Hiking the Trans Adirondack Route

March 10, 2015

First snowfall at Flowed Lands

Long-distance hikers are seeking tierra nueva: something beyond the Pacific Crest Trail, Appalachian Trail, Long Trail, and other long-distance venues that may have had their wilderness experiences degraded. The "new land" these hikers seek can be found in Upstate New York, a place where long-distance hiking is not even a blip on the radar. Less than two years old, the 235-mile Trans Adirondack Route has seen only four traverses despite a dozen attempted thru-hikes.

The Trans Adirondack Route pieces together approximately 40 different footpaths, 35 segments of roads, and nine sections of cross-country travel. The footing is nearly as varied as the ecological attractions, which include 55 bodies of water, three summits, and five life zones. Millions of trees are passed along the way. It's a wild trek that crosses five wilderness areas and eight wild forests, all of them set within the Adirondack Park, the largest park and forest preserve in the Lower 48. But enough talk and enough numbers. Let's see what the Trans Adirondack Route looks like.