
- Reika satin black Seeker wheels
- Primitive Racing front, transmission, and rear skid plates
- Rally Innovations 2024+ Subaru Crosstrek Wilderness Rally Light Bar mount
- Baja Designs XL-R Pro LED Lights
- RiG’d Supply UltraSwing Short Fit Hitch Spare Tire Mount and SideHack fuel can holder
- MAXTRAX XTREME recovery boards (their LITE boards would be a good choice, too)
- ARB Classic Series II fridge, 2.0M Soft Case Awning with Light, Single Motor Portable 12-Volt Air Compressor, and Speedy Seal Tire Repair Kit
- Ecoflow 800W Alternator Charger and DELTA 3 Plus Portable Power Station
- Factor 55 HitchLink 2.0 recovery point
The car is already capable from the factory, but with our carefully curated modifications, they truly took the Crosstrek Wilderness to a new level for overlanding and adventure travel.
We also used other key items to help make our trip successful. These included a Starlink Mini (carried in a Pelican case), travel bags like Front Runner Outfitters’ Typhoon duffel, a Garmin Tread Overland and GPSMAP 67i device for tracking and emergency messaging, Quad Lock device mounts, the onX GPS off-road map app, and Mountain House freeze-dried foods.
Read more about the modifications to our 2025 Subaru Crosstrek Wilderness.
