How Long Would It Take to Walk Across the United States? (Or Run, or Bike It)

In March 1909, on his 70th birthday, a man named Edward Payson Weston walked out of New York City and pointed himself toward San Francisco.

He was a former newspaper boy and a celebrity of the era’s strange and wildly popular sport of competitive walking. Crowds turned out in town after town to cheer him. He fought headwinds on the plains, snow in the mountains, and a body that was, by any normal standard, an old man’s body.

He arrived in San Francisco about 104 days later, having walked nearly 3,900 miles. The next year, at 71, he walked back the other way, faster.

So the honest answer to “how long would it take to walk across America?” is: it depends a lot on who’s walking. Here’s the math.

The short answer

Walking from New York to Los Angeles is roughly 2,800 miles by road. At a steady 20 miles a day, a serious long-distance walker would need about 140 walking days, so most people who actually do it take five to seven months once rest days, weather, and blisters are included.

The shortest coast-to-coast crossing, roughly Jacksonville, Florida, to San Diego along the southern edge of the country, is closer to 2,400 miles.

How long for you?

It all comes down to miles per day. Here’s what 2,800 miles looks like at different paces:

That first row is the interesting one. Most of us will never quit our lives to walk to California. But a 3-mile walk every day, which is about an hour, would carry you coast to coast in about two and a half years. You don’t need to be a hero. You just need to keep going.

What about running it?

The record for running across the United States belongs to Pete Kostelnick, who ran 3,067 miles from San Francisco City Hall to New York City Hall in 2016 in 42 days, 6 hours, and 30 minutes. That’s more than 70 miles a day, every day, for six weeks.

For a regular runner logging 20 miles a week, the same trip would take nearly three years. For a running club of ten people at that pace, about 15 weeks.

And cycling?

Bikes change the math completely. A touring cyclist carrying gear typically covers 50 to 70 miles a day, so a coast-to-coast ride takes about two months.

At the extreme end, the Race Across America sends ultra-cyclists roughly 3,000 miles with almost no sleep. The fastest finishers, like Austria’s Christoph Strasser, have done it in under eight days.

Now do it as a family

Here’s where it gets fun. You don’t have to cross the country alone, and you don’t all have to do it the same way.

Picture a family of five spread across three states:

• Grandpa walks 3 miles every morning.
• His daughter runs 4 miles, three times a week.
• Her husband rides his bike 40 miles on Saturdays.
• Two teenagers walk about 2 miles a day each.

Together that’s roughly 100 miles a week. New York to Los Angeles in about six and a half months. Start on New Year’s Day and they’re dipping their toes in the Pacific by mid-July.

Nobody had to quit their job. Everyone did what they already do. They just pointed it all at the same destination.

How to start your own crossing

1. Pick your coasts. New York to Los Angeles is the classic. Boston to San Diego, Savannah to Seattle, or your hometown to the ocean all work too.
2. Decide what counts. Walks only? Or walks, runs, hikes, and rides? Mixing them lets everyone contribute in their own way.
3. Mark the milestones. Crossing the Mississippi. Reaching the Rockies. Hitting the halfway point somewhere in Kansas. Celebrate every one.
4. Keep a shared map. It’s motivating to see everyone’s progress in one place.

You can track it with a road atlas and a highlighter. Or you can use Trek Together: pick any start and finish on a real map, invite your family or friends, and everyone’s walks, runs, hikes, and rides from Apple Health move your pins across the country together.

Edward Payson Weston was 70 when he did it in 104 days. You have all the time you need. The only rule is to keep moving toward the other coast.