# Great Western Loop

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Long-distance hiking trail in the United States

Great Western Trail Length 6,875 miles (11,064 km) Location California, Oregon, Washington, Canada, Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, Colorado, New Mexico, Arizona Use Hiking

The **Great Western Loop** is a hiking route that is 6,875 miles (11,064 km) long, and passes through several states of the [Western United States](/source/Western_United_States).

## Route

It links together five long-distance hiking trails: the [Pacific Crest Trail](/source/Pacific_Crest_Trail), the [Pacific Northwest Trail](/source/Pacific_Northwest_Trail), the [Continental Divide Trail](/source/Continental_Divide_Trail), the [Grand Enchantment Trail](/source/Grand_Enchantment_Trail), and the [Arizona Trail](/source/Arizona_Trail). It traverses the [Mojave Desert](/source/Mojave_Desert), the [Sonoran Desert](/source/Sonoran_Desert), 12 [National Parks](/source/National_Parks), and 75 wilderness areas.

It passes through nine states: [Arizona](/source/Arizona), [California](/source/California), [Oregon](/source/Oregon), [Washington](/source/Washington_(state)), [Idaho](/source/Idaho), [Montana](/source/Montana), [Wyoming](/source/Wyoming), [Colorado](/source/Colorado), and [New Mexico](/source/New_Mexico).

## Successful hikes

The trail is only known to have been completed a few times:

- [Andrew Skurka](/source/Andrew_Skurka), a professional [backpacker](/source/Backpacking_(wilderness)), was the first to complete the Great Western Loop. On April 9, 2007, Skurka began the route from the [Grand Canyon](/source/Grand_Canyon). Averaging 33 miles (53 km) per day, Skurka arrived back at the Grand Canyon on November 3, 2007, 208 days after he began.[1][2]

- Jeff Garmire became the second person to complete the route, doing so in 2018. Jeff Garmire started on April 30 and finished on November 24, totaling 208 days on the trail.[3]

- In 2021, Niels Rabe completed a slightly different version of the Great Western Loop due to extensive wildfires in Washington and California. He became the first person to complete the route counter-clockwise after 222 days on trail.[4][5]

- Also in 2021, Logan Demas (“Sandman”) completed the ‘Greatest Western Loop’ by hiking the original loop and adding sections to complete both the PCT and CDT. At almost 40 years old, he is also the oldest person to complete the Loop.[*[citation needed](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Citation_needed)*]

- A third hiker in 2021, Garry ("Phish Out of Water") Teesdale, completed a contiguous clockwise route of ~6200 miles that returned to the Grand Canyon from the CDT via the Hayduke Trail/AZT rather than the GET/AZT route originally followed by Skurka and Garmire.[*[citation needed](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Citation_needed)*]

- In 2022, Nick ("Chezwick") Gagnon established a new [fastest known time](/source/Fastest_known_time) and completed the trail in 197 days and 11 hours, beating Jeff Garmire's 2018 time and Andrew Skurka's 2007 time (both completed the route in 208 days).[6]

## References

1. **[^](#cite_ref-1)** Duane, Daniel. ["2007 Adventurer of the Year: The Walking Man"](https://web.archive.org/web/20090620182605/http://www.nationalgeographic.com/adventure/best-of-adventure-2008/achievements/andrew-skurka.html). *National Geographic Adventure*. Archived from [the original](http://www.nationalgeographic.com/adventure/best-of-adventure-2008/achievements/andrew-skurka.html) on 2009-06-20. Retrieved 2012-02-10.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-2)** Skurka, Andrew. ["Great Western Loop Overview"](http://andrewskurka.com/adventures/great-western-loop/overview/). *Andrew Skurka Official Website*. Retrieved 2012-02-10.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-3)** Skylis, Mary Beth (2019-12-06). ["Jeff Garmire Credits His Life to Thru-Hiking"](https://www.outsideonline.com/2405599/jeff-garmire-thru-hiking-mental-health). *Outside Online*. Retrieved 2020-08-01.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-4)** Rabe, Niels (2021-12-04). ["Niels Rabe Blog"](https://www.justagermanhiker.com/blog/categories/great-western-loop-2021). *Niels Rabe official blog*. Retrieved 2021-12-03.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-5)** Rabe, Niels (2022-12-02). *Elftausend - Zu Fuß durch den Westen der USA*. [ASIN](/source/Amazon_Standard_Identification_Number) [3756889440](https://www.amazon.de/dp/3756889440).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-6)** Dreier, Frederick (2022-11-15). ["This Hiker Just Completed the 6,800-Mile Great Western Loop in Less than 200 Days"](https://www.outsideonline.com/outdoor-adventure/hiking-and-backpacking/nick-gagnon-great-western-loop-record/). *Outside Online*. Retrieved 2022-11-26.

v t e Hiking trails in California Interstate American Discovery Trail Great Western Loop Juan Bautista de Anza National Historic Trail Pacific Crest Trail Tahoe Rim Trail Tahoe–Pyramid Trail Bay Area Alameda Creek Regional Trail Barbary Coast Trail Bay Area Ridge Trail Contra Costa Canal Coyote Creek Trail Guadalupe River Trail Iron Horse Regional Trail John W. Christian Greenbelt Lafayette-Moraga Regional Trail Los Gatos Creek Trail Ohlone Greenway Philosopher's Way Richmond Greenway San Francisco Bay Trail Santa Cruz Trail Sawyer Camp Trail Spur Trail Skyline-to-the-Sea Trail Stevens Creek Trail Three Creeks Trail Sierra Nevada Four Mile Trail Hetch Hetchy to Lake Vernon Trail High Sierra Trail Independence Trail John Muir Trail Lower Sagehen Creek Hiking Trail Mist Trail Mount Whitney Trail Sierra High Route Silver Knapsack Trail Tahoe Rim Trail Tahoe–Yosemite Trail Theodore Solomons Trail Trail of 100 Giants Southern California Backbone Trail Cactus to Clouds Trail Gabrielino Trail Lost Palms Oasis Trail Mount Wilson Toll Road Sam Merrill Trail Bradshaw Trail Santa Clara River Trail Silver Moccasin Trail Trans-Catalina Trail Ventura River Parkway Trail Windy Gap Trail Other Bigfoot Trail Brad Freeman Trail California Coastal Trail Hammond Trail Jedediah Smith Memorial Trail Joe Rodota Trail Kortum Trail MacKerricher Coastal Trail Nobles Emigrant Trail Pine Ridge Trail Pinnacle and Shorttail Gulch Coastal Access Trails Prince Greenway

[40°24′N 106°37′W / 40.400°N 106.617°W / 40.400; -106.617](https://geohack.toolforge.org/geohack.php?pagename=Great_Western_Loop&params=40_24_N_106_37_W_type:landmark_region:US_scale:10000000)

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Great Western Loop](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Western_Loop) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Western_Loop?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.