Great Eastern Trail

The Great Eastern Trail is a north-south hiking route that runs roughly 1,600 miles (2,600 km) through the Appalachian Mountains west of the Appalachian Trail in the eastern United States. As of 2019, it is still under development. From south to north, it runs from Flagg Mountain in Alabama through Georgia, Tennessee, Kentucky, West Virginia, Virginia, Maryland, and Pennsylvania, ending in western New York state. A connection from Flagg Mountain south to the Florida-Georgia border is considered "Phase II Development".[1]

Great Eastern Trail
Length1600 mi (2575 km)
TrailheadsFlorida Trail
North Country Trail
UseHiking
Hiking details
Trail difficultyModerate to Strenuous
SeasonYear-round

It is a potential connector in the US National Trails System, linking the Florida National Scenic Trail in the south to the North Country National Scenic Trail in New York. In between, it would connect with and briefly overlap two other National Scenic Trails: the Appalachian Trail and the Potomac Heritage Trail.[2]

Many sections of the Great Eastern Trail are already hikeable for day use and backpackers.[3] The longest continuously usable sections are on the Pinhoti National Recreation Trail, and from Narrows, Virginia, northward through portions of Virginia, West Virginia, all of Maryland, all of Pennsylvania, to a junction with the Finger Lakes Trail carrying the North Country National Scenic Trail near South Bradford, New York.

The project enjoyed support from the American Hiking Society and the Rivers, Trails, and Conservation Assistance Program[4] of the US National Park Service but then became an independent entity. The Great Eastern Trail Association was incorporated in Virginia on August 10, 2007, by signatories from the nine states through which the trail passes.[5]

On January 10, 2013, "Hillbilly" Bart Houck of Mullens, West Virginia, and Joanna "Someday" Swanson of Willow River, Minnesota, started hiking in Alabama and arrived in New York on June 18, 2013, becoming the first to complete a thru-hike of the Great Eastern Trail.[6] In October 2016, Kathy Finch of New Hampshire became the first to complete a southbound thru-hike from New York state to Flagg Mountain, Alabama.[7]

Several other names were suggested and used earlier during the development of the trail, including the Western Appalachian Alternative. The northern terminus was once considered to overlay with North Country National Scenic Trail at Crown Point, New York, but was truncated to the NCNST junction in southwestern New York state.

Trails in system

Route from south to north with gaps, according to the Great Eastern Trail Concept Plan:[8]

References
  1. "Great Eastern Trail map". wp.com. Retrieved 14 April 2018.
  2. "Berke Signs Proclamation Designating Chattanooga As 1st Trail Town Of Great Eastern Trail". chattanoogan.com. Retrieved 14 April 2018.
  3. "Maps & Trail Descriptions - Great Eastern Trail". www.greateasterntrail.net. Retrieved 14 April 2018.
  4. "Rivers, Trails, and Conservation Assistance Program (U.S. National Park Service)". www.nps.gov. Retrieved 14 April 2018.
  5. "Great Eastern Trail promises hiker's haven from Florida to N.Y. - USATODAY.com". usatoday30.usatoday.com. Retrieved 14 April 2018.
  6. "First Thru-Hikers to Conquer the Great Eastern Trail - Hiking Around Midstate PA and Beyond: A community blog - witf.org". www.witf.org. Retrieved 14 April 2018.
  7. "'A SERENDIPITOUS JOURNEY': New Hampshire resident Kathy Finch making history with Great Eastern Trail hike". annistonstar.com. Retrieved 14 April 2018.
  8. "Great Eastern Trail Concept Plan: A 2000-mile hiking trail, paralleling the Appalachian Trail, linking Alabama and New York". Great Eastern Trail Association. October 2009. Archived from the original (Word Document) on 2012-04-02. Retrieved 2011-09-12.
  9. Guide to Pennsylvania Mid State Trail, 12th edition (Huntingdon, PA: Mid State Trail Association, 2012)

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