I have the pleasure of living within only miles of some great hiking locations in West Michigan. North Muskegon State Park, Owasippe Scout Reservation, and the North Country Trail are among the choices I have within a 30 minute drive. Each offer scenic views, elevation, and plenty of woods. The North Country trail however offers hikers something that no other trail can, 4600 miles of hiking pleasure. It is the longest hiking trail in the United States and stretches from New York to North Dakota. It winds through 7 states, 10 national forests, and 150 public lands. If that doesn’t scream adventure, I don’t know what does. As if that wasn’t enough, you can also mountain bike this trail!

I have personally hiked a few different sections of this trail in Northern Michigan and usually bounce from lake to lake enjoying the wooded terrain and wildlife. A trail of this magnitude can seem daunting, but it has some really great resources to help any level of hiker. The North Country Trail Association has a tremendous following and will give you all the info you need to find trail heads, hiker communities, and trail towns. I was able to download the trail info off their site directly into Google Earth to map out the sections I’ve explored and it has maps for both desktop and mobile.

This trail is on the list of adventures for this spring and summer and i plan to broadcast a few section on Meerkat for my peeps to follow along. Check out the links below and plan your next hiking adventure!

https://northcountrytrail.org/

https://vimeo.com/northcountrytrail/videos