International Appalachian Train aims for Morocco, linking ancient mountains through Europe

Appalachian Trail to leap abroad toward Morocco

TOWNSHIP 5, RANGE 8, Maine — First, there was the Appalachian Trail, which winds more than 2,100 miles along the mountainous spine of the eastern United States. Then came the International AT, extending from Maine to the edge of Canada’s Maritime Provinces, where Vikings long ago landed.

Now, the walk is extending: across the Atlantic to western Europe, where the mountain chain’s other half loops south to the Atlas Mountains of Morocco.

Like restless hikers who just can’t sit still, the visionaries are now thinking British Isles and Europe. They’re inspired by how the Appalachians were created and they’re plotting their course to the geological end of the ancient mountain chain.

In the United States, the scenic Appalachian Trail is hiked at least in part by 4 million people a year.