Great American Rail-Trail

A collection of 21 posts

Great American Rail-Trail

Over the Divide: Bernie Crosses the Spine of the Continent

On Day 89, Bernie Krausse stood on the Continental Divide at 9,655 feet — the line where the country tips from one ocean toward the other. He'd walked from the Capitol Reflecting Pool to reach it.

trail-tools

Charting the Course: Hiking America's Trail Tools

Long-distance hiking involves a lot of math. We are building Trail Tools to handle some of it for you — starting with a free GPX Distance Finder that works entirely in your browser.

Great American Rail-Trail

Wyoming's Great Wide Open: The Rockies Come Into View

On Day 79, somewhere past Manville, an entire mountain range rose on the horizon. Bernie Krausse had walked the eastern half of the country to reach it — and the hardest water of the trip was still ahead.

Great American Rail-Trail

A Wildfire Reroute Across Nebraska: Week 11 on the Great American Rail-Trail

Somewhere back near the Atlantic, Bernie started climbing — and hasn't stopped. Week 11 of his Great American Rail-Trail thru-hike took him up through the Nebraska Sandhills, into the homes of trail angels, and around a wildfire that closed the highway ahead.

Great American Rail-Trail

The Great American Rail-Trail for Hikers: Why This Isn't Just a Bike Trail

Most coverage of the Great American Rail-Trail centers on cycling. But walk it and you're on a different trail — one where the gaps matter less, the route choices open up, and the hardest state to ride becomes some of the best country to hike. Here's what the Great American looks like on foot.

Great American Rail-Trail

Update on Bernie and the South Fork Fire: Routing Around a Wildfire in Northwest Nebraska

The South Fork Fire crossed Highway 20 right on Bernie Krausse's Great American Rail-Trail route near Crawford, Nebraska. He took a zero day, weighed two detours, and went north — and he should reach Harrison tonight.

Great American Rail-Trail Featured

Where the East Lets Go: Bernie's Week 10 on the Cowboy Trail

Past the halfway point of his Great American Rail-Trail thru-hike, Bernie Krausse spent Week 10 on Nebraska's Cowboy Trail — where the cornfields thin out, the grass takes over, and the East finally lets go of the West. Storms, prickly pear, fellow travelers, and small-town grace.

Great American Rail-Trail Featured

Halfway Across America: A Week of Trail Magic on the Great American Rail-Trail

Days 57–63 of the first known thru-hike of the Great American Rail-Trail. Bernie Krausse crosses the middle of Nebraska, reaches the rough midpoint between Washington, D.C. and Washington State, and turns west toward the Rockies — carried by a week of small-town kindness.

Great American Rail-Trail

Storm Chasing and State Lines: Bernie Krausse Crosses Iowa on the Great American Rail-Trail

A 39-mile push to outrun a tornado-watch system, a restored train depot serving as a trail waypoint, and a crossing into Nebraska on foot. Bernie Krausse's Week 8 on the Great American Rail-Trail is up. Here's what the final Iowa section looks like right now.

Great American Rail-Trail

Bernie's Week 7: Trail Angels and Iowa's Open Road

Week 7 finds Bernie Krausse deep in Iowa — moving through Cedar Rapids, Waterloo, and Marshalltown on the first known thru-hike of the Great American Rail-Trail. Coyotes, cyclists, a Saint Bernard, and two extraordinary trail angels made this one of his most memorable weeks yet.

Great American Rail-Trail

Bernie Krausse's Week 6: Illinois to Iowa on the Great American Rail-Trail

Bernie Krausse's Week 6 of the first known thru-hike of the Great American Rail-Trail takes him through the I&M Canal corridor, across the Hennepin Canal, over the Mississippi, and into Iowa. New waypoints, GPS reroutes, and new trail intelligence.

Great American Rail-Trail

Bernie's Week 5: Indiana, Illinois, and the People Who Show Up

A little over one month in, and Bernie Krausse is moving through Indiana and into Illinois on the Great American Rail-Trail — through thunderstorms that turned his hands blue, trail angels who opened their homes, and a canal towpath that's been carrying travelers since 1848.

Great American Rail-Trail

Life on the Great American Rail-Trail: Week 4 — Ohio to Indiana

Bernie Krausse crossed into Indiana on Day 25 of his Great American Rail-Trail thru-hike — 39 miles, a headwind, and no sign marking the state line. Week 4 covered storms, a zero day, trail magic from Jeri, and a gap route fix between Gaston and Jonesboro.

Great American Rail-Trail

Bernie's Week 3: Ohio's Rail-Trails, Amish Country & 230 Miles

Week 3 on the Great American Rail-Trail: flood detours on the Ohio and Erie Canal Towpath, Amish women on E-bikes in Holmes County, morels found mid-hike, and a chance encounter with a biker heading to the Pacific. Bernie Krausse is 230 miles deeper into Ohio. Still moving.

Great American Rail-Trail

Great American Rail-Trail Week 2: From Cumberland Over the Continental Divide

Great American Rail-Trail Week 2: Bernie Krausse walks from Cumberland over the Eastern Continental Divide, past the Darr Mine memorial, through Pittsburgh's steel skyline, and across three states in seven hours — field-verifying the westbound route into Ohio as he goes.

American Discovery Trail

Popeye, Highland Cows, and an 80-to-15 Degree Weather Whiplash

This week's dispatch covers five states and two coast-to-coast trails. Renae survives a 65-degree temperature swing at Dolly Sods, Rhiis and Sara discover Popeye's hometown, Bernie adds 23 waypoints on the C&O Canal, and Greg James becomes a Trail Angel in Kansas.

Great American Rail-Trail

Week One on the Great American Rail-Trail: Bernie Krausse Reports from the C&O Canal

Bernie Krausse is one week into his Great American Rail-Trail thru-hike — and already sending back the kind of trail intelligence you can't get from a guidebook. Here's what he found between D.C. and Cumberland. 🥾

Great American Rail-Trail

Double-Triple Crown Hiker Just Stepped Off the Capitol Reflecting Pool to Walk Across America

Double-Triple Crown finisher Bernie Krause stepped off the Capitol Reflecting Pool today, beginning a 3,800-mile westbound thru-hike of the Great American Rail-Trail. His journey is also field-verifying Hiking America's GPS data for future hikers.

Great American Rail-Trail

ADT vs Great American Rail-Trail: Two Ways to Walk Across America

Both trails cross America. One is coast-to-coast, the other cross-country from D.C. to Washington State. But they're fundamentally different experiences. Here's how the American Discovery Trail and Great American Rail-Trail compare — and which one fits your goals.

Great American Rail-Trail

First-Ever Known Thru-Hike of the Great American Rail-Trail: Bernie Krausse to Make History

Double Triple-Crowner Bernie Krausse — with 57,000 career miles — is about to make history with the first-ever known thru-hike of the Great American Rail-Trail. Hiking America has spent months mapping the gap routes to make this 3,700+ mile coast-to-coast journey hikeable right now.

Great American Rail-Trail

Hiking America on the Great American Rail-Trail

We're creating GPS navigation for the Great American Rail Trail's 81 gaps to support Bernie Krausse's first thru-hike later next month. The trail is 56% complete from D.C. to Washington State — viable for thru-hiking now with the right route data.