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America’s Great Loop

The Greatest Trip You’ve Never Heard Of

The Great Loop is a 6,000-mile journey by boat around the East Coast into Canada, the Great Lakes, and then back down the Mid-West Rivers. America’s Great Loop is the trip of a lifetime where the journey is the destination.

Optionally, navigate through 18 states, three countries, all 5 Great Lakes, and an innumerable amount of smaller rivers and lakes on this amazing voyage. Check out our interactive Great Loop map!

We created videos of our every day on the Loop during our time aboard Pivot from April 2021 until June 2023 to share the adventure and inspire others to take the leap! Watch our Great Loop Documentary to learn what this journey is all about!

Great Loop Boats

What makes a good Great Loop boat? We’ve listed all of the qualities that make an excellent Great Loop boat and what to look for in your boat search!

READ THE POST

Great Loop Preparation

Preparing for the Great Loop can be overwhelming. To help make your transition easier, we wrote guides with printable checklists on everything we wish we had known before starting the Great Loop.

Boating with a Dog

How to Lock a Boat

Dinghy Essentials

Boat Cards

Boat Maintenance Tips

Elliot with tools on dock in maryland

Boating Essential Toolkit

READ ALL GREAT LOOP POSTS

Great Loop Expenses

How much does it cost to complete the Great Loop? We documented our expenses and shared monthly expense reports.

LEARN MORE

Side Trips

Multiple side trips along the Great Loop route offer extra sights and waterways to explore by boat.

Cumberland River – Nashville Side Trip

Tennessee River – Chattanooga Side Trip

St. Johns River -Sanford Side Trip

Great Loop Travel Guides

Planning your Great Loop experience can be daunting. We created travel guides to help you optimize your time at each destination.

LEARN MORE

Great Loop Videos

We documented our Great Loop journey through daily vlogs on YouTube. This playlist lists our Great Loop videos in order.

WATCH NOW

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SUNDAY SUMMARY

Sign up for our weekly newsletter where we update you with our plans for the week, recap our previous week with stories that don’t make it into our videos, ask for recommendations, and send you other resources straight into your inbox!

Sometimes it’s not the bucket list but random mo Sometimes it’s not the bucket list but random moments that you’ll remember forever 🐶

After filming our YouTube series on Carlsbad Caverns NP and White Sands NP we had to spend one day in the park and just catch up on work. 

It was a little warm, but randomly running up the sand hills throughout the day was so worth it. 

It’s l moments like these that were so grateful to live and work out of our van. 

Follow @schoandjo for more slices of life as we explore North America. 

#travelcouple 
#van
#vanlife 
#diyvanbuild 
#nationalparks
#whitesands
And 2 seconds later, Summit was dirty again 😅 And 2 seconds later, Summit was dirty again 😅

As two East Coasters, deserts are so strange and wonderful. Both barren and full of life. 

We stayed on our first BLM outside of Carlsbad, NM, and we were greeted with something entirely new for us… a dust storm! 

We hadn’t washed Summit since being on the road, but that was the trigger for a deep clean. Coming from boat life, we’d just wash Pivot at various marinas. 

Now we go to car washes! I have to admit, that I was not really looking forward to the chore of washing Summit, but the feeling of a clean home was super worth it. With some good tunes, it was actually pretty fun! 

Follow @schoandjo for more, as we learn more about life on the road on our exploration around North America! 

#vanlife
#travelcouple
#sprintervan
#carwash
#newmexico
#duststorm
#rvlife
We were racing against the clock ⏰ When we firs We were racing against the clock ⏰

When we first stepped into White Sands National Park, we knew we had to get sunset photos, but while almost everywhere in the park is perfect for it, there is a cut-off time. 

You must be out of the park no later than 30 minutes after sunset. 

BUT, since the sun goes over the Mountains earlier than sunset, you have more gorgeous golden light.

Follow @schoandjo as we visit all 63 National Parks. This is park 7/63.

#whitesands
#nationalparks
#newmexico
#hiking
#photography
#travelfamily
Don’t Miss this Ranger-Led Tour ‼️ When we Don’t Miss this Ranger-Led Tour ‼️

When we went to Carlsbad Caverns this April, we were shocked to learn they restarted ONE tour. 

If you didn’t know, Carlsbad Caverns lost roughly half its front-facing staff with the NPS cuts. Due to this, they were forced to cancel all their ranger-led tours and just focus on keeping the park running. 

The park service desperately wanted to open a tour to help educate small groups about the park’s history, challenges, and wonders, hoping those people would then share why our parks are so important to keep open. They’ve found a way to stabilize and open one tour.

The King’s Palace tour visits scenic rooms closed to the public, so you’ll visit places very few people can see.

With this being said, every day is different, and as of now, they don’t know in advance if they will be offering the tour, so you’ll have to show up early regardless.

The visitors center opens at 9:00 am, so we sat outside since 8:00 am, ensuring we could get a spot. 

The other people who had heard of the tour started arriving at 8:15, and by 8:30, there was a decent line outside. If you want tickets, arrive by 8:30 am at the latest! 

You don’t need a timed entry as the tour will count for your entry. The tour is $10 USD per person, on top of standard park entry fees. 

The King’s Palace tour starts at 10:30 am, so you’ll need to take the elevator down, and then you’ll have a few minutes to wander before the tour. 

The tour lasts about 1:30 to 2 hours, so come fed and with plenty of time to learn about the Caverns! 

Let us know in the comments if you have any questions or have seen anything different in recent days. Huge kudos to the NPS for navigating these challenging times. 

Follow @schoandjo as we visit all 63 US National Parks, this is park number 7!

#carlsbadcaverns
#nationalparks
#newmexico
#hiking
#caves
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