National Trails System Map and Guide
National Park Service, U.S.
Department of the Interior
Bureau of Land Management, U.S. Department
of the Interior
Forest Service, U.S. Department of the
Agriculture
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In the early days of this nation, before railroads and highways were
constructed, people traveled overland on foot, on horseback, or by wagon. Some
of these trails remain in existence today as reminders of our rich historic
past. Stories of the Oregon Trail, the Santa Fe Trail, the Trail of Tears, and
others bring to mind exciting and sometimes tragic chapters in our national
heritage.
Other visions come to mind with trails. In the early 20th
century, outdoor enthusiasts in New England and the Sierra Nevada's constructed
footpaths to gain access to scenic mountain terrain. Trails became a way to
gain access to spectacular natural beauty and at the same time to pursue
healthy outdoor recreation. The first interstate recreational trail was
conceived in 1921 as a national preserve parallel to the East Coast; it is
known today as the Appalachian Trail.
In 1968 to provide federal
assistance to the Appalachian Trail and to establish a national system of
trails, Congress passed the National Trails System Act. The Appalachian and
Pacific Crest trails were named in the act as the first two national scenic
trails. Today the National Trails System consists of Congressionally designated
national scenic trails, which are continuous protected scenic corridors for
outdoor recreation, and national historic trails, which recognize prominent
past routes of exploration, migration, and military action. The historic trails
generally consist of remnant sites and trail segments, and thus are not
necessarily continuous. Although both types are administered by federal
agencies, land ownership may be in public or private hands. Of the 17 national
scenic and national historic trails so far established, 12 are administered by
the National Park Service, four by the Forest Service, and one by the Bureau of
Land Management.
National recreation trails are existing trails
recognized by the Federal Government as contributing to the National Trails
System. They vary in length, terrain, difficulty, and accessibility. These
trails are managed by public and private agencies at the local, state, and
national levels and include nature trails, river routes, and historic
tours.
Besides administering and coordinating national trails, the
National Park Service conducts a variety of programs to enhance and build a
national system of trails available to all. Trail system planning occurs at the
metropolitan, state, and regional levels to fulfill the requirement for a
National Trail Plan. Through its Rivers, Trails, and Conservation Assistance
Program, the National Park Service provides technical assistance to local and
state public agencies and private organizations working on river and trail
corridor projects. Some of these involve establishing trails on abandoned
railroad rights-of-way.
For further information on the National Trails
System and its various components and programs, contact: National Trails System
Branch, National Park Service (782), P.O. Box 37127, Washington, D.C.
20013-7127, or call 202-343-3780.
National Scenic Trails
Appalachian National Scenic
Trail
National Park Service Established 1968
2,144 miles
(3,452 km)
The Appalachian
Trail was first envisioned in 1921 by Benton MacKaye as a greenway from Maine
to Georgia. The trail hugs the crests of the Appalachian Mountains and is open
only to the hikers. Shelters are spaced for convenient overnight stays. The
Appalachian Trail Conference established in 1925, developed the trail and
maintains it today through 32 affiliated volunteer trail clubs. Only 65 miles
still needs protection through public ownership. Almost 175 people each year
hike the entire trail, while millions find inspiration and adventure on shorter
trips along the "A.T."
Appalachian Trail Conference, P.O. Box 807,
Harpers Ferry, WV 25425; 304-535-6331
National Park Service,
Appalachian Trail Project Office, c/o Harpers Ferry Center, Harpers Ferry, WV
25425; 304-535-6278
Continental Divide National Scenic Trail
Forest Service
Established 1978
3,200 miles (5,150 km)
The Continental Divide Trail provides
spectacular backcountry travel the length of the Rocky Mountains from Mexico to
Canada. It is the most rugged of the long-distance trails. The only section
officially designated runs for 795 miles from Canada through Montana and Idaho
to Yellowstone National Park. It is open to hikers, pack and saddle animals,
and in some places, off-road motorized vehicles. Some segments are open for use
in other states.
Continental Divide Trail Society, P.O. Box 30002,
Bethesda, Maryland 20814
Forest Service, Northern Region, Federal
Building, P.O. Box 7669, Missoula, MT 59807; 406-329-3150 (Montana and
Idaho)
Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Region, 11177 West 8th Avenue,
Box 25127, Lakewood, CO 80225; 303-236-9501 (Wyoming, Colorado, and New
Mexico)
Florida
National Scenic Trail
Forest Service
Established 1983
1,300
miles (2,090 km)
The Florida Trail was conceived and initiated by James A. Kern, who formed the
Florida Trail Association in 1964. The trail will eventually extend from Big
Cypress National Preserve in South Florida through Florida's three national
forests to Gulf Islands National Seashore in the western panhandle. It is
especially delightful for winter hiking and camping, passing through America's
only subtropical landscape. Side loop trails connect to nearby historic sites
and other points of interest. More than 1,000 miles are completed and some 300
miles are officially open to public use.
Ice Age National Scenic Trail
National Park
Service
Established 1980
1,000 miles (1,610 km)
At the end of the Ice Age,
about 10,000 years ago, glaciers retreated from North America and left behind a
chain of moraine hills which defined their southern edge. In Wisconsin, the
band of hills zigzags across the state for 1,000 miles from Lake Michigan to
the Saint Croix River. A trail along these hills was conceived by Ray Zillmer
in the 1950s and publicized by Rep. Henry Reuss in his book, On the Trail of
the Ice Age. Today, with help from the State of Wisconsin and the Ice Age Park
and Trail Foundation, almost half of the trail is open to public use. Certain
sections are popular for marathons, ski races, and ultra-running.
Ice
Age Park and Trail Foundation, P.O. Box 422, Sheboygan, WI 53082
National Park Service, Ice Age National Scenic Trail, 700 Rayovac Drive, Suite
100, Madison, WI 53711; 608-264-5610
Natchez Trace National Scenic Trail
National
Park Service
Established 1983
110 miles (180 km)
The Natchez Trace National Scenic Trails
within the boundaries of the Natchez Trace Parkway, extending for 450 miles
from Natchez, Mississippi, to Nashville, Tennessee. The Parkway commemorates
the historic Natchez Tracer, an ancient path that began as a series of animal
tracks and Native American trails. It was late used by early explorers,
"Kaintuck" boatmen, post riders, and military men, including General Andrew
Jackson after his victory at the Battle of New Orleans. In the trail's 1987
comprehensive plan, four segments near Nashville, Jackson, and Natchez totaling
110 miles were selected for development as hiking and horseback trails.
National Park Service, Natchez Trace Parkway, Rural Route 1, NT-143,
Tupelo, MS 38801; 601-842-1572
Natchez Trace Trail Conference, P.O.
Box 6579, Jackson, MS 39282; 601-373-1447
North Country National Scenic Trail
National
Park Service
Established 1980
4400-4600 miles
Conceived in the mid-1960s, the
North Country Trail links New York's Adirondack Mountains with the Missouri
River in North Dakota. The trail journeys through a variety of environments:
the grandeur of the Adirondacks, Pennsylvania's hardwood forests, the farmland
and canals of Ohio, the Great Lakes shorelines of Michigan, the glacier-carved
forests, lakes, and streams of northern Wisconsin and Minnesota, and the vast
plains of North Dakota. Today, almost half of this trail is open for public
use. Some of the longer segments cross nine national forests and two national
park areas along the route.
North Country Trail Association, 229 E. Main St.,
Lowell, MI 49339, 1-866-hikeNCT
National Park Service, North
Country National Scenic Trail, 700 Rayovac Drive, Suite 100, Madison, WI 53711;
608-264-5610
Pacific Crest National Scenic Trail
Forest Service
Established
1968
2,650 miles
Lying along the spectacular shoulders of the Cascade and
Sierra Nevada mountain ranges from Canada to Mexico, the Pacific Crest is the
West Coast counterpart of the Appalachian Trail. Inspired in the 1930s by the
idea of a long-distance mountain trail, citizen activists worked with the
Forest Service to establish the trail. It passes through 25 national forests
and seven national parks. The trail was completed in Oregon and Washington in
1987. Today only 30 miles in California are not protected.
Pacific Crest Trail Association, 5325 Elkhorn Blvd.
PMB #256,
Sacramento, CA 95842-2526; (916) 349-2109
Potomac Heritage National Scenic
Trail
National Park Service
Established 1983
700 miles
(1,130 km)
The
Potomac Heritage Trail recognizes and commemorates the unique mix of history
and recreation along the Potomac River. Much is already in place: the 184-mile
towpath of the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal in the District of Columbia and
Maryland, the 18-mile Mount Vernon Trial in Virginia, and the 75-mile Laurel
Highlands Trail in Pennsylvania. In western Maryland, members of the Potomac
Heritage Trail have recommended a 55-mile hiking path from Cumberland,
Maryland, north to Pennsylvania's Mount Davis and on to the Laurel
Highlands.
Potomac Heritage Trail Association, 5529 Benson Avenue,
Baltimore, MD 21227
National Park Service, National Capital Region,
Land Use Coordination, 1100 Ohio Drive, SW, Washington, DC 20242;
202-619-7027
National Historic Trails
Iditarod National Historic Trail
Bureau of Land Management
Established 1978
2,450 miles, main
route 900 (3,945 km, main route 1,450)
The Iditarod is a system of historic trails made famous
by Alaska gold prospectors and their dog teams during the late 19th and early
20th century gold rush. Most of the trail is usable only during Alaska's
six-month winter when rivers and tundra are frozen. Each year the renowned
1,150-mile Iditarod Sled Dog Race is run along the trail from Anchorage to
Nome. Other events include the 210-mile Iditasport race for skiers, mountain
bikers, and snowshoers, and the Alaska Gold Rush Classic Snowmachine Race. A
network of shelters is being installed by the Bureau of Land Management and the
Iditarod Trail Committee.
Anchorage District, Bureau of Land
Management, 6681 Abbott Loop Road, Anchorage, AK 99507; 907-267-1246
Iditarod Trail Committee, P.O. Box 870800, Wasilla, AK 99687;
907-376-5155
John Bautista de Anza National Historic Trail
National Park Service
Established 1990
1,200 miles (1,930 km)
In 1775, a party of Spanish colonists
led by Col. Juan Bautista de Anza set out from Mexico to establish an overland
route to California. They sought to build a presidio and mission overlooking
the Golden Gate and secure it from threats by the Russians and British. This
party of 30 families, a dozen soldiers, and 1,000 cattle, horses, and mules
spent three months traversing the deserts of the Southwest before reaching the
missions of the California coast. Another three months were spent traveling up
the Pacific coast to the Golden Gate where the city of San Francisco now
stands. In 1975 and 1976, an expedition re-enactment took place from
Horcasitas, Mexico, to San Francisco.
National Park Service, Western
Region, Planning, Grants, and Environmental Quality, 600 Harrison Street, Suite
600, San Francisco, CA 94107-1372; 415-744-3975
Lewis and Clark National Historic
Trail
National Park Service
Established 1978
3,700 miles
(5,960 km)
In 1804,
President Thomas Jefferson commissioned Meriwether Lewis and William Clark to
explore the newly acquired Louisiana Territory and the "Oregon Country."
Setting out in boats from what is today Wood River, Illinois, and following the
Missouri River upstream, their expedition eventually reached the Pacific Ocean
at the mouth of the Columbia River in 1805 and returned east the next year. In
Idaho and western Montana, the route follows roads and trails as it crosses the
Rocky Mountain passes. Along the route, state, local, and private interests
have established motor routes, roadside interpretive markers, and museum
exhibits telling the Lewis and Clark story.
Lewis and Clark Trail
Heritage Foundation, Inc., P.O. Box 3434, Great Falls, MT 59403
National Park Service, Lewis and Clark National Historic Trail, 700 Rayovac
Drive, Suite 100, Madison, WI 53711; 608-264-5610
Mormon Pioneer National Historic
Trail
National Park Service
Established 1978
1,300 miles
(2,095 km)
Mormon
emigration was one of the principal forces of settlement of the West. Departing
form Nauvoo, Illinois, in February 1846, thousands of Mormons crossed into Iowa
seeking refuge from religious persecution. They spent the next winter in the
Council Bluffs, Iowa, and Omaha, Nebraska, area. Early in 1847, Brigham Young
led an advance party west along the Platte River, paralleling the Oregon Trail,
to Fort Bridger, Wyoming, where they turned southwest and eventually came to
the Great Salt Lake. The 1,624-mile auto tour route in five states is generally
marked with the trail logo and closely follows the trail's historic route.
National Park Service, Rocky Mountain Region, Planning and Compliance
Division, 12795 West Alameda Parkway, Lakewood, CO 80225;
303-969-2830
Nez
Perce (Nee-Me-Poo) National Historic Trail
Forest Service
Established 1986
1,170 miles (1,885 km)
This trail route honors the heroic and
poignant attempt by the Nez Perce Indians to escape capture by the U.S. Army.
In 1877, the Nez Perce were forced to leave their ancestral homelands and move
to a reservation east of Lewiston, Idaho. During this journey, hostilities
broke out between white settlers and some groups of the Nez Perce. The U.S.
Army was called in. The resisting bands headed east, crossed the Rocky
Mountains, and hoped to find refuge in Canada. Led by several commanders
including Chief Joseph, they eluded capture for months, traveling through the
newly established Yellowstone National Park and out onto the Great Plains. Just
short of reaching the Canadian border in Montana, most of the party were
overtaken near the Bearpaw Mountains.
Forest Service, Northern Region,
Federal Building, P.O. Box 7669, Missoula, MT; 406-329-3582
Oregon National Historic
Trail
National Park Service
Established 1978
2,170 miles
(3,495 km)
As the
harbinger of America's westward expansion, the Oregon Trail was the pathway to
the Pacific for fur traders, gold seekers, missionaries, and emigrants.
Beginning in 1841 and enduring for more than 20 years, an estimated 300,000
emigrants followed this route from the Midwest to Oregon on a trip that took
five months to complete. Today the trail corridor contains some 300 miles of
discernible wagon ruts and 125 historic sites. The approximate route can still
be followed by automobile, and opportunities are available to travel by foot,
horse, or mountain bike in many places.
Oregon-Country Trails
Association, P.O. Box 1019, Independence, MO 64051-0519; 816-252-2276
National Park Service, Pacific Northwest Region, Oregon National Historic
Trail, 83 South King Street, Suite 212, Seattle, WA 98104;
206-553-5366
Overmountain Victory National Historic Trail
National Park Service
Established 1980
300 miles (485 km)
In the fall of 1780, upcountry patriots
from Virginia, Tennessee, and North Carolina formed a militia to drive the
British from the southern colonies. This trail marks their 14-day trek across
the Appalachians to the Piedmont region of the Carolinas. There they defeated
British troops at the Battle of Kings Mountain, setting in motion events that
led to the British surrender at Yorktown and the end of the Revolutionary War.
Each year history buffs commemorate this patriotic event. Much of the trail has
become road and highway; only a small 20-mile portion remains as a foot trail
across the mountains. in most places roadside signs indicate proximity to the
trail. A guide to the seven walking sections of the trail is available.
Overmountain Victory Trail Association, c/o Sycamore Shoals State Historic
Area, 1651 West Elk Avenue, Elizabethton, TN 37643; 615-543-5808
National Park Service, Southeast Region, Planning and Compliance Division, 75
Spring Street SW, Atlanta, GA 30303; 404-331-5465
Santa Fe National Historic Trail
National Park Service
Established 1987
1,203 miles (1,937
km)
After Mexican
independence in 1821, U.S. and Mexican traders developed the Santa Fe Trail,
using American Indian travel and trade routes. it quickly became a commercial
and cultural link between the two countries. It also became a road of conquest
during the Mexican and Civil wars. With the building of the railroad to Santa
Fe in 1880, the trail was largely abandoned. Of the 1,203 miles of trail route
between Old Franklin, Missouri, and Santa Fe, New Mexico, more than 200 miles
of ruts and trace remain visible; some 30 miles of these are protected on
federal lands.
Santa Fe Trail Association, Santa Fe Trail Center,
Route 3, Larned, KS 67550; 316-285-2054
National Park Service,
Southwest Region, Branch of Long Distance Trails, P.O. Box 728, Santa Fe, NM
87504-0728; 505-988-6888
Trail of Tears National Historic Trail
National Park Service
Established 1987
2,052 miles (3,304 km)
After many years of pressure from white
settlers, 16,000 Cherokee Indians from the southeastern states were moved by
the U.S. Army in the late 1830s to lands west of the Mississippi River. Various
detachments followed different routes west to the Oklahoma Territory. Thousands
died along the way. Today, the designated trail follows two of the principal
routes: a water trail (1,226 miles) along the Tennessee, Ohio, Mississippi, and
Arkansas rivers; and an overland route (826 miles) from Chattanooga, Tennessee,
to Tahlequah, Oklahoma.
National Park Service, Southwest Region,
Branch of Long Distance Trails, P.O. Box 728, Santa Fe, NM 87504-0728;
505-988-6888
Note: The California and Pony Express National Historic
Trails were established in August 1992. The general routes are shown on the map
on the reverse side. Information about federal administration was not available
at the time of publication of this guide.