The American Discovery Trail is a massive, continuous trail stretching 6,800 miles coast-to-coast from California to Delaware.
While it’s been around for a few decades, National Geographic‘s Stephanie Pearson recently shed some new light on the route by including it in her new book, 100 Hikes of a Lifetime U.S.A., which chronicles the country’s best bucket-list hiking trails.
Luckily for those of us in San Francisco, it starts just 1.5 hours north of the city in Point Reyes! Here’s a closer look.
From Limantour Beach to the Atlantic shore
Point Reyes’ Limantour Beach is the western terminus of the American Discovery Trail. The pristine, four-mile stretch of coastline is known for its gentle waves and harbor seals.
From there, the trail’s western segment drops down through Marin, Muir Woods, and San Francisco, before beginning its eastward journey.
The route is composed of paths and backroads through 15 states and over a dozen national parks, crossing landscapes like the Sierra Nevada, Utah’s red-rock canyon country, the Colorado Rockies, and the Great Plains.
“It offers an intimate portrait of almost every American landscape, from small towns to major cities, from wide-open deserts to sheltering forests, and from dense coastal populations to the rural spaces in between,” writes Pearson.
Travelers can choose between a northern and southern route through the Midwest before rejoining around Ohio and proceeding through the eastern states, ending on the Delmarva Peninsula in Delaware.
The America 250 Relay
This July, the American Discovery Route is the focus of a country-wide relay for the country’s 250th-anniversary celebrations. Starting around the 4th of July in Point Reyes, the America 250 Relay will carry a copy of the Declaration of Independence along the route, ending on Thanksgiving on the Delaware coast.
Bay Area participants can already sign up for local segments, with organized hikes starting July 1st. Read our article about the relay to learn more.
