US Route 12 suggestions and must see items?

ragtag2

We're looking to go cross country this summer spending a lot less time on the interstates. So, we're seeking destinations along this historical route from WA to WI.  Please share any highlights of unusual and fun opportunities/experiences this route might offer. Also, we're looking for any "off the beaten path" ideas for rustic/boondock camping places you may have enjoyed. 

JamesDow

I do not have any suggestions for your northern cross country route. I do applaud the idea of staying off of interstates and taking the smaller state/county type roads. The only issues we have encountered is being directed on unpaived roads by navigation apps. Usually it would be limited miles, but unplanned dirt roads can end in a very dusty T@G interior. The one thing I noted on those smaller roads is how they can drastically change in quality as you cross state lines. On our last cross country trip (2025 San Diego - Raleigh, North Carolina) we utilized AAA Tiptic which worked out well. You tell it how many hour you want to drive, type roads and you get an arc radius of where you can get to in the specified hours. From that point you can locate the camp sites which meet your needs. A good app that I also use to find campsites is The Dyrt.
For more information on BLM campsites I use OnX. 
Have a great trip.

ragtag2

Thanks @JamesDow, that's exactly the kinds of info we're hoping to scoop/glean from the kind folks who are part of this forum. 

We love the unpaved... even when the big pivot arm sprinklers keep them exciting, or they turn to double track and take us places not anticipated.

We miss the floppy little AAA camping books, but hope the digital Triptic will meet/match expectations. Just gotta get signed in... that's proving to be a challenge.

We've tried The Dyrt and will explore OnX (which level of membership do you suggest?) Plenty of fond memories from DNR/BLM camping and looking forward to making more.

With Gratitude,
HnE 

JamesDow

 
@ragtag2
As for OnX membership, I started (Black Friday 11/29/24) with the basic "Premium" (with discount code = $17.50) »Be aware that they have automatic renewal at a much higher price ($39.00), so on 11/25/25 I canceled and then waited till 11/29/25 and got another Black Friday deal and signed up for the Elite membership for $30.00. (Elite give property line mapping and owner names) I will likely do the same later this year. No previously saved OnX information was lost.
As for AAA Triptik. go to triptik.aaa.com
The AAA app also provides information on gas near you, on small back roads, that information can be very useful.

As far as navigation, we typically use Google maps. On one leg (Delta CO to Monument Valley UT), it directed us on a path which saved nearly 50 miles. Alas that path took us on an unknown dirt road, which was fine initially and then went to rough and very dusty.  (Dominguez-Escalante National Conservation Area / Uncompahgre National Forest).  Sky turned very dark, cell service vanished and stupidly I had not downloaded any offline maps. Google maps got very confused and started directing onto little offshoot camping paths. Turning around on a little non-maintained double track path is not really fun. Total dirt road driving took 3 hours, and yes 15% of that was in the rain. The downpour just hit us as we got to a paved road. Glad my RAV4 has 4WD. When we finally got to the camping spot we selected (9:30PM), rain had stopped and everything inside our T@G had to be pulled out and shook down and wiped down. Still dirty, but usable. Wouldn't you know it, the next day going into Monument Valley, the Navajo Nation was in the middle of construction and once again, we had to drive 20+ miles on a makeshift dusty gravel/dirt bypass road.  
▒   Bottom line, download offline maps as you go, you may never know when you will/will-not have cell service.

Our trip took us into 20 states with many great surprises.
   Have fun on your summer route.  
 

The_Rigger

In addition to OnX, I've found Gaia GPS and Trails Offroad to be very useful for soft-roading with the T@G in tow.  It's worth checking out all three, as they each have their pros & cons.