8-state trail · National Scenic Trail

North Country National Scenic Trail

4,800 mi long · across 8 states · centroid 85 mi from Grand Rapids

The North Country National Scenic Trail is the longest of the eleven National Scenic Trails, running approximately 4,800 miles from North Dakota to Vermont through eight northern states. Designated in 1980, it links Lewis and Clark Trail terrain in the west to the Appalachian Trail in the east, traversing the Great Lakes shoreline and the Adirondack Mountains.

North Country National Scenic Trail
Photo via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0).
States
North Dakota, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania, New York, Vermont
Length
4,800 mi
Trail type
National Scenic Trail
Network
National (nwn)
Centroid nearest city
Grand Rapids, MI · 85 mi · ~2.5 hr drive
Centroid coords
44.1732°, -85.3279°
Official site
northcountrytrail.org
OSM relations
8 sub-relations on OpenStreetMap
From Wikipedia: The North Country Trail is a long-distance hiking trail in the Midwestern and Northeastern United States. The trail extends roughly 4,800 miles (7,700 km) from Lake Sakakawea State Park in North Dakota to the Appalachian Trail in Green Mountain National Forest in Vermont, passing through eight states along its route. As of 2023, most of the trail is in place, though about one-third of the distance consists of road walking; those segments are frequently evaluated for transfer to off-road segments on nearby public or private lands. Excerpt from the Wikipedia article on North Country Trail, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

Termini

Start & end

Eastern terminus: Crown Point State Historic Site, New York.

Western terminus: Lake Sakakawea State Park, North Dakota.

Plan your hike

Practical notes

Maps + permits: long-distance trails like this often require permits for through-hiking, backcountry camping, or specific sections (especially in National Parks). Check with the maintaining organisation listed above and the relevant land manager before booking travel.

Water + supplies: water sources vary seasonally on most U.S. trails. Carry a filter and consult current trail-condition reports — through-hiker journals (PCT-L, AT Reddit, etc.) and the maintaining organisation publish regular updates.

When to go: hiking seasons vary widely with elevation, latitude, and snowpack. Through-hikers traditionally start the AT in March-April (Springer northbound) and the PCT in late April (Campo northbound). High-elevation western trails (CDT, JMT, Wonderland) generally aren't passable until July.

If you've hiked North Country National Scenic Trail and have current notes (water sources, trail closures, permit changes), tell us at /contact — we update pages as we learn.

Stay nearby

Affiliate · disclosed
Driving in? The nearest documented metro is Grand Rapids, MI — 85 miles away (~2.5 hr drive). See accommodation in Grand Rapids on Booking.com → RoamFound earns a small commission if you book through this link, at no extra cost to you. How we handle affiliate links.

Sources

Public data + curation

Trail data on this page is compiled from OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL), the maintaining organisation's public-facing materials, and Wikipedia (CC BY-SA where excerpts are quoted). Distance, terminus, and descriptive text for nationally-designated trails are hand-curated from federal land-manager websites and trail-association sources. We do not modify the underlying data; this page presents what is already publicly recorded. To suggest corrections, see our methodology page.