Long Hikes

A list

Desert

Trails with desert among their main terrain. 13 trails, 3 with a GPX here.

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  • Official trail
  • Route

3 tracks, simplified for display. Select one for its name. Each trail’s page names its source, credit and licence. Base map: OpenFreeMap, © OpenMapTiles, data © OpenStreetMap contributors.

13 trails

Lengths
  • Official trail with a GPX here
  • Route with a GPX here
  • No GPX here: its page says where to get one

  1. Route

    Great Western Loop GWL

    Route by Andrew Skurka and Ryan Jordan, 2006

    The Great Western Loop links the Pacific Crest, Pacific Northwest, Continental Divide, Grand Enchantment and Arizona trails together with a trail-less stretch through the Sonoran and Mojave Deserts into one circuit of the American West.

    AZ NM CO WY ID MT CA OR WA United States

    Length
    11,064 km6,875 mi
    Time
    About 7 months
    GPX
    Not published

  2. Route

    Vagabond Loop VL

    Route by Ryan "Dirtmonger" Sylva, 2013

    The Vagabond Loop is Ryan "Dirtmonger" Sylva's circuit of the Four Corners country in the American Southwest.

    AZ UT CO NM United States

    Length
    5,632 km3,500 mi
    Time
    About 6 to 9 months estimate
    GPX
    Free from its author

  3. National Scenic Trail

    Pacific Crest National Scenic Trail PCT

    The Pacific Crest Trail runs from the Mexican border to the Canadian border along the mountain ranges of California, Oregon and Washington.

    CA OR WA United States

    Length
    4,265 km2,650 mi
    Time
    About 5 to 7 months estimate
    GPX
    GPX hereGPX and GeoJSON
    Climb
    135,030 m443,012 ftcomputed

  4. Route

    Desert Trail DT

    Route by Desert Trail Association, with the route scouted by Russel Pengely, D. W. "Old Creosote" Tomer and Steve Tabor, 1972

    The Desert Trail is a route of about 1,586 miles from the Mexican border through the deserts of California, Nevada and Oregon, with a 637-mile northern extension to Canada.

    CA NV OR United States

    Length
    2,552 km1,586 mi
    Time
    About 4 to 7 months estimate
    GPX
    See the official site

  5. Route

    Great Basin Trail GBT

    Route by Ryan "Dirtmonger" Sylva, 2019

    The Great Basin Trail is a route of nearly 1,200 miles that its author worked out as a loop around the heart of the Great Basin, wholly within Nevada.

    NV United States

    Length
    1,931 km1,200 mi
    Time
    About 3 to 5 months estimate
    GPX
    See the official site

  6. Idaho Centennial Trail ICT

    The Idaho Centennial Trail is the state trail of Idaho, running from Murphy Hot Springs on the Nevada border north through mountains and high desert to the state's northern boundary.

    ID United States

    Length
    1,448 km900 mi
    Time
    About 2 months estimate
    GPX
    Partial GPX hereGPX and GeoJSON

    Track measures 292.5 km of 1,448 km published

  7. National Scenic Trail

    Arizona National Scenic Trail AZT

    The Arizona National Scenic Trail crosses Arizona from the Mexico border to the Utah border.

    AZ United States

    Length
    1,287 km800 mi
    Time
    6 to 9 weeks
    GPX
    GPX hereGPX and GeoJSON
    Climb
    31,724 m104,081 ftcomputed

  8. Route

    Hayduke Trail HT

    Route by Joe Mitchell and Mike Coronella, 2005

    The Hayduke Trail is an extremely challenging backcountry route linking six national parks of the Colorado Plateau, from Arches to Zion across southern Utah and northern Arizona.

    UT AZ United States

    Length
    1,287 km800 mi
    Time
    About 2 to 4 months estimate
    GPX
    Sold by its author

  9. Grand Enchantment Trail GET

    The Grand Enchantment Trail is a route of over 770 miles from the edge of Phoenix in Arizona to the edge of Albuquerque in New Mexico.

    AZ NM United States

    Length
    1,239 km770 mi
    Time
    About 2 to 3 months estimate
    GPX
    See the official site

  10. Oregon Desert Trail ODT

    The Oregon Desert Trail is a route of about 750 miles across Oregon's high desert, from outside Bend in the west to Lake Owyhee State Park in the east.

    OR United States

    Length
    1,200 km746 mi
    Time
    About 2 to 3 months estimate
    GPX
    See the official site

  11. Route

    Sky Islands Traverse SIT

    Route by Brett Tucker ("Blisterfree"), 2011

    The Sky Islands Traverse makes a circuitous journey across ten forest-clad mountain ranges of southeast Arizona, separated by grassland and desert valleys.

    AZ United States

    Length
    837 km520 mi
    Time
    About 1 to 2 months estimate
    GPX
    Not published

  12. Route

    Mogollon Rim Trail MRT

    Route by Brett Tucker ("Blisterfree")

    The Mogollon Rim Trail is a route across Arizona's Rim Country, from the Parsons Trailhead outside Cottonwood through Sedona's redrock country, the Highline Trail, the White Mountains and the Blue Range to the New Mexico border, where it joins the Grand Enchantment Trail near Alma.

    AZ NM United States

    Length
    805 km500 mi
    Time
    About 1 to 2 months estimate
    GPX
    Sold by its author

  13. Route

    Northern New Mexico Loop NNML

    Route by Brett Tucker ("Blisterfree") and collaborators

    The Northern New Mexico Loop starts and ends at Santa Fe Plaza, touring the Jemez Mountains, the Continental Divide and the Sangre de Cristo Mountains on a clockwise circuit of northern New Mexico.

    NM United States

    Length
    805 km500 mi
    Time
    About 1 to 2 months estimate
    GPX
    Sold by its author

Lists are picked out by rule from each trail’s facts, so they change as trails are added or corrected. A list is shown when it has at least 4 trails and no more than 75% of the 138.