The Eastern Continental Trail (ECT) is a network of

hiking trails A trail, also known as a path or track, is an unpaved lane or a small paved road (though it can also be a route along a navigable waterways) generally not intended for usage by motorized vehicles, usually passing through a natural area. Howe ...

in the United States and Canada, reaching from

Key West, Florida Key West is an island in the Straits of Florida, at the southern end of the U.S. state of Florida. Together with all or parts of the separate islands of Sigsbee Park, Dredgers Key, Fleming Key, Sunset Key, and the northern part of Stock Islan ...

Belle Isle, Newfoundland and Labrador Belle Isle ( , ; ) is a sparsely populated island slightly more than off the coast of Labrador and slightly less than north of Newfoundland at the Atlantic entrance to the Strait of Belle Isle, which takes its name. Named by the Breton expl ...

Description

The hiking distance of the ECT is approximately , not including water gaps around Newfoundland. The trail system was named by long-distance hiker M. J. Eberhart (trail name:

Nimblewill Nomad Meredith J. Eberhart, widely known by his nickname Nimblewill Nomad, is an American perpetual hiker and has been the focus of various news stories. As of November 2021, he is considered the oldest person, at 83 years old, to have completely hiked ...

). The first person to complete the ECT from Key West to

Cap Gaspé Cap Gaspé is a headland at the eastern extremity of the Gaspé Peninsula in the Canadian province of Quebec. It is within Forillon National Park Forillon National Park, one of 42 national parks and park reserves across Canada, is located at ...

, Quebec, was John Brinda in 1997. From south to north, the route strings together the

Florida Keys Overseas Heritage Trail The Florida Keys Overseas Heritage Trail is a paved rail trail—a multi-use bicycle and pedestrian facility—being constructed between Key Largo and Key West in the Florida Keys. , of the trail has been constructed. History and route Usin ...

rail trail A rail trail or railway walk is a shared-use path on a Right of way#Rail right of way, railway right of way. Rail trails are typically constructed after a railway has been abandoned and the track has been removed but may also share the rail corr ...

that is partially complete as of early 2022), the

Florida Trail The Florida Trail is one of eleven National Scenic Trails in the United States, created by the National Trails System Act of 1968 (Public Law 90-543). It runs , from Big Cypress National Preserve (between Miami and Naples, along the Tamiami Tra ...

, a road walk through southern Alabama, the

Pinhoti National Recreation Trail The Pinhoti Trail is a Southern Appalachian Mountains long-distance trail, in length, located in the United States within the states of Alabama and Georgia. The trail's southern terminus is on Flagg Mountain, near Weogufka, Alabama, the southe ...

, and part of the

Benton MacKaye Trail The Benton MacKaye Trail or BMT is a footpath nearly in length in the Appalachian Mountains in the southeastern United States and is blazed by a white diamond, 5″ across by 7″ tall. The hiking trail was created and is maintained by the Be ...

, to reach the southern terminus of the

Appalachian Trail The Appalachian Trail, also called the A.T., is a hiking trail in the Eastern United States, extending almost between Springer Mountain in Georgia and Mount Katahdin in Maine, and passing through 14 states.Gailey, Chris (2006)"Appalachian Tra ...

Springer Mountain Springer Mountain is a mountain located in the Chattahoochee National Forest on the border of Fannin and Gilmer counties. Located in the Blue Ridge Mountains in northern Georgia, the mountain has an elevation of about . Springer Mountain serv ...

, Georgia. The ECT includes the entire Appalachian Trail to

Mount Katahdin Mount Katahdin ( ) is the highest mountain in the U.S. state of Maine at . Named Katahdin, which means "Great Mountain", by the Penobscot Native Americans, it is within Northeast Piscataquis, Piscataquis County, and is the centerpiece of B ...

, Maine, then continues on the

International Appalachian Trail The International Appalachian Trail (IAT; , SIA) was originally a hiking trail which ran from Katahdin Woods and Waters National Monument, in Maine, through New Brunswick, to the Gaspé Peninsula of Quebec, after which it followed a ferry route ...

through Maine, New Brunswick, and Quebec. The hiking trail ends at the Gulf of St. Lawrence; the hiker can then travel to Newfoundland by other means and complete the next section of the ECT across that island. After another water gap, the ECT reaches its symbolic end at Belle Isle off the northern end of Newfoundland's

Great Northern Peninsula The Great Northern Peninsula (or simply just the Northern Peninsula) is the largest and longest peninsula of Newfoundland, Canada, approximately 270 km long and 90 km wide at its widest point and encompassing an area of 17,483 km2. ...

Components

From south to north, these are the established trails that have been incorporated into the ECT: *

(under development) *

Pinhoti Trail The Pinhoti Trail is a Southern Appalachian Mountains long-distance trail, in length, located in the United States within the states of Alabama and Georgia. The trail's southern terminus is on Flagg Mountain, near Weogufka, Alabama, the souther ...

References

{{Coord missing, Newfoundland and Labrador

External links

Unofficial sites
Eastern Continental Trail
Hiking trails in Alabama Hiking trails in Connecticut Hiking trails in Florida Hiking trails in Georgia (U.S. state) Hiking trails in Maine Hiking trails in Maryland Hiking trails in Massachusetts Hiking trails in New Hampshire Hiking trails in New Jersey Hiking trails in New York (state) Hiking trails in Newfoundland and Labrador Hiking trails in North Carolina Hiking trails in Pennsylvania Hiking trails in Tennessee Hiking trails in Vermont Hiking trails in Virginia Hiking trails in West Virginia Long-distance trails in the United States