Recreation Trails

If you hike, bike, snowshoe, ski, sail, paddle, or simply like to wander, there is a trail for you in the Lake Champlain Basin. The Basin and the 9,000-square-mile Champlain Valley National Heritage Partnership contain thousands of miles of hiking trails, bike routes, and winter trails. There are even trails you can follow by boat!

The Adirondack Park and Green Mountain National Forest are all located in the CVNHP. These protected areas provide a wealth of well-maintained trails ranging from easy interpretive nature paths, to rugged exposed climbs up the tallest mountains in New York and Vermont.

A large segment of the Northern Forest Canoe Trail—a water route that follows a historic east-west Native American trading route from Old Forge, New York, to Fort Kent, Maine—is in the northern portions of the CVNHP. Canoeists and kayakers also can follow the Lake Champlain Paddler’s Trail the entire length of the 120-mile lake. Paddlers looking for shorter outings can try the many scenic day trips, like the Shelburne Bay Paddler’s Trail.

Long-distance Hiking Trails

Appalachian National Scenic Trail
A short portion of this 2,200-mile hiking trail that connects Springer Mountain, Georgia, and Mount Katahdin, Maine, is located in the southern portion of the CVNHP. The Appalachian Trail also shares the path with the Long Trail from Vermont-Massachusetts border to its cutoff near Killington, Vermont.

Long Trail
Established in 1910, this “Footpath in the Wilderness” traverses the length of Vermont along the Green Mountains from Massachusetts to Quebec.

North Country National Scenic Trail
Beginning in Crown Point, New York, this 4,600-mile footpath meanders through the Adirondacks into Pennsylvania, Ohio, Michigan, Wisconsin, and Minnesota to Lake Sakakawea State Park in North Dakota. There is legislation pending to extend the trail from Crown Point to the Long Trail east of Middlebury, Vermont.

Northville-Lake Placid Trail
Located on the western edge of the CVNHP in the Adirondack Park, the 133-mile hiking trail links Northville and Lake Placid, New York.

Bicycling in the CVNHP

Western New England Greenway
Developed by the Champlain Valley National Heritage Partnership and the Upper Housatonic River National Heritage Area this 335-mile bike route connects Manhattan with Montreal through connections with the East Coast Greenway and bike routes in Québec.

Lake Champlain Bikeways
A 1,300-mile network of bicycle routes in the Champlain Valley, Lake Champlain Bikeways offers a 363-mile main route around the Lake and along the Richelieu River, as well as 35 interpretive theme loop guides for cyclists. Many of these are available in both French and English.

Paddling Trails

Northern Forest Canoe Trail
A   740-mile paddling trail that links Old Forge, New York in the Adirondack Mountains to Fort Kent, Maine using rivers and lakes. The trail passes through Vermont, Québec, and New Hampshire.

Lake Champlain Paddlers Trail
Kayaks and canoes are welcome on this water trail that runs the 120-mile length of Lake Champlain.

Non-motorized Winter Trails

Catamount Trail
A wintertime, snowshoeing and Nordic ski trail that runs the length of Vermont on the eastern edge of the CVNHP.