The Father of the American Discovery Trail
The Longest Trail by Eric Seaborg
Backpacker Magazine - May 1992
Vol. 20, No. 3, Issue 114 -
Page 26 | 
American Discovery Trail
(official website) |
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 The American Discovery Trail (ADT) is a new breed of national trail - part city, part small town, part forest, part mountains, part desert - all in one trail. Opened in 2000, its 6,800+ miles of continuous, multi-use trail stretches from Cape Henlopen State Park, Delaware, to Pt. Reyes National Seashore, California. It reaches across America, linking community to community in the first coast to coast, non-motorized trail. The ADT provides trail users the opportunity to journey into the heart of all that is uniquely American - its culture, heritage, landscape and spirit. (November 9, 2014)
The ADT is all about connections - people to people, community to community, urban areas to wilderness. It provides the opportunity for the most adventurous to travel from coast to coast, truly discovering the heart of America. More importantly, it provides millions access to a trail system that improves quality of life and protects our natural resources. The ADT connects five National Scenic, 12 National Historic, and 34 National Recreational Trails; passes through urban centers like Cincinnati and San Francisco; leads to 14 National Parks and 16 National Forests; and visits 10,000 sites of historic, cultural, and natural significance. It is truly the backbone of the National Trails System. (Also see The National Trails System -
An Illustrated History - by Steve Elkinton.) |
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HikaNation influences
the
American Discovery Trail
January 13, 1992 |
HikaNation
A strange and wonderful hike
May 31, 2000 |
The Story of the
American Discovery Trail
Grand Opening Events in 2000 |
American Discovery Trail
Background &
General Information |
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The HikaNation Route | 
American Discovery Trail |
Cape Henlopen State Park, Delaware - November 2011
(photo provided by Terry Shuchart or Bob Palin)
One of the goals of HikaNation was to encourage the development of more hiking trails for the hiking community.
The American Discovery Trail continues that effort and has released a Trail Data Summary of the ADT as of September 2024.
The entire ADT newsletter can be accessed via this link:
ADTS-Autumn-2024-newsletter-final.pdf
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The Reese Lukei, Jr. Lifetime Achievement Award
From Paula Guerrein-Klice:
Congratulations to Eric Seaborg for an award well deserved!
A very special honor named after Reese Lukei, Jr., who was another major hiking contributor involved in
the AT, ATC, AHS, HikaNation and ADT. Two truly dedicated hiking activists who have served and helped
blaze new trails in America. HikaNation references are in the photo below. | 
The entire newsletter is available here:
ADTS Spring 2021 newsletter.pdf
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In response to a Facebook ADT post on June 28, 2025,
I summarized some of the similarities between HikaNation and the ADT.
1. While some of the routes used overlap, most of the ADT covers an area north
of the route that HikaNation traveled. Both have an Atlantic Ocean terminus
at Cape Henlopen, Delaware, while the Pacific Ocean start/end points are slighlty
different--HikaNation started in San Francisco, while the ADT has a terminus point
slightly north of San Francisco at Limantour Beach, Point Reyes National Seashore
2. Glenn Seaborg mapped out the entire route through California for HikaNation,
while his son, Eric Seaborg scouted the entire route for the ADT.
3. HikaNation was a "one-time event" and did not have an established trail
to follow cross-country, so the route was mapped out by various state coordinators
before and during the hike. The ADT is now an established cross-country trail
with on-going reroutes as necessary.
4. Using the ADT website for trail descriptions https://discoverytrail.org/the-trail/
and my murky memory of HikaNation, here are some generalizations of the routes that
HikaNation and the ADT have in common (subject to errors and corrections).
My descriptions are west to east.
California
1. Golden Gate Park to the Embarcadero --
the ADT route sounds very familiar to the route that HikaNation traveled.
Afterwards though, the ADT takes a ferry from the Embarcadero to bypass
the Oakland Bay Bridge while HikaNation continued on from the Embarcadero
through San Francisco and walked across the Oakland Bay Bridge.
2. After crossing the Oakland Bay Bridge in different manners, Berkeley
to Walnut Creek to Mt. Diablo to Sacramento to Folsom to the American River --
the ADT route sounds very familiar to the route that HikaNation traveled.
Nevada
1. Does not appear to be any similarities.
Utah
1. Oak Creek Campground to the Henry Mountains to Hite
Colorado
1. La Junta to Bent's Old Fort to the Kansas state line at Coolidge
Kansas
1. Kansas state line at Coolidge to Garden City to Dodge City
Oklahoma, Arkansas
1. HikaNation only--no ADT trail
Missouri
1. Does not appear to be any similarities.
Illinois
1. HikaNation used the Mishio Trail
https://hikanation.com/bruce2/mishio-foot-trail.html
through Illinois, which is very similar to the current
River-to-River Trail.
The ADT appears to follow the River-to-River Trail for the most part in
the ADT's Southern route.
Indiana, Ohio, Nebraska, Iowa
1. ADT only--HikaNation did not travel through these states.
Kentucky
1. Does not appear to be any similarities.
Virginia
1. HikaNation only--no ADT trail
West Virginia and Maryland and before D.C.
1. Harpers Ferry to Maryland to D.C. using the C&O Canal
D.C.
1. Similar but different routes
Maryland
1. Greenbelt Park to Annapolis
Delaware
1. Lewes to Cape Henlopen and the Atlantic Ocean
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