Routing algorithm is a challenge for a mobile ad hoc network (MANET), but current routing protocols for MANETsconsider the path with minimum number of hops as the optimal path to a given destination. This strategy does not balancethe traffic load over a MANET, and may result in some disadvantages such as creating congested area, depleting power fasterand enlarging time delay in the nodes with heavy duties. In this paper, we propose a routing scheme that balances the loadover the network by selecting a path based on its mean load-square, the proposed routing metric can reflect not only the loadof the path, but also the load distribution along the path. Simulation results show effectiveness of this routing scheme onbalancing the load over all nodes in the network.