One Of The Longest Hiking Trails In America Is An Epic Adventure With Stunning Views

America is blessed with some of the best long-distance hiking trails in the world. With stunning landscapes everywhere you turn, it is hardly surprising that hiking is one of the most popular sports in America. From the lush tropical jungles of Hawaii to the icy peaks of Alaska, hiking in the U.S. offers a stunning variety of landscapes, climates, and challenges for keen adventurers to discover.

When it comes to serious long-distance trails, there are a few big names that come to mind. The American Discovery Trail is the longest continuous trail in the country, offering an epic coast-to-coast adventure. The magnificent Appalachian Trail is a thru-hiking icon, one of the most famous in the world, and a bucket-list hike for many. But even that is matched and surpassed by the Great Western Loop, a unique challenge that covers nearly 7,000 miles, 12 national parks, 75 wilderness areas, two deserts, and nine states. It is the longest conceivable thru-hike in the U.S. and offers a truly unforgettable experience.

The Great Western Loop joins up five existing long-distance trails: the Pacific Northwest Trail, the Grand Enchantment Trail, the Arizona Trail, the Continental Divide Trail, and the Pacific Crest Trail. In total, it stretches over 6,875 miles through Arizona, California, Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, Colorado, and New Mexico. The route was first completed in 2007 and has only been finished by a handful of adventurers since.

Taking on the entirety of the Great Western Loop is a challenge that few people have attempted, and even fewer have achieved. Given that the route is 6,875 miles long and runs through pretty much all of the western United States, it is hardly surprising that it has a lot of everything that thru-hiking has to offer. From jagged mountain peaks, plunging canyons, and arid deserts to mist-shrouded forests, damp rainforests, and frozen glaciers, it is a grab-bag of almost every conceivable landscape in the U.S., which is part of what makes it such a challenge to complete.

And it's not just the terrain that is all over the place. The climate can be pretty crazy too, and hikers will find themselves racing against the seasons themselves if they want to make it all the way round. Unsurprisingly, the weather window for traversing the Rocky Mountains, the Sierra Nevada, the Sonoran Desert, and the alpine meadows and melting glaciers of Glacier National Park, one of the most dangerous camping destinations in America, is small.

As you might expect from a route that crosses five major mountain ranges, the Great Western Loop trail comes with some of the most stunning views you'll find on any hiking trail, anywhere. On what other hike could you look out over the Grand Canyon, the snow-covered volcanic rocks of Mammoth Lakes, the Continental Divide in the Rocky Mountains, the stunning forests of the Pacific Northwest, and the bleak beauty of the Mojave Desert, all in a single trip?

Only three people are officially documented as having completed the Great Western Loop, but thanks to its length and the fact that it links up several other coherent trails, taking on smaller sections of this magnificent, mad endeavor is completely valid (and probably sensible).

One of the most impressive sections runs along the popular Pacific Crest Trail in California, from Kennedy Meadows to Mammoth Lakes. This encompasses Sequoia National Park, Muir Pass in the Sierra Nevada, and the impressive waterfalls and basalt formations of Mammoth Lakes. The 250 miles in Oregon from Crater Lake to Pyramid Butte Junction is pretty special too, boasting the summit of Mount Hood, plenty of snow, and a bunch of wildlife. Once you hit the Pacific Northwest Trail, there are some staggering mountain views (including the glaciated peak of Mount Rainier), as well as a whole load of gorgeous forests to explore.

If snowy mountains and rainforests aren't really your speed, the southern part of the Great Western Loop brings a totally different vibe. The Wilderness areas in Wyoming and Colorado are far more expansive, with a bleak, rocky beauty that seems to go on forever, and once you get over the jackknife ridges of the San Juan Mountains, the otherworldly landscapes of the Sonoran Desert in Arizona are astonishing.