American Discovery Trail

Behind the Waypoints: A Rare Look at How Hiking America Builds Its Trail Data

A free campground in Great Bend, KS, verified by five hikers across five seasons, 2021–2026. When Rhiis & Sara walked up this June, the church invited them in for food, drinks, and Scrabble.

Great American Rail-Trail

Over the Divide: Bernie Crosses the Spine of the Continent

On Day 89, Bernie Krausse stood on the Continental Divide at 9,655 feet — the line where the country tips from one ocean toward the other. He'd walked from the Capitol Reflecting Pool to reach it.

trail-tools

Charting the Course: Hiking America's Trail Tools

Long-distance hiking involves a lot of math. We are building Trail Tools to handle some of it for you — starting with a free GPX Distance Finder that works entirely in your browser.

Great American Rail-Trail

Wyoming's Great Wide Open: The Rockies Come Into View

On Day 79, somewhere past Manville, an entire mountain range rose on the horizon. Bernie Krausse had walked the eastern half of the country to reach it — and the hardest water of the trip was still ahead.

American Discovery Trail

A Few Feet Off Trail: The Quiet Magic of Lake Georgia-Sue

A golf course turned horse rescue turned hiker refuge — and one of the most unexpectedly moving stops on the ADT. Here's the story Rhiis & Sara brought back

Great American Rail-Trail

A Wildfire Reroute Across Nebraska: Week 11 on the Great American Rail-Trail

Somewhere back near the Atlantic, Bernie started climbing — and hasn't stopped. Week 11 of his Great American Rail-Trail thru-hike took him up through the Nebraska Sandhills, into the homes of trail angels, and around a wildfire that closed the highway ahead.

Great American Rail-Trail

The Great American Rail-Trail for Hikers: Why This Isn't Just a Bike Trail

Most coverage of the Great American Rail-Trail centers on cycling. But walk it and you're on a different trail — one where the gaps matter less, the route choices open up, and the hardest state to ride becomes some of the best country to hike. Here's what the Great American looks like on foot.

Great American Rail-Trail

Update on Bernie and the South Fork Fire: Routing Around a Wildfire in Northwest Nebraska

The South Fork Fire crossed Highway 20 right on Bernie Krausse's Great American Rail-Trail route near Crawford, Nebraska. He took a zero day, weighed two detours, and went north — and he should reach Harrison tonight.

American Discovery Trail

What's New on the ADT in Kansas: A City Surprise and Two Detours

Rhiis and Sara are walking the American Discovery Trail through eastern Kansas right now and sending back what they find. This week: two new detours around construction, 72 fresh waypoints, and a Kansas City walk that surprised them.

Bernie & the South Fork Fire — Great American Rail-Trail Update

Bernie Krausse has been working west through Nebraska's Panhandle this week, up into the Pine Ridge, with the Wyoming line not far off. He's about ten weeks into what we believe is the first known thru-hike of the Great American Rail-Trail, having started at

Great American Rail-Trail Featured

Where the East Lets Go: Bernie's Week 10 on the Cowboy Trail

Past the halfway point of his Great American Rail-Trail thru-hike, Bernie Krausse spent Week 10 on Nebraska's Cowboy Trail — where the cornfields thin out, the grass takes over, and the East finally lets go of the West. Storms, prickly pear, fellow travelers, and small-town grace.

American Discovery Trail

Three Hikers, One Trail, and a Colorado Running Dry

Three hikers, fifteen hundred miles apart: Tyler 'Iceman' Reiser drops out of the Sierra snow into California, Rhiis and Sara return from a month off near Kansas, and Colorado's snowpack hits a near-record low. Here's where they are — and the water waiting in the high country this summer.

Great American Rail-Trail Featured

Halfway Across America: A Week of Trail Magic on the Great American Rail-Trail

Days 57–63 of the first known thru-hike of the Great American Rail-Trail. Bernie Krausse crosses the middle of Nebraska, reaches the rough midpoint between Washington, D.C. and Washington State, and turns west toward the Rockies — carried by a week of small-town kindness.

Great American Rail-Trail

Storm Chasing and State Lines: Bernie Krausse Crosses Iowa on the Great American Rail-Trail

A 39-mile push to outrun a tornado-watch system, a restored train depot serving as a trail waypoint, and a crossing into Nebraska on foot. Bernie Krausse's Week 8 on the Great American Rail-Trail is up. Here's what the final Iowa section looks like right now.

American Discovery Trail

How to Break the American Discovery Trail Into Manageable Sections (Without Losing Your Mind)

Last week, Leif Olson completed the entire American Discovery Trail — all 6,800 miles. He joins Bernie Krausse and Brianna DeSanctis in a very small group of hikers who've walked every mile. Most ADT hikers don't do that. Here's how to think about planning the route that's right for you.

Great American Rail-Trail

Bernie's Week 7: Trail Angels and Iowa's Open Road

Week 7 finds Bernie Krausse deep in Iowa — moving through Cedar Rapids, Waterloo, and Marshalltown on the first known thru-hike of the Great American Rail-Trail. Coyotes, cyclists, a Saint Bernard, and two extraordinary trail angels made this one of his most memorable weeks yet.

American Discovery Trail

Iceman in the Nevada Basin: Water, Wild Horses, and What the ADT Actually Teaches You

ADT hiker Iceman just pushed 39 miles through central Nevada in a single day — not because he wanted to, but because the water situation demanded it. Here's what his journals tell us about planning this section of the American Discovery Trail.

Great American Rail-Trail

Bernie Krausse's Week 6: Illinois to Iowa on the Great American Rail-Trail

Bernie Krausse's Week 6 of the first known thru-hike of the Great American Rail-Trail takes him through the I&M Canal corridor, across the Hennepin Canal, over the Mississippi, and into Iowa. New waypoints, GPS reroutes, and new trail intelligence.

American Discovery Trail

Trail Closures, Trail Angels, and One Very Determined Hiker in Southern Indiana

Renae Gupta is hiking through southern Indiana and sharing what she finds — two active Knobstone Trail closures, a thigh-high creek ford, a beautiful shortcut into Madison, and some of the warmest trail hospitality you'll encounter on the ADT.

Great American Rail-Trail

Bernie's Week 5: Indiana, Illinois, and the People Who Show Up

A little over one month in, and Bernie Krausse is moving through Indiana and into Illinois on the Great American Rail-Trail — through thunderstorms that turned his hands blue, trail angels who opened their homes, and a canal towpath that's been carrying travelers since 1848.

American Discovery Trail

The American Discovery Trail Is Having a Moment

Seven hikers are out on the American Discovery Trail right now — eight if you count Bernie Krausse on the Great American Rail-Trail through the shared Illinois corridor. And this is just the beginning of what's shaping up to be a record-setting year for the ADT.

Great American Rail-Trail

Life on the Great American Rail-Trail: Week 4 — Ohio to Indiana

Bernie Krausse crossed into Indiana on Day 25 of his Great American Rail-Trail thru-hike — 39 miles, a headwind, and no sign marking the state line. Week 4 covered storms, a zero day, trail magic from Jeri, and a gap route fix between Gaston and Jonesboro.

American Discovery Trail

'A Cadence My Body Knows to Keep'

Fresh spring field reports from the ADT: Leif Olson completes Utah solo and unsupported, crossing into Nevada with California still ahead. Ohio's Buckeye Trail rebounds. Missouri's Katy Trail updated. Here's what's changed on the ground. 🥾

Great American Rail-Trail

Bernie's Week 3: Ohio's Rail-Trails, Amish Country & 230 Miles

Week 3 on the Great American Rail-Trail: flood detours on the Ohio and Erie Canal Towpath, Amish women on E-bikes in Holmes County, morels found mid-hike, and a chance encounter with a biker heading to the Pacific. Bernie Krausse is 230 miles deeper into Ohio. Still moving.

American Discovery Trail

Spring on the ADT — Who's Out There Right Now

Spring 2026 is shaping up to be one of the more active seasons we've seen on the American Discovery Trail. From Rhiis and Sara crossing into St. Louis, to Leif Olson's hard miles through Utah, to Scott Arnett's first day out of Lee's Summit — here's what hikers are sending back.