Photographer Bart Smith has been hiking the US’s national trails since 1992. Today he completes his 30th, the 3,700-mile Lewis and Clark trail, in time to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the National Trails System Act. We select some of his best images from 25 years of walking.
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Selma to Montgomery historic trail, Alabama
The 54 miles between Selma and Montgomery helped change American history. Led by Martin Luther King in January 1965, 500 civil rights marchers went to Selma to rally for voting rights. They attempted to cross the Edmund Pettus Bridge (pictured) to march along Route 80 to Montgomery. At the bridge, police blocked the road and ordered the marchers to disperse. When they refused, the troopers attacked and beat them, and forced them back.
Overmountain Victory historic trail
Stretching 330 miles through four states (Virginia, Tennessee, North and South Carolina) the Overmountain Victory trail traces the route used by patriot militia fighting the 1780 Kings Mountain campaign during the US revolution. Here, re-enactors cross the Watauga River in Sycamore Shoals state park, near Elizabethton, Tennessee.
Oregon historic trail
This 2,170-mile, east–west wagon route connecting the Missouri river to Oregon was used by around 400,000 settlers from the1830s on wards. This photograph shows a lone covered wagon on the prairie at Rock Creek state park, Nebraska.
Pony Express historic trail
In operation for only 18 months between April 1860 and October 1861, the Pony Express was the thread that tied east to west, 1,900 miles from Missouri to California. Using mounted riders rather than traditional stagecoaches helped reduce the time for messages to travel between Atlantic and Pacific coasts to about 10 days. Here a “fogbow” is captured over a Pony Express sign in Nevada.
Juan Bautista de Anza historic trail
In 1775-76, Juan Bautista de Anza led 240 men, women and children on an epic journey to establish the first non-native settlement at San Francisco Bay. Today, the 1,200-mile trail connects history, culture, and outdoor recreation from Nogales, Arizona, to the Bay area. This picture is of the Hollister Hills, near Monterey, California.
Old Spanish historic trail
The Old Spanish Trail has been called the most arduous and difficult trail in the US. Spanning more than 2,500 miles and with Native American roots, it was used by adventurers and opportunists bringing textiles from Santa Fe to trade for mules and horses in Los Angeles from the early 1800s. This picture shows Wilson Arch from Highway 191 in San Juan County, 24 miles south of Moab, Utah.
Nez Perce historic trail
This trail follows the route taken by a large band of the Nez Perce Native American tribe in 1877 during their attempt to flee the US Cavalry and get to Canada, to avoid being forced to live on a reservation. These remnants of a filling station were photographed outside the small town of Hays, Montana.
Lewis and Clark historic trail
Between May 1804 and September 1806, 31 men, one woman and a baby traveled from the plains of the Midwest to the Pacific north of Portland, Oregon. Calling themselves the Corps of Discovery, they opened a window into the west for the young US. The photograph shows the Columbia River and Vista House museum in Multnomah County, Oregon.
Camino Real De Tierra Adentro historic trail
In colonial times, New Mexico was linked to the world by a single route through the Rio Grande valley from north of Santa Fe, via El Paso and the old Viceroyalty of New Spain to Mexico City, some 1,200 miles to the south. It became a lifeline back to central Mexico, a principal avenue of communication, commerce, and religious conversion. This commemorative sculpture is at the base of Cerro Tome, near Albuquerque.
California historic trail
This trail traces the routes gold seekers (known as 49ers) followed to California after the discovery of gold in late 1848 at Sutter’s Mill. It starts in a variety of places on the western bank of the Missouri and merges with earlier Oregon and Mormon pioneer routes in Nebraska. On the far side of the continental divide at South Pass, the trail braids as the 49ers raced west on the best routes they could find. The Twin Sisters rock formation in Idaho’s City of Rocks national reserve is pictured in an afternoon storm.
Arizona scenic trail
This route runs for more than 800 miles from the Mexican border to Utah, connecting deserts, mountains, canyons, wilderness, history and communities. This pictures shows the trail winding among saguaro cactuses in Colossal Cave park, Arizona.
Potomac heritage scenic trail
Spanning parts of the mid-Atlantic and upper south-eastern regions, this network of routes has numerous side trails and alternatives in Virginia, Maryland, Pennsylvania and the District of Columbia. It includes 710 miles of existing and planned sections, tracing natural, historic and cultural features. This sunrise picture shows Antietam Battlefield, Maryland, where an 1862 civil war battle saw 23,000 soldiers killed, wounded or reported missing.
Trail of Tears historic trail
These 5,000 miles of land and water routes over nine states commemorate the Cherokee nation being forced to give up its lands east of the Mississippi and migrate to present-day Oklahoma in 1838-9, as part of Andrew Jackson’s Indian removal policy. The migrants faced hunger, disease and exhaustion, and more than 4,000 of the 15,000 Cherokees died. This autumnal shot was taken in Trail of Tears state park, eastern Missouri.
Washington-Rochambeau historic trail
This is a 680-mile-long route used by revolutionary forces under the command of George Washington and French forces under the command of Jean-Baptiste de Rochambeau during their 1781 march from Newport, Rhode Island, to Yorktown, Virginia. Here Bart Smith is pictured on completion of the walk at Yorktown in 2016, with re-enactors performing a cannon demonstration.