Is there a long thru-hiking trail, like the Appalachian Trail, in Germany? This was my first search query when I started looking into long-distance hiking trails. To my astonishment, there was nothing comparable in Germany except for the European long-distance trails. Why not, actually?

Is our country too small, too uninteresting? Is it not hip enough or is it too stuffy to hike your own country? Well, before you tackle something as big as the Appalachian Trail or the Pacific Crest Trail, you should walk something smaller and shorter, right? So I packed my things and tried the Rheinsteig.
Halfway through, I realised how beautiful our own country is. I imagined what it would be like to cross the country from north to south, but not on the direct route like the German section of the E1 does, but longer and more extensive. My dream of a “German Thru-Hiking Trail” began on the Rheinsteig.

A path that would be roughly comparable in terms of kilometres and physical challenge. Is that even possible?

We don’t have any real wilderness in Germany and we don’t have the remoteness of the American mountain world. But what Germany has to offer is so much more: beautiful nature, varied paths and history comes alive at every turn – old castles, medieval town walls and villages, paths that have been walked by people for hundreds of years. A perfect blend, actually, of the Wilderness Trails and the crowded Way of St James with its perfect infrastructure. The best of both worlds, so to speak.

After more than two years of intensive planning, I have now completed the NORD-SÜD-TRAIL. At 2225 mi, it is Germany’s longest long-distance hiking trail.

NO PAIN, NO DIRT, NO HALDENWANGER ECK

So what exactly is the NST?
The North-South Trail is not a long-distance hiking trail that is managed, maintained and signposted by one or more hiking clubs. Unfortunately, Germany is not yet ready to join forces and establish a long long-distance hiking trail that leads exclusively through Germany. They haven’t even managed to install a “Half Way Point”, i.e. the centre of one of the best-known long-distance hiking trails such as the Westweg. So what can be done? In this day and age, it is not really necessary to completely signpost a hiking trail. Everyone uses GPS systems nowadays, which are very accurate and also work reliably offline.
Besides, we already have a dense network of absolute top trail and premium hiking trails in Germany, so why not simply connect them?

When the trail layout of the NST was designed in 2018, a separate signposting of the trail was actually not planned, as the NST uses the excellent dense and already existing network of absolute top trail and premium hiking trails. At that time, the North South Trail only existed as an idea in the form of a GPX track. Basically, the NST was nothing more than a GPS hiking suggestion, as uploaded daily on portals like Komoot. So the NST did not need any “permission” from hiking clubs or any authorities. Only in this way could a long-distance hiking trail be realised so quickly and unbureaucratically.
This was followed in 2020 by the first complete thruhike by the initiator and Youtuber “Soulboy”. The foundation stone of the North-South Trail was laid on this hike. The entire trail was documented on film on his YouTube channel “Soultrails” and all the shelters and accommodation along the way were recorded and mapped.
Already at the first thruhike of the trail, a large number of long-distance hikers, hiking bloggers, YouTubers and outdoor enthusiasts gathered around this idea of a national long-distance hiking trail.

The first route of the 2020 NST

But the NST is what we all make of it. Every long-distance hiking trail came into being at some point because people walked it, far before signposting by hiking clubs and associations. Some very well-known long-distance trails today, such as the Te Araroa Trail in New Zealand, the Via Dinarica or the Sentiero Italia, are designed to link existing long-distance trails. The future will show if and how the NST establishes itself, but one thing is certain: there is without question a need for a very long distance hiking trail within Germany.

In the meantime, however, a small private initiative has grown into a large association of volunteers, experienced long-distance hikers, experienced trail sponsors and hiking guides. The birth of the “North South Trail Initiative”.

The call from the long-distance hiking community for a “proper” signposting of the North South Trail became louder and louder over time.
The North South Trail Initiative has recently started to coordinate with the respective contacts (hiking clubs, tourism offices, authorities, etc.). We recently welcomed the Hannover Region, the Steinhuder Meer Nature Park, the City of Flensburg and the Heidschnucken Weg as the first official partners and have received official approval from all of them for careful signposting of the North South Trail on the respective section of the route. Further talks with authorities and hiking clubs along the trail are already underway. A huge success for the North South Trail initiative. But most incredible is the response from the hiking clubs and associations. The NST has been received positively and as an enrichment. This was not really expected at the beginning.
If you would like to learn more about the signposting of the NST, you can do so on the page “Trail sponsors and signposting”.

Another success story of the North South Trail is the app “Find Penguins” which we use as a digital stamp book. But this social media app has become so much more… Already at the first Thruhike, a very large, helpful and friendly community formed quite quickly. Here you can virtually accompany thruhikers, arrange to meet them or simply surprise them with some “trail magic” along the way. In the meantime, several hikers have already completed the North-South Trail, and many are on their way again this year to take on the challenge of hiking Germany’s longest long-distance trail in one go.
A small private initiative has grown into a large association, indeed, it’s up to all of you to make the NST the German thru-hiking trail and to discover the country on foot. Walk and enjoy the trail, share your experiences in blogs, documentations on YouTube or as a travel diary at Find Penguins… and above all: have fun hiking!