Emily is planning a road trip across the country and is studying the map for her journey. She notices that the scale of the map is 1 inch represents 50 miles. If the distance between two cities on the map is 3.5 inches, what is the actual distance between these two cities?

If the scale of the map is 1 inch represents 50 miles, then 3.5 inches on the map represents 3.5*50=<<1*50*3.5=175>>175 miles. Answer: \boxed{175}.