The U.S. National Trails System just grew by another nine trails and 340 miles, the Department of the Interior announced last week. The new trails cut across parts of nine states.
The network, which includes both recreational and historical trails, now includes over 1,300 trails and more than 50,000 miles of land and water. There are trails in every state as well was in Washington, DC and Puerto Rico. The system was first established in 1968 to give “people of all ages, interests, skills and physical abilities” more access to the outdoors “in both urban and rural settings.” It’s been growing ever since.
The trails are created and managed by state, tribal, local and non-profit agencies along with federal agencies with land management responsibilities. The Interior and Agriculture Departments add them to the designated list.
The National Park Service maintains an interactive map of the system.
The newest trails, added last week, are in Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Oregon, Tennessee, Texas, Utah and Wisconsin. The image above is from Oregon’s Crown Zellerbach trail.
