American Discovery Trail

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American Discovery Trail
The American Discovery Trail, including its northern and southern routes.
Length	6800 mi; 10,943 km
Trailheads	Cape Henlopen, Delaware; Limantour Beach, California
Use	Hiking, Horseback Riding, Mountain Biking
Highest Point	Argentine Pass, 13,207 ft
Lowest Point	California Delta between Isleton and Antioch, -17
Trail Difficulty	Moderate to Strenuous
Season	All year
Sights	National Parks, National Forests
Hazards	Severe Weather

The American Discovery Trail is a coast-to-coast hiking and biking trail across the mid-tier of the United States. It starts on the Delmarva Peninsula on the Atlantic Ocean and ends on the northern California coast on the Pacific Ocean, and is signed on over 6,800 miles of trail (about 11,000 kilometers). This includes the doubled trail stretches. It is possible to complete the coast to coast hike by covering just over 5,000 miles of trail. It is the only non-motorized coast-to-coast trail.

The trail passes through 14 national parks and 16 national forests and utilizes sections of or connects to five National Scenic Trails, 10 National Historic Trails, and 23 National Recreation Trails. For part of its distance, it is coincident with the North Country Trail and the Buckeye Trail. From western Ohio to northern Colorado, the trail has two parallel stretches.

The trail passes through the District of Columbia and the following 15 states:

[edit] Hiking Record

The first hikers to walk the entire trail, Joyce and Pete Cottrell, of Whitefield, New Hampshire, were the first to backpack the entire official route of the American Discovery Trail, but they hiked segments out of sequence over two calendar years, finishing in 2003.

The first hikers to complete the Trail in one continuous walk took from February 27, 2005 to October 15, 2005. They are Marcia and Ken Powers, wife and husband, of Pleasanton, California. They started from Cape Henlopen State Park in Delaware and ended at Point Reyes, California. They trailed 5,058 miles by foot, averaging 22 miles a day. The Powers are also the first to complete all four major American trails, having previously hiked the Appalachian Trail, Continental Divide Trail, and the Pacific Crest Trail.