10 Great Walking Trails of the World

Honshu is famous for the Nakasendo Trail, which follows the path of Samurai through historic post towns, and the Kumano Kodo Trail, a UNESCO World Heritage site. The Michinoku Coastal Trail is the (very) new path on the island. Located in lightly visited Tohoku, Michinoku (“end of the road”) hugs the North Pacific Ocean coastline for over 600 miles, but there are many entry points where hikers can choose their own distance and timeline. The MCT conveys us through forests, across beaches, into many natural tunnels, and up and down ridgelines, all of which were devastated during the 2011 earthquake and tsunami.

The 96-mile West Highland Way is an essential trek when visiting Scotland. A stunning walk requiring only moderate fitness, though the route intensifies to the north of Loch Lomond. Popular itineraries span between five and seven days with daily walking distances not exceeding 21 miles to 19 miles, respectively. Much of the route is easily accessed by trailheads or, along Loch Lomond, waterbuses that cross the grand body of water from numerous ports. Public buses travel adjacent to much of the route and transport adventurers back to Glasgow.

The 47-mile West Coast Trail, a former lifesaving route located along Vancouver Island’s Pacific Ocean coastline, is listed among the most challenging multiday hikes in the world, a series of ladders, tidal beaches, rivers, and bush crossings. Over 4,500 miles away, the 209-mile East Coast Trail connects 25 paths through the Newfoundland wilderness beside the Atlantic Ocean. And the ECT is no slouch, requiring several scrambles that accompany blissful days upon the bluffs, beaches, and, like its western brethren, one stunning vista point after another.

Imagine returning home to tell friends you just completed the Bay of Fires Walk in Tasmania? Pretty cool, right? More of a stroll than a challenging trek, the trail combines gorgeous white sand coves, remote outcroppings blanketed with red lichen, and ancient heath. Mt. William National Park provides habitat for echidnas, wallabies, wombats, and other endemic species. Marine mammal sightings from the beaches and ridgelines are also common.

Circling massif is an Alpine rite of passage, whether skiing around a spire or, come summer, hiking from hut to hut on a multiday trek. You can take in as much of Mont Blanc as you choose, given the many trail access points that reside along the epic massif’s 105-mile circumference, a route that crosses into France, Italy, and Switzerland: cue the cuisine! Ringing cowbells remind hikers they’ve embarked upon routes first formed by shepherds ushering their cattle among the valleys as they, like today’s travelers, ascended and descended about 3,000 feet on each leg.

One is hard pressed to pick the evening highlight from a ski safari in Italy’s Dolomites, as nights spent in an on-piste refugio (on mountain rustic lodge) feel like we’ve claimed the heavens as our own. Summer visitors no doubt feel the same as they conclude a leg of the Alta Via at these historic structures, taking in the sunset from the terrace, dining on exceptional local cuisine, and settling into a comfortable private room for a good night’s sleep. Known as the Haute Routes, hikers choose from eight different Alta Via depending on excursion length and effort, routes that reveal upwards of eighty percent of these magnificent peaks.

Walking is a way of life in Ireland, where footpaths lead us all along the Wild Atlantic Way, passing through meadows and sheep pastures. The 100-mile circular route traverses County Kerry, providing ample opportunity to lodge in local inns, dine on coastal cuisine, and settle into a village pub during a session, aka live music. The complete loop to and from Tralee takes up to nine days to complete, but more casual walkers will find access across the Dingle Peninsula to shorter, less strenuous segments.

The Bwindi Impenetrable National Park, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, contains extraordinary biodiversity with hundreds of species of flora and scores of fauna, including most famously, the mountain gorilla. Gorilla sightings are rare on the lesser-known Ivy River Trail, a moderate cross-Bwindi 5-hour hike that leads to monkey species, dozens of bird and butterfly species flitting through the fern-strewn jungle.

Ecuador’s geography is as diverse as any region on earth, a terrain that spans from lava-covered archipelagos to the Amazon rain forest to the “Avenue of the Volcanoes,” an assembly of active peaks that includes 19,347-ft Mt. Cotopaxi, among the highest active volcanoes on the planet. Terra del Volcan leads outdoor adventurers on a four-day lodge-to-hacienda excursion through ecological excursions, historic Andean communities, and, on the final day, Cotopaxi National Park.

America is fortunate to offer amazing hikes across the fifty states. The Pacific Crest Trail and Adirondack Trail alone attract hikers from around the world, whether trekkers choose to cross the Grand Canyon over several days or take a day hike in the Hoh Rainforest on Washington’s Olympic Peninsula. Don’t discount Appalachia’s Blue Ridge Mountains for a memorable trek. A multiday or hours-long hike may lead to the Shining Rock Wilderness, an ascent of Cold Mountain. Be sure to explore the 6,500-acre Pisgah Forest, site of the Cradle of Forestry, America’s first national forest.