Editing Hiking (section)

===United States===
[[File:Abbey and the mountain.JPG|thumb|[[Thoreau]] walked {{convert|34|mi|km}} to [[Mount Wachusett]], shown here.]]
{{Further|Category:Hiking in the United States}}
An early example of an interest in hiking in the United States is [[Abel Crawford]] and his son Ethan's clearing of a trail to the summit of [[Mount Washington, New Hampshire]] in 1819.<ref>{{Cite book |title=Condensed Facts About Mount Washington |publisher=Atkinson News Co |year=1912}}</ref> This 8.5-mile path is the oldest continually used hiking trail in the United States. The influence of British and European [[Romanticism]] reached North America through the [[transcendentalist movement]], and both [[Ralph Waldo Emerson]] (1803–82) and [[Henry David Thoreau]] (1817–62) were important influences on the outdoors movement in North America. Thoreau's writing on nature and on walking include the posthumously published "Walking" (1862)".<ref>{{Cite magazine |last=Thoreau |first=Henry David |title=Walking |url=https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/1862/06/walking/304674/ |magazine=The Atlantic |issue=June 1862 |access-date=24 July 2017 |archive-date=13 October 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171013223718/https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/1862/06/walking/304674/ |url-status=live }}</ref> His earlier essay  "[[A Walk to Wachusett]]" (1842) describes a four-day [[walking tour]] Thoreau took with a companion from Concord, Massachusetts to the summit of [[Mount Wachusett]], [[Princeton, Massachusetts]] and back. Established in 1876, the [[Appalachian Mountain Club]] has the distinction of being the oldest hiking club in America. It was founded to protect the trails and mountains in the northeastern United States. Prior to its founding, four other hiking clubs had already been established in America. This included the very short-lived (first) Rocky Mountain Club in 1875, the White Mountain Club of Portland in 1873, the Alpine Club of Williamstown in 1863, and the Exploring Circle, which was established by four men from Lynn, Massachusetts in 1850. Although not a hiking club in the same sense as the clubs that would emerge later, the National Park Service recognizes the Exploring Circle as being "the first hiking club in New England."<ref>{{Cite web |date=7 July 2020 |title=Lynn Woods Historic District |url=https://www.nps.gov/places/lynn-woods-historic-district.htm |website=NPS |access-date=28 May 2023 }}</ref> All four of these clubs would disband within a few years of their founding.<ref name="Doran 2023"/>

Despite clubs such as the Appalachian Mountain Club, hiking during the early twentieth century was still primarily in New England, [[San Francisco]], and the Pacific Northwest. Eventually, there were similar clubs formed in the Midwest and following the Appalachian range. As interest grew hiking culture was spread throughout the nation.<ref name=":0" />

The Scottish-born, American naturalist [[John Muir]] (1838 –1914), was another important early advocate of the preservation of wilderness in the United States. He petitioned the [[U.S. Congress]] for the National Park bill that was passed in 1890, establishing Yosemite and Sequoia National Parks. The [[Sierra Club]], which he founded, is now one of the most important conservation organizations in the United States. The spiritual quality and enthusiasm toward nature expressed in his writings inspired others, including presidents and congressmen, to take action to help preserve large areas of undeveloped countryside.<ref>{{Cite web |title=The Life and Contributions of John Muir |url=http://www.sierraclub.org/john_muir_exhibit/life/ |access-date=October 23, 2009 |publisher=Sierra Club |archive-date=March 31, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140331043927/http://sierraclub.org/john_muir_exhibit/life/ |url-status=dead }}</ref> He is today referred to as the "Father of the National Parks".<ref>{{Cite book |last=Miller |first=Barbara Kiely |title=John Muir |publisher=Gareth Stevens |year=2008 |isbn=978-0836883183 |page=10}}</ref> In 1916, the National Park Service was created to protect national parks and monuments.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Quick History of the National Park Service (U.S. National Park Service) |url=https://www.nps.gov/articles/quick-nps-history.htm |access-date=2021-03-09 |website=www.nps.gov |language=en |archive-date=2021-03-09 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210309170544/https://www.nps.gov/articles/quick-nps-history.htm |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=National Park Service |url=https://www.history.com/topics/us-government/national-park-service |access-date=2021-03-09 |website=HISTORY |date=21 August 2018 |language=en |archive-date=2021-03-05 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210305201515/https://www.history.com/topics/us-government/national-park-service |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2016-08-25 |title=Congress Creates the National Park Service |url=https://www.archives.gov/legislative/features/national-park-service |access-date=2021-03-09 |website=National Archives |language=en |archive-date=2021-03-26 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210326020016/https://www.archives.gov/legislative/features/national-park-service |url-status=live }}</ref>

In 1921, [[Benton MacKaye]], a forester, conceived the idea of what would become America's first National Scenic Trail, the [[Appalachian trail]] (AT). The AT was completed in August 1937, running from Maine to Georgia. The [[Pacific Crest Trail]] ("PCT") was first explored in the 1930s by the [[YMCA]] hiking groups and was eventually registered as a complete border to border trail from Mexico to Canada.<ref>{{Cite web |title=The Top 10 Hiking Trails in the US |url=http://www.e2e.com/featured/the-top-10-hiking-trails-in-the-us/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140223095352/http://www.e2e.com/featured/the-top-10-hiking-trails-in-the-us |archive-date=2014-02-23 |access-date=2014-02-12 |publisher=e2e.com}}</ref>