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.

Great American Rail-Trail

Great American Rail-Trail Week 2: From Cumberland Over the Continental Divide

Great American Rail-Trail Week 2: Bernie Krausse walks from Cumberland over the Eastern Continental Divide, past the Darr Mine memorial, through Pittsburgh's steel skyline, and across three states in seven hours — field-verifying the westbound route into Ohio as he goes.

American Discovery Trail

Popeye, Highland Cows, and an 80-to-15 Degree Weather Whiplash

This week's dispatch covers five states and two coast-to-coast trails. Renae survives a 65-degree temperature swing at Dolly Sods, Rhiis and Sara discover Popeye's hometown, Bernie adds 23 waypoints on the C&O Canal, and Greg James becomes a Trail Angel in Kansas.

Great American Rail-Trail

Week One on the Great American Rail-Trail: Bernie Krausse Reports from the C&O Canal

Bernie Krausse is one week into his Great American Rail-Trail thru-hike — and already sending back the kind of trail intelligence you can't get from a guidebook. Here's what he found between D.C. and Cumberland. 🥾

American Discovery Trail

Mystery Cars, Abandoned Corn Pickers, and 31 New Waypoints

Rhiis and Sara are hiking the River to River Trail in Southern Illinois and sending back real-time field updates. This week: Ferne Clyffe State Park earns best trail section honors, Panther Den Wilderness conditions, new campsites, water sources, and 31 new waypoints added to our GPS data.

Great American Rail-Trail

Double-Triple Crown Hiker Just Stepped Off the Capitol Reflecting Pool to Walk Across America

Double-Triple Crown finisher Bernie Krause stepped off the Capitol Reflecting Pool today, beginning a 3,800-mile westbound thru-hike of the Great American Rail-Trail. His journey is also field-verifying Hiking America's GPS data for future hikers.

Great American Rail-Trail

ADT vs Great American Rail-Trail: Two Ways to Walk Across America

Both trails cross America. One is coast-to-coast, the other cross-country from D.C. to Washington State. But they're fundamentally different experiences. Here's how the American Discovery Trail and Great American Rail-Trail compare — and which one fits your goals.

American Discovery Trail

80 New Waypoints and Counting: Field Reports from ADT Illinois

Rhiis and Sara have contributed 80 new waypoints across the ADT in Southern Illinois — including a new Trail Angel, dispersed camping, water sources, and track corrections.

Great American Rail-Trail

First-Ever Known Thru-Hike of the Great American Rail-Trail: Bernie Krausse to Make History

Double Triple-Crowner Bernie Krausse — with 57,000 career miles — is about to make history with the first-ever known thru-hike of the Great American Rail-Trail. Hiking America has spent months mapping the gap routes to make this 3,700+ mile coast-to-coast journey hikeable right now.

Indiana

On the Trail: Familiar Names and a New Face

Trail Updates, New Faces, and a Few Welcome Changes on the Indiana Route

How To

How Hiking America Works with Gaia GPS.

A Hiking America subscription gives you turn-by-turn PDF guides and live Gaia GPS access — both included. Works on free and premium Gaia GPS. Your waypoints sync automatically when the trail changes. Here's how it all fits together.