Pacific Crest National Recreation Trail

Total in and out hiking length:  2,650 miles

Total climbing distance: 13,153 feet

Difficulty:  Varies

Pacific Crest National Recreation Trail from the southern border of the United States to the northern border of Canada is used for long-distance mountain climbing and horseback riding. For around a hundred to a hundred and fifty miles, it follows the highest points of the Sierra Nevada and the Cascade Range as they parallel the Pacific Ocean.

There’s a reason people call this path the “highway of the peaks.” Forester Pass in the Sierra Nevadas is at a height of 13,153 feet, whereas the boundary between Oregon and Washington is at sea level. The Pacific Crest Trail is 2,650 miles long.

The trail’s starting point is just above sea level. Even though it was not formally finished until 1993, it was given the title National Scenic Trail in 1968. Three paths in the United States comprise the “Triple Crown” of long-distance hiking: the Pacific Crest Trail, the Appalachian Trail, and the Continental Divide Trail.

In 1932, Clinton C. Clarke had the idea for what would become the Pacific Crest Trail (PCT), but it wasn’t until 1968 that the National Trails System Act made the PCT an official trail.

Location: Pacific Crest Nat’l Scenic Trl, Big Bear, CA 92314, United States

Phone number: 970-317-4000.

Email: jrussell@pcta.org