50 Classic Trails of America
October, 2025 - This project continues to evolve. I’m very happy to announce that I am working with two other individuals to help turn this project into reality: Ian Mclellan and Andy Cochrane - both incredible photographers and writers who share a mutual love for the trails and wild country as I do. We have put together a much prettier website that can be found at fiftyclassictrails.com. We also put together a super sexy Instagram page that can be found HERE.
February 24, 2020
Over the past two decades I have had the great fortune of running some of the most incredible trails in the world. Along coasts, over mountains, across deserts and canyons, I have seen and experienced the impact that a day in the wild can provide. Edward Abbey wrote: “Wilderness is not a luxury but a necessity of the Human Spirit.” Trails not only provide us with access to a world often distant from our own but also a chance for flow and meditation, an arena to test ourselves, a moment to reconnect with the inner wild of the Human Spirit.
In 1979, Steve Roper and Allen Steck released a book titled The 50 Classic Climbs of North America, that has since served as something of a Holy Grail for the climbing community - both in obtaining the book and completing even one of the climbs. Per Wikipedia: “To choose the list of climbs, the coauthors solicited opinions from a number of leading climbers of the era, narrowing a list of more than 100 climbs according to three basic criteria: that the peak or route appear striking from afar, have a noteworthy climbing history, and offer climbing of excellent quality.” I have long wondered to myself and close friends - what would that list look like for this ever evolving world of running where what was once thought to be impossible can now be done in a day.
Just as Roper and Steck sought out advice from fellow climbers, I too have been seeking the advice from peers all across this incredible and massive continent.
The criteria that I have set for these trails are few and simple:
Can an accomplished runner/hiker complete the trail in a 24 hour period?
Can I, with confidence, recommend traveling from afar to experience this trail?
Other criteria that I consider is:
Does the trail have a particularly interesting geological or anthropological history?
How many ecozones does it pass through?
Does this trail contribute to the full set of trails in telling a comprehensive story of this continent’s natural beauty?
The 50 Classic Trails of North America will be an ongoing project that I hope will inspire and encourage. I will make my best effort at updating this page with the trails as the come along.
