Other trails pale for hikers taking greateststrides across Continent
I’m lucky enough to live near some woods, so I can easily pop out for a stroll for my daily exercise during lockdown.
I was going to ask you about the world’s largest forest, but I know that would be the Amazon, so what I’d like to know is, which is the longest trail on earth (I’m guessing Canada or Russia), and how long would it take for an old stroller like me to complete it? – N.
You are quite right when you say that the Amazon rainforest is the world’s largest.
It covers an area of 2.2 million square miles (5.5m km²). That’s large enough to swallow up the whole of Great Britain and Ireland – 17 times!
However, you are wrong with your guess about the longest trail as it is in fact in the United States.
The Continental Divide Trail runs the length of the States, from the Crazy Cook Monument in New Mexico in the south to Waterton Lakes, just over the border in Canada’s Alberta province.
Passing through five states
– New Mexico, Colorado, Wyoming, Idaho and Montana – the trail is approximately 3,100 miles long.
The lowest point of the trail, at 3,900ft (1,200m) is just after the start, at Columbus, New Mexico at the highest is at point Grays Peak, Colorado, which summits at a leg-wearying 14,278ft (4,352m).
Along the way, there are many dangers, including the risk of dehydration, hypothermia, landslides, avalanches, lightning, blizzards and all sorts of extreme weather.
There are plenty of animals to beware of, too, including black bears, grizzly bears and mountain lions.
However, there is no denying the beauty of the trail as it follows the Continental Divide of the Americas along the Rocky Mountains.
Only around 200 people a year attempt to hike the entire length of the trail, and it takes them around six months.