Since 1997, an increasing number of long distance hikers have utilized the Florida Trail as part of a route dubbed the Eastern Continental Trail by thru-hiker Nimblewill Nomad.  This route strings together the Florida Trail with the Pinhoti National Recreation Trail and the Benton MacKaye Trail, to reach the Appalachian Trail.  (The northern extent of the Pinhoti Trail in Alabama has been completed.  The Alabama Pinhoti Trail and the Georgia Pinhoti Trail are now collectively known as the Pinhoti National Recreation Trail.)  Hikers then continue north from the Appalachian Trail on the International Appalachian Trail to reach Cap Gaspé, Québec, and more recently, Belle Isle Newfoundland/Labrador Trail .  This 5,400+ mile trek takes most of a year to complete.

For those who hike the Florida segment of the ECT, the Florida Trail Association provides a mile-by-mile guide of the roadwalk from Key West to the southern terminus of the Florida Trail at Loop Road in Big Cypress in our guidebook Florida Trail Companion Guide for Long Distance Hikers. Hikers walking this ECT segment are also advised to use the DeLorme Atlas to Florida for detailed maps from Key West to Loop Road, and to obtain the thru-hiker map set from the Florida Trail Association in order to hike the Florida Trail.

RESOURCES
Eastern Continental Trail Guide, by Nimblewill Nomad
The Eastern Continental Trail: Glades Keys Connector, by Heather Sachs
Alabama Trails Association
Alabama Hiking Trail Society

• Nimblewill Nomad, 1998 and 2000-2001
• Chuck "Swamp Eagle" Wilson, 2000
• Luke "Gnome" Denton, 2001
• Bonita "Mother Goose" Helton, 2001-2002
• Beth "B1" Lawson, 2002
• Jojo Smiley, 2002
• Sridhar "Spider" Ramasami, 2002
• Chris Stevens, 2003
• "Bamboo Bob" Sartini, 2003
• "Bamboo Bob" Sartini, 2004