A bi-partisan contingent of U.S. Senators and Representatives have renewed efforts to improve the North Country Scenic Trail. If enacted, the recently reintroduced legislation would include a major reroute of the trail in Minnesota. It would also extend the trail to Vermont, thus allowing it to connect with the Appalachian Trail.
The trail - which currently extends from North Dakota to New York - was never built along certain sections in Minnesota. The originally proposed route passed through wetland areas that are difficult to build through, and have raised many conservation concerns. The newly reintroduced legislation would revise the authorized trail route to avoid these wetland areas by incorporating 400 miles of existing trails in the Minnesota Arrowhead region, which includes the Boundary Waters and North Shore of Lake Superior.
If the billed is passed by Congress and signed into law, the North Country National Scenic Trail would extend for roughly 4600 miles: from North Dakota to Vermont. If that wasn't enough, hikers could extend a one-way hike by heading south along the Appalachian Trail, thus making a one-way hike that travels for almost 6800 miles!
For more information on the bill, please
click here. For a PDF version of the NCST map, please
click here.
Jeff
HikingintheSmokys.com
HikinginGlacier.com
RockyMountainHikingTrails.com
TetonHikingTrails.com
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