So, we have 3 very long distance hiking trails in the US: the PCT, the AT, and the CDT.
The PCT is likely the most well-known of the three, currently, due to the movie Wild. Running along the west coast, it follows a 2650 mile path that starts at about the middle of the Mexico-California border, skirts the edges of the Mojave desert, runs through the High Sierras, and then up through the Cascade Mountains in northern California, Oregon, and Washington. (If you're really hardcore, the trail does technically extend down into Baja, but that part isn't maintained by the US National Forest Service and you can't legally cross the border along the trail northward) Also, many people consider the true end of the trail to be in Canada, as there is another 8 miles of official trail that extends across the border. In terms of both age and length, the PCT comes in second among the three.
map: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/02/Pacific_crest_trail_route_overview.png
For more information: http://www.pcta.org
Moving east, we have the CDT. The newest and the longest of the trails, it runs 3100 miles, starting at the New Mexico - Mexico border, up through Colorado, Wyoming, Idaho, and Montana, ending at the Canadian Border in Glacier National Park. This trail is actually so new that currently many of the sections are still in planning phases, necessitating bushwacking through or road-hiking around incomplete stretches. It is also the highest and most remote (According to the Continental Divide Trail Coalition) of the three trails. Due to length, difficulty, and remoteness, it is definitely the hardest of the three.
map: http://www.unconventionallife.net/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/cdt_map_large.jpg
For more information: http://www.continentaldividetrail.org/
The AT is the oldest of the three, as well as the shortest at just 2180 miles. On the east coast, it runs from Georgia up to Maine. It is also the most developed. Many times the official trail runs through towns, and there are more than 250 three-sided shelters that have been built along the trail. It is the easiest of the three, and the most traveled: 1800 - 2000 hikers attempt a thru-hike (start to finish in one go) each year, as opposed to 700 - 800 for the PCT, and even less for the CDT.
map: http://www.appalachiantrail.org/images/maps/appalachian-trail-map.jpg
More info at: http://www.appalachiantrail.org/
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