Trails > North Country Trail
The North Country National Scenic Trail is a premier footpath that stretches for about 4,600 miles linking communities, forests, and prairies across seven northern states between Crown Point, NY and Lake Sakakawa State Park, ND. Several sections of the trail are still in process, but nearly 2000 miles have been certified off-road. Additional miles follow shared paths and roadways. When completed it will be the longest off-road hiking trail in the United States. Michigan has the largest percentage of the NCT of any of the seven states — just over 500 miles in the Upper Peninsula and nearly 550 miles in the Lower Peninsula.
For the past few years I’ve had a growing fascination with the NCT and have researched and read everything I can find about the trail and the route it follows in Michigan. While I am not a long-distance hiker and doubt that I could ever cover all 4600 miles of the trail, I have set a goal to attempt to hike the entire length of the NCT in Michigan (just over 1000 miles) during the course of my lifetime doing primarily day-hikes and weekend trips.
During 2007 and 2008 we covered a few miles of the NCT in the Upper Peninsula while hiking in the Porcupine Mountains and Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore, but it was more of a coincidental overlap of trails than planned mileage. 2009 is the first year I have actually mapped out a plan for logging significant miles on the NCT, and am hoping to complete the 130-mile Manistee National Forest segment of the trail from the Marilla Trailhead near Hodenpyl Dam Pond in mid-Eastern Manistee County to Croton Dam in Newaygo County during the next 2 years.
Click here to see planned hikes on the NCT
Click here to see miles completed on the NCT