A trail is usually a path, track or unpaved lane or road. In the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland path or footpath is the preferred term for a walking trail. The term is also applied, in North America, to routes along rivers, and sometimes to highways. In the US, the term was historically used for a route into or through wild territory used by emigrants. In the USA "trace" is a synonym for trail, as in Natchez Trace. Some trails are single use and can only be used for walking, cycling, horse riding, snowshoeing, and cross-country skiing; others, as in the case of a bridleway in the UK, are multi-use, and can be used by walkers, cyclists and equestrians. There are also unpaved trails used by dirt bikes and other off-road vehicles and in some places, like the Alps, trails are used for moving cattle and other livestock.
Hiking is a long, vigorous walk, usually on trails or footpaths in the countryside. "Hiking" is the preferred term in Canada and the United States; the term "walking" is used in these regions for shorter, particularly urban walks. In the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland, the word "walking" describes all forms of walking, whether it is a walk in the park or backpacking in the Alps. The word hiking is also often used in the UK, along with rambling, hillwalking, and fell walking. The term bushwalking is endemic to Australia, having been adopted by the Sydney Bush Walkers club in 1927. In New Zealand a long, vigorous walk or hike is called tramping. It is a popular activity with numerous hiking organizations worldwide, and studies suggest that all forms of walking have health benefits.
The Thuringian Forest, is a mountain range in the southern parts of the German state of Thuringia, running northwest to southeast between the valley of the river Werra near Eisenach and the Thuringian-Vogtlandian Slate Mountains. The geographical boundary with the latter range follows approximately a line from Gehren via Großbreitenbach to Schönbrunn near Schleusingen, defined by the rivers Schleuse and Neubrunn on the southwestern slope, and Talwasser, Wohlrose and Möhre on the northeastern slope.
The Pacific Crest Trail, officially designated as the Pacific Crest National Scenic Trail (PCT) is a long-distance hiking and equestrian trail closely aligned with the highest portion of the Cascade and Sierra Nevada mountain ranges, which lie 100 to 150 miles east of the U.S. Pacific coast. The trail's southern terminus is just south of Campo, California by the U.S. border with Mexico, and its northern terminus is on the Canada–US border on the edge of Manning Park in British Columbia; it passes through the U.S. in the states of California, Oregon, and Washington.
The Continental Divide National Scenic Trail is a United States National Scenic Trail running 3,100 miles (5,000 km) between Chihuahua and Alberta. It follows the Continental Divide of the Americas along the Rocky Mountains and traverses five U.S. states — Montana, Idaho, Wyoming, Colorado, and New Mexico. In Montana it crosses Triple Divide Pass The trail is a combination of dedicated trails and small roads and considered 70% complete. Portions designated as uncompleted must be traveled by roadwalking on dirt or paved roads. This trail can be continued north into Alberta and B.C., to Kawkawa Lake, B.C., north of Jasper National Park by the Great Divide Trail.
The Icknield Way is an ancient trackway in southern and eastern England that goes from Norfolk to Wiltshire. It follows the chalk escarpment that includes the Berkshire Downs and Chiltern Hills.
The Long Path is a 357-mile (575 km) long-distance hiking trail beginning at the George Washington Bridge in Fort Lee, New Jersey and ending at Altamont, New York, in the Albany area. While not yet a continuous trail, relying on road walks in some areas, it nevertheless takes in many of the popular hiking attractions west of the Hudson River, such as the New Jersey Palisades, Harriman State Park, the Shawangunk Ridge and the Catskill Mountains. It offers hikers a diversity of environments to pass through, from suburbia and sea-level salt marshes along the Hudson to wilderness and boreal forest on Catskill summits 4,000 feet (1,220 m) in elevation.
A bridle path, also bridleway, equestrian trail, horse riding path, ride, bridle road, or horse trail, is a path, trail or a thoroughfare that is used by people riding on horses. Trails originally created for use by horses often now serve a wider range of users, including equestrians, hikers, and cyclists. Such paths are either impassable for motorized vehicles, or vehicles are banned. The laws relating to allowable uses vary from country to country.
The E1 European long-distance path, or just E1 path, is one of the European long-distance paths designated by the European Ramblers' Association. It has a total length of some 4,960 miles (7,980 km). It begins in Norway at Nordkapp, and crosses the Kattegat between Sweden and Denmark by ferry. It passes through Denmark, Germany, and Switzerland to finish at Scapoli, Italy. This path was extended southwards to Sicily, in Italy in 2018.
Tumbledown Mountain is a mountain in Franklin County, Maine. The mountain is a popular hiking spot in western Maine, with trailheads located on Byron Road in unincorporated Township 6, north of Weld. It is distinguished by an alpine pond just below the summit. Tumbledown Mountain is also located near Coos Canyon, a mountain stream. Tumbledown offers trails of varying difficulty for different hikers.
The Westweg is a long-distance hiking trail in Germany, running north–south through the Black Forest from Pforzheim to Basel. The trail is around 285 km long, and was founded in 1900. It is currently maintained under the auspices of the Black Forest Club. The trail symbol is a red lozenge on a white background. The Westweg is a part of the European Long-distance Trail E1 The route passes through or near numerous villages or small towns, so there is no difficulty in finding overnight accommodation and meals along the route. It would actually require more planning to walk it while staying in youth hostel-type accommodation, or camping. There are a number of services that will transport your luggage to the next accommodation by vehicle, leaving the hikers with only their daypacks for the hike. The route can be accessed at several places along its length by road or public transport, so it is easy to walk part of it or to do day walks along its route.
The E4 European long distance path or E4 path is one of the European long-distance paths. Starting at Tarifa Andalusia, located at the southernmost end of the Iberian Peninsula, across the Strait of Gibraltar facing Morocco, it continues through Spain, France, Switzerland, Germany, Austria, Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria and Greece to end in Cyprus. It also visits the Greek island of Crete.
Walking is one of the most popular outdoor recreational activities in the United Kingdom, and within England and Wales there is a comprehensive network of rights of way that permits access to the countryside. Furthermore, access to much uncultivated and unenclosed land has opened up since the enactment of the Countryside and Rights of Way Act 2000. In Scotland the ancient tradition of universal access to land was formally codified under the Land Reform (Scotland) Act 2003. However, there are few rights of way, or other access to land in Northern Ireland.
Ridgeways are a particular type of ancient road that exploits the hard surface of hilltop ridges for use as unpaved, zero-maintenance roads, though they often have the disadvantage of steeper gradients along their courses, and sometimes quite narrow widths. Before the advent of turnpikes or toll roads, ridgeway trails continued to provide the firmest and safest cart tracks. They are generally an opposite to level, valley-bottom, paved roads, which require engineering work to shore up and maintain. Unmaintained valley routes may require greater travelling distances than ridgeways.
A long-distance trail is a longer recreational trail mainly through rural areas used for hiking, backpacking, cycling, horse riding or cross-country skiing. They exist on all continents except Antarctica.
The Pinzgau Ridgeway is a roughly 25 kilometre long ridgeway in the Kitzbühel Alps in the Austrian federal state of Salzburg.
The Kammweg ("Ridgeway") was a long-distance path opened in 1904 along the crest of the Elster Mountains, Ore Mountains, Bohemian Switzerland, Lusatian Mountains, Ještěd Mountains, Jizera and Giant Mountains, Śnieżnik Mountains and High Ash Mountains. This path was once the longest tourist trail in the German-speaking region of Europe. Since 2011 the ridgeway tradition has been continued with the Ore Mountains-Vogtland Ridgeway, which runs on the German side of the border.
The Tahoe–Yosemite Trail (TYT) is a long-distance trail in the Sierra Nevada mountain range of California. The trail courses 186 miles (299 km) from Meeks Bay at Lake Tahoe to Tuolumne Meadows in Yosemite National Park. The trail is a foot and equestrian path that passes through the Desolation, Mokelumne, Carson-Iceberg, Emigrant, and Yosemite Wilderness Areas and the Meiss Country (Dardanelles) Roadless Area.
Kom–Emine is a high-mountain long-distance trail in Bulgaria. The route follows the main ridge of the Balkan Mountains, which bisect the country and give the Balkan Peninsula its name. Beginning at Kom Peak in the west near the border with Serbia, Kom–Emine continues east for some 650 km (400 mi) until it reaches the Bulgarian Black Sea Coast at Cape Emine.
