Highways & Trails
This general category includes a selection of more specific topics.
Highways & Trails Encyclopedia Articles
See articlesFeatured Articles
Pacific Crest Trail
Pacific Crest Trail, wilderness footpath and equestrian trail in the western United States. It extends from north to southeast some 2,650 miles (4,265 km), from the border of Canada near Castle Peak, northern...
Intracoastal Waterway
Intracoastal Waterway, navigable toll-free shipping route, extending for about 3,000 miles (4,800 km) along the Atlantic Ocean and Gulf of Mexico coasts in the southern and eastern United States. It utilizes...
Whitehall
Whitehall, street and locality in the City of Westminster, London. The street runs between Charing Cross and the Houses of Parliament. The name Whitehall also applies to the cluster of short streets, squares,...
King’s Highway
King’s Highway, ancient thoroughfare that connected Syria and the Gulf of Aqaba by way of what is now Jordan. Mentioned in the Old Testament, it is one of the world’s oldest continuously used communication...
Route 66
Route 66, one of the first national highways for motor vehicles in the United States and one that became an icon in American popular culture. The system of major interstate routes—12 odd-numbered ones,...
Ho Chi Minh Trail
Ho Chi Minh Trail, elaborate system of mountain and jungle paths and trails used by North Vietnam to infiltrate troops and supplies into South Vietnam, Cambodia, and Laos during the Vietnam War. The trail...
National Road
National Road, first federal highway in the United States and for several years the main route to what was then the Northwest Territory. Built (1811–37) from Cumberland, Maryland (western terminus of a...
Northwest Passage
Northwest Passage, historical sea passage of the North American continent. It represents centuries of effort to find a route westward from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean through the Arctic Archipelago...
Northeast Passage
Northeast Passage, maritime route through the Arctic along the northern coast of the Eurasian landmass, principally situated off the coast of northern Siberia (Russia). Historically, the European concept...
Appian Way
Appian Way, the first and most famous of the ancient Roman roads, running from Rome to Campania and southern Italy. The Appian Way was begun in 312 bce by the censor Appius Claudius Caecus. At first it...
Broadway
Broadway, New York City thoroughfare that traverses the length of Manhattan, near the middle of which are clustered the theatres that have long made it the foremost showcase of commercial stage entertainment...
Karakoram Highway
Karakoram Highway, roadway that connects Kashgar (Kaxgar) in western Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, China, with Islamabad, the capital of Pakistan. The road, which took almost 20 years (1959–78) to...
the Bowery
The Bowery, street and section of Lower Manhattan, New York City, U.S., extending diagonally from Chatham Square to the intersection of Fourth Avenue and Eighth Street. It follows a trail used by the Indians...
Unter den Linden
Unter den Linden, avenue in Berlin, Germany, running eastward from the Brandenburg Gate for nearly a mile. The street is named for the linden (lime) trees that formerly grew along the central promenade...
Appalachian National Scenic Trail
Appalachian National Scenic Trail, mountain footpath in the eastern United States extending from northeast to southwest for about 2,190 miles (3,524.5 km) along the crest of the Appalachian Mountains....
Blue Ridge Parkway
Blue Ridge Parkway, scenic motor route, extending 469 miles (755 km) primarily through the Blue Ridge segment of the Appalachian Mountains in the western portions of Virginia and North Carolina, U.S. It...
Roman road system
Roman road system, outstanding transportation network of the ancient Mediterranean world, extending from Britain to the Tigris-Euphrates river system and from the Danube River to Spain and northern Africa....
Santa Fe Trail
Santa Fe Trail, in U.S. history, famed wagon trail from Independence, Missouri, to Santa Fe, New Mexico, an important commercial route (1821–80). Opened by William Becknell, a trader, the trail was used...
Silk Road
Silk Road, ancient trade route, linking China with the West, that carried goods and ideas between the two great civilizations of Rome and China. Silk went westward, and wools, gold, and silver went east....
Champs-Élysées
Champs-Élysées, broad avenue in Paris, one of the world’s most famous, which stretches 1.17 miles (1.88 km) from the Arc de Triomphe to the Place de la Concorde. It is divided into two parts by the Rond-Point...
Wall Street
Wall Street, street, in the southern section of the borough of Manhattan in New York City, which has been the location of some of the chief financial institutions of the United States. The street is narrow...
Goodnight-Loving Trail
Goodnight-Loving Trail, historic cattle trail that originated in Young county, western Texas, U.S. The trail ran southwest to connect with the Pecos River and thence up the river valley to Fort Sumner,...
Natchez Trace Parkway
Natchez Trace Parkway, scenic and historic roadway, extending 444 miles (715 km) through Mississippi, Alabama, and Tennessee, U.S. It begins in Natchez, Mississippi, and, generally following a Native American...
Oregon Trail
Oregon Trail, in U.S. history, an overland trail between Independence, Missouri, and Oregon City, near present-day Portland, Oregon, in the Willamette River valley. It was one of the two main emigrant...
Trans-Canada Highway
Trans-Canada Highway, principal highway of Canada and the world’s longest national road. The road extends west-east between the Pacific and Atlantic coasts across the breadth of the country for 4,860 miles...
Good Roads Movement
Good Roads Movement, broad-based crusade to build and improve the condition of U.S. roads in the late 1800s that lasted until the National Highway System was created by the federal government in 1926....
Mormon Trail
Mormon Trail, in U.S. history, the route taken by Mormons from Nauvoo, Illinois, to the Great Salt Lake in what would become the state of Utah. After Mormon leader Joseph Smith was murdered by a mob in...
Transamazonian highway
Transamazonian highway, system of paved and unpaved roads in Brazil that is designed to facilitate settlement and exploitation of the vast underpopulated Amazon River Basin. The system consists of several...
Stilwell Road
Stilwell Road, highway 478 mi (769 km) long that links northeastern India with the Burma Road (q.v.), which runs from Burma to China. During World War II the Stilwell Road was a strategic military route....
Continental Divide National Scenic Trail
Continental Divide National Scenic Trail, primitive mountain footpath and equestrian trail in the western United States that, when complete, will extend from north to south some 3,100 miles (5,000 km),...
Pilgrims’ Way
Pilgrims’ Way, the North Downs trackway in southern England. It is a famous prehistoric route between the English Channel and the chalk heartland of Britain in Wessex and survives as minor roads or as...
Chisholm Trail
Chisholm Trail, 19th-century cattle drovers’ trail in the western United States. Although its exact route is uncertain, it originated south of San Antonio, Texas, ran north across Oklahoma, and ended at...
Burma Road
Burma Road, highway linking Lashio, in eastern Burma (now Myanmar), with Kunming, in Yunnan province, China, a distance of 1,154 km (717 miles). The Chinese began construction of the road after the outbreak...
Tōkaidō
Tōkaidō, historic road that connected Ōsaka and Kyōto with Edo (now Tokyo) in Japan. The Tōkaidō was about 515 km (320 miles) long and ran mostly along the Pacific (i.e., southern) coast of the island...