This summer, the coast-to-coast American Discovery Trail will host the America 250 Relay, an enormous 6,800-mile trip across the country. Thousands of hikers will carry a copy of the Declaration of Independence from the Pacific to the Atlantic in honor of the country’s 250th anniversary.
The relay begins this Wednesday just north of San Francisco before traveling through the Bay Area and veering east to traverse the entire country. It ends on Thanksgiving on Delaware’s Delmarva Peninsula.
Anyone can sign up to join segments of the relay, which will be in the Bay Area for about a week, crossing the Golden Gate Bridge on the Fourth of July.
A historic journey across the nation
The America 250 Relay begins on Wednesday, July 1st, at Limantour Beach in Point Reyes, a stunning coastal area roughly a 90-minute drive from San Francisco.
The route passes through Muir Woods and San Francisco, then heads toward Sacramento and climbs into the rugged Sierra Nevada before reaching the Nevada border.
After California, the American Discovery Trail traverses Nevada, Utah, and Colorado, at which point it splits off into a northern and southern route. The northern route proceeds through Nebraska, Iowa, and the northern parts of Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio, while the southern route travels through Kansas, Missouri, and the southern parts of Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio.
The two routes reconvene in Cincinnati, continuing east through Ohio, West Virginia, Maryland, D.C., and Delaware, finishing on Thanksgiving Day at Cape Henlopen.
What is the American Discovery Trail?
The first concept for the American Discovery Trail (ADT) began with late-20th-century efforts to create a truly cross-country, non-motorized route from ocean to ocean.
It was eventually formalized in 1989 through a partnership between the American Hiking Society and Backpacker Magazine. The full, continuous trail route finally launched in the late 1990s.
🌐 Learn more: Visit the official American Discovery Trail website for details about the specific segments and registration.
