TRAILS

• Appalachian Trail (AT) - 2,175 miles
• Pacific Crest Trail (PCT) - 2,650 miles
• Florida Trail (FT) - 1,400 miles
• Ice Age Trail (IAT) - 1,000 miles
• Natchez Trace Trail (NTT) - 500 miles
• Potomac Heritage Trail (PHT) - 990 miles
• North Country Trail (NCT) - 4,600 miles
• Continental Divide Trail (CDT) - 3,100 miles

Our National Trails System

The scent of prairie wildflowers rises from a colorful carpet of gently rolling hills. A cavernous roar echoes as a cascade drops dramatically off the side of a cliff. A chorus of frogs fills the evening air along a peat bog. These are moments that make memories on a walk along one of America’s grandest legacies, the National Trails System. Established in 1968 as part of a sweeping initiative of Congressional conservation acts during the presidency of Lyndon B. Johnson, the National Trails System Act created the framework for eight National Scenic Trails, 17 National Historic Trails, and an ever-growing number of National Recreation Trails—more than 1,000 at last count.

While Federal protection of lands as National Parks, National Wildlife Refuges, and National Forests dates back to the presidency of Theodore Roosevelt in the early 1900s, the National Trails System took an innovative approach. Rather than park rangers planning, building, and managing the trails, volunteers stepped forward. The first two National Scenic Trails, the Appalachian Trail and the Pacific Crest Trail, already relied on partnerships between dozens of agencies and communities to protect a wilderness corridor through which each trail would run. For decades, before ever they received any Federal support, local groups such as the Georgia Appalachian Trail Club rallied their volunteers to construct their segment of footpath, blaze the trail, build bridges, and create shelters for backpackers. Relying on these caretakers who worked on “their” trail in their own backyard, personal and community pride of each trail was developed.

Repeated throughout the country, this grassroots volunteer approach fueled a trail system like no other in the world. Today, America’s National Trails System includes footpaths and paved trails, hiking-only and multi-use, with more mileage than the entire Interstate Highway System—more than 60,000 miles, with trails in all 50 states. Volunteers spend nearly three-quarters of a million hours each year as caretakers of these public resources, available for all to enjoy. As the Partnership for the National Trails System, 23 non-profit organizations coordinate this massive nationwide effort, contributing more than $21 million dollars in resources to the American economy each year.

The result? A trail system we can be truly proud of. Whether you’re looking for a refreshing morning walk or a long-distance adventure like Bart’s, a quiet stroll in a leafy green forest or a horseback ride along a centuries-old Western trade route, our National Trails System provides a diversity of experiences that tell the tale of our American landscapes, history, and culture.

October 2, 2008 marks the 40th Anniversary of the National Trails System and the beginning of a “Decade for the National Trails.” Join with us in celebrating our national treasures as we follow Bart’s completion of 16,515 miles of walking and photographing our National Scenic Trails.

“Fun Facts”
If you stretched out the entire National Trails System into one really long trail, it would wrap around the entire Earth nearly two and a half times!

The volunteer effort spent on the National Trails System each year is more than 720,000 hours—the equivalent of 4,291 weeks of round-the-clock shift work, or the amount of time it would take for all 348,800 residents of Wichita, Kansas to watch the latest Indiana Jones movie. 

If the eight National Scenic Trails, only the first two designated – the Appalachian Trail and the Pacific Crest Trail – are finally complete. Although every trail can be hiked from end to end, six are still working towards full protection of their trail corridors to provide a “walk in the woods” experience along their entire length.