Do you know which of the national scenic trails is the longest in the United States?
It’s not the Appalachian Trail. It’s not the Pacific Crest Trail or Continental Divide Trail either. Those three trails collectively make up 8,500 miles and they are all fairly well known. Yet, the longest trail in the US is actually the North Country Trail.
The North Country Trail spans 4,600 miles, with its eastern terminus near the New York/Vermont border and its western terminus in North Dakota. This tremendous length and northern latitude means very few people have thru-hiked it like the other national scenic trails.
I first heard about this monumentally long trail on episode #42 of The Trail Show podcast. Knowing such a long trail exists within our borders was intriguing, but I knew I had little chance of ever seeing it.
As it turns out, I was wrong! I unexpectedly stumbled my way on the North Country Trail twice during our travels through northern Michigan.
Hiking the North Country Trail in the Upper Peninsula
My first encounter with the North Country Trail was in Mighican’s upper peninsula near Lake Superior. We were staying in a private RV park, and I needed to go out for a run. I had no interest in running along the gravel shoulder of a busy highway that formed the Superior Circle Tour. So Keith scoped out a long dirt road on Google Maps that seemed to go on for several miles behind the campground. That seemed like a good enough place to avoid being hit by fast moving drivers.
As I was making my way toward the dirt road, I saw some trees off to my left with blue blazes posted on them. Now, that path seemed like an interesting alternative. So without knowing where they led, I decided to hop on the trail.
Much to my surprise, I had accidentally stumbled my way onto the North Country Trail. Talk about a major surprise on my part. Based on the signs I passed along the way, it appears this section of the trail was mostly used by cross-country skiers instead of hikers. Nonetheless, it was an extremely well marked and maintained trail for summertime use.
The trail weaved between public lands and easements through private property, and provided awesome views of a lake and nearby wetlands. I enjoyed it so much that I persuaded Finn to join me the following day so we could have an hour of time hiking together on America’s longest national scenic trail.
Whoops! There’s the North Country Trail again.
My second encounter with the this epic trail was near St. Ignace, Michigan along Lake Huron. We were staying in a state park during our trip to visit Mackinac Island. The park consisted of an upper and lower campground with a small trail between the two areas.
One morning, I set out for a run on the trail between the campgrounds to see how far it went. As the yellow blazed trail crossed one of the roads, there were signs pointing to a lookout platform with views of the Mackinac Bridge. I jogged up the two flights of stairs to the top, and assumed that would be the end of the trail. Much to my surprise, a path with blue blazes appeared leading me off into the woods.
As I followed the path, I soon realized I was back on the North Country Trail. It wasn’t long before the trail left the park and continued out on to the road toward the lake. This transition to urban terrain meant I was now I was now hunting for blazes on telephone poles and stop signs instead of trees.
After following it for a few miles, the blazes led to the Mackinac bridge and down to the lower peninsula. Running across a bridge with 18-wheel semi-trucks and cars speeding at 60 miles per hour is well outside my comfort level. I decided I didn’t need that much excitement in my life. So, I turned around and followed the blue blazes back to the park, eager to tell Keith that I stumbled my way onto the North Country Trail again.
So what did I learn?
Never say never. You might believe there’s no chance of ever hiking all the various trails you’ve read about or heard others describe. But now I can say I actually spent a few miles on America’s longest trail, purely by accident, and it was pretty awesome.