Systems and methods for physical cable route tracing are provided. In one embodiment, a cable comprises: one or more of either electrical conductors or optical fibers; a cable sheath around the one or more of either electrical conductors or optical fibers; and a pattern of cable tracing facilitation markings located on an exterior of the cable sheath; wherein the cable tracing facilitation markings comprise either: a visually varying pattern that gradually changes along a length of the cable sheath; or a series of coded markings of an ordered sequence pattern.