Growing up in Virginia, I wasn’t far from the Appalachian Trail, an hours drive allowed me to spend time exploring the trail on day hikes and overnight camping adventures. Being in the woods, with the earth under my feet has always been my happy place. A bucket list item for me is to hike one of the longer trails in its entirety––the Appalachian Trail (AP), the Pacific Crest Trail (PCT) or the Mountains-to-Sea Trail (MST) (right in my backyard).
Here is a list of some of the longer trails located in the USA:
Appalachian Trail https://www.nps.gov/appa
Miles: 2200
End Points: Springer Mountain, Georgia to Mount Katahdin, Maine
Mountains-to-Sea Trail (NC) https://mountainstoseatrail.org/
Miles: 1175
End Points: Jockey’s Ridge to Clingman’s Dome
Pacific Northwest National Scenic Trail https://www.fs.usda.gov/main/pnt/home
Miles: 1200
End Points: Continental Divide in Glacier National Park to Pacific Ocean near Cape Alava
Pacific Crest Trail http://www.pcta.org/
Miles: 2600
End Points: Mexico to Canada
Continental Divide http://continentaldividetrail.org/
Miles: 3100
End Points: Canada to Mexico, along the Continental Divide
Arizona Trail https://aztrail.org/
Miles: 800
End Points: US/Mexico border to Arizona/Utah border
Florida National Scenic Trail https://www.floridatrail.org/florida-national-scenic-trail/fnst/
Miles: 1300
End Points: Gulf Islands National Seashore to the North and Big Cypress National Preserve in the South.
Nez Perce National Historic Trail http://nezpercetrail.net/
Miles: 1170
End Points: Oregon to Montana
Great Western Trail http://gwt.org/
Miles: 4455
End Points: Arizona, Utah, Idaho, Wyoming, and Montana
American Discovery Trail http://www.discoverytrail.org/
Miles: 6800
End Points: Delaware to California
*November 17 is National Take a Hike Day
Informational Links:
https://www.fs.fed.us/managing-land/trails