North Country Trail Association Incorporated

The mission of the North Country Trail Association (NCTA) is to develop, maintain, protect, and promote the North Country National Scenic Trail as the premier hiking path across the northern tier of the United States through a trail-wide coalition of volunteers and partners. The NCTA is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that partners with the National Park Service to unite individuals, affiliated trail groups, local Chapters, corporate sponsors, and others linked in support of building and maintaining the North Country Trail and telling its story.

The North Country National Scenic Trail is the longest hiking trail in the National Scenic Trails System. Stretching 4,800 miles from North Dakota's Lake Sakakawea to Vermont, the North Country Trail celebrates the unique peoples, cultures, and landscapes of America's red-plaid nation. The North Country Trail Association consists of volunteers in chapters and partner groups united behind the vision of a continuous, world-class hiking trail linking the northern tier of states. Designated by Congress in 1980, the NCNST is one of eleven national scenic trails, more than twice the length of its sister Appalachian Trail. With a marketing strategy of bringing world-class adventure to each trail community's back door, right nearby, the NCTA seeks to grow the number of volunteers and the capacity of its chapters to see the Trail completed and 'owned' by all the communities touched.