North Country Trail

The longest National Scenic Trail, the North Country Trail stretches roughly 4,800 miles across eight northern states from Vermont to North Dakota, sampling forests, farmland, Great Lakes shoreline, and prairie along the way.

Few walk it end to end, and those who do need most of a year, but the trail's real value lies in its endless day and section hikes through varied country, from the cliffs of Michigan's Upper Peninsula to the lakes of Minnesota. Elevation is modest throughout.

Practical detail: no single permit covers the route, and rules vary widely across the many national forests, state parks, and local lands it crosses, so hikers check each unit's camping regulations. Long road-walk connectors still fill gaps between finished segments.

Summer and fall suit most of the corridor, with autumn color spectacular around the Great Lakes and prairie grasses turning in the western reaches; winter brings snowshoe use to the north. Authorized in 1980 and still under construction, it is a patchwork of some of the North's best walking.