Trek coast-to-coast on the American Discovery Trail
Posted by admin on Jan 22, 2009
Turn a classic road trip into the adventure of a lifetime by leaving the car at home, and setting out across the USA under your own steam.
The American Discovery Trail (ADT) is the nation’s first coast-to-coast, non-motorized trail, passing through 14 National Parks, 16 National Forests, and visiting more than 10,000 sites of historic, cultural, and natural significance across its 6,800 miles.
Hike, bike, or ride a horse from sea to shining sea, through forests, over mountains, across deserts, and even through the greenways of urban areas such as Cincinnati and San Francisco. Connecting five National Scenic Trails, 11 National Historic Trails, 30 National Recreational Trails, and hundreds of local and regional trails state to state, the ADT creates a network of American landscapes and communities for intrepid travelers to explore.
The journey begins either on the East Coast at Cape Henlopen State Park in Delaware, or in the West at Point Reyes National Seashore in California (where the Point Reyes Hostel can either send you on your way or welcome you to the end of the trail).
Though thousands of people explore the individual trails that make up the ADT annually, only a handful of adventurers have made the full trek across the country since the route was mapped out in 1991 (including one brave equestrian who helped pioneer horse-friendly alternate routes around hiker-only areas).
Even if you can’t take a year off to travel the width of the continent, you can still explore segments of the trails within your own backyard. In California, the trail winds from Point Reyes to Lake Tahoe, through cities such as San Francisco and Sacramento. Why not plan a hostel-to-hostel trip across the Northern California segment of the ADT? You can walk or bike from the Fisherman’s Wharf Hostel in San Francisco to the Sacramento Hostel in the state’s capital, or head north across the Golden Gate Bridge to the Marin Headlands Hostel. Or, journey to Point Reyes National Seashore and the trail’s beginning/end at Limantour Beach, where the land meets the sea less than two miles from the Point Reyes Hostel.
Visit the Discovery Trail website to see maps and detailed route descriptions. You’ll also find links to blogs and websites by travelers who have made the cross-country journey, many of which offer tips and suggestions for exploring the trails.