The World’s Longest Hiking Trail Is Ready for Your Oohs and Aahs

Canada's 'Great Trail' is finally connected and complete

September 5, 2017 9:00 am

The Appalachian Trail. The Long Trail. The PCT.

The C2C in Britain, the GR20 in France and the Milford Track in New Zealand.

Now, there’s another bucket-list walk to hikers, and it dwarfs the others: Canada’s Great Trail, stretching across the country and between three oceans for 24,000 kilometers (that’s nearly 15,000 miles, people!) 

We covered the trail last year, when it was just a gleam in Canada’s eye. Now though, the network of new and existing trails has officially been made complete. It’s in time for Canada’s 150th anniversary — if not, quite, for the summer backpacking season. The best thing about the trail is its comprehensiveness: it reaches to Canada’s extreme north, terminating in the sub-arctic landscape that overlooks the Beaufort Sea. Once you’re there, next stop is the Arctic Ocean.

Hardy hikers looking to take the trail now might be better exploring its southern reaches: The Niagara River Recreation Pathway is spectacular this time of year

Note that this really is more a network of trails, less the Canadian equivalent of a brand-new Appalachian Trail, as it is a connection of trails linking them to all the other major trails in the country.

Also worth nothing: when they say it’s a network of multi-use trails, they really mean multi-use: For some of them — like the Lake Superior Water Trail in Pukaskwa National Park — you’ll need a kayak, or a very high level of interest in some very cold swimming. 

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