A mobile router is configured for optimized utilization of reverse routing headers, to specify a path between an originating mobile router and a home agent. Reverse routing headers enable each mobile router within the path to the home agent to specify its care of address, enabling the home agent to establish a bidirectional tunnel to the originating mobile router via the corresponding mobile router. The mobile router selectively updates the reverse routing header in a received packet by inserting the source address value of the received packet into the reverse routing header and inserting its corresponding care of address into the source address field, based on whether the mobile router lacks a routing table entry that specifies reachability of a most recent entry in the reverse routing header via the source address value. The mobile router also may request the originating mobile router to increase the reverse routing header size.