The Long Trail: Vermont's Footpath Through the Wilderness

Running the entire length of Vermont, from the Massachusetts line to Canada, the Long Trail is the oldest long-distance hiking path in the country — the inspiration, in fact, for the more famous Appalachian Trail that shares its route through the state's south.

To walk its full length is a serious undertaking, a rugged trek of some 270 miles over the spine of the Green Mountains, up and down nearly every major peak. It is famously muddy, steep, and unpolished, threaded with simple shelters where hikers sleep and swap stories. Those who complete it, over weeks of effort, join a proud and slightly bedraggled club.

But the trail belongs to day hikers just as much. Countless sections are accessible for an afternoon's walk to a waterfall, a pond, or a viewpoint, letting anyone sample a piece of it without committing to the whole. Maintained largely by volunteers for more than a century, the Long Trail is a beloved Vermont institution — a reminder that the mountains are not just to be looked at from the road, but walked, one muddy step at a time.