WASHINGTON D.C., DC — A nearly 5,000-mile trail extending from Vermont to North Dakota is one of the newest additions to the National Park Service.
The North Country National Scenic Trail includes about 1,150 miles of trail running from the Michigan-Ohio border, across the Straits of Mackinac, and through the Upper Peninsula into Wisconsin.
The 4,800-mile trail crosses through Michigan, Minnesota, North Dakota, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Vermont, and Wisconsin. It showcases a variety of landscapes from forests, to hills, to canyons carved out by glaciers and even sections of the Great Plains.
The trail was authorized by Congress in 1980 after years of surveying northern states for new trails to be added to the National Scenic Trails system, which was established in 1968.
The original path of the North Country National Scenic Trail is vastly different than how it looks now, but that is due to the immense amount of public input received on the trail's path. That public input continues today as the trail is still being finalized.
The North Country National Scenic Trail has special meaning in Michigan, with the North County Trail Association being founded in White Cloud and later moving to Lowell.
A Michigan woman also made history on the trail in 2010, when she became the first woman to complete the North Country National Scenic Trail on foot.
Joan Young then completed a second trip of the trail over an 18-month period, completing it at age 75 in 2023,
In addition to the North Country National Scenic Trail, the Ice Age National Scenic Trail and the New England National Scenic Trail were also added to the National Park System.
The new additions to the park system raises the total number of existing parks from 425 to 428.
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