The nation’s longest hiking trail is just miles from Erie, but I wonder how many Erie County residents ever have stepped foot on it.

The North Country Trail enters Pennsylvania at State Game Lands 285 in Beaver County and arcs northeast, as the crow flies, until it reaches the New York state line near Willow Bay in the Allegheny National Forest. I wrote this about the trail in 2011:

“The NCT stretches 4,600 miles — more than twice the length of the more celebrated Georgia-to-Maine Appalachian Trail — through seven states, from Lake Sakakawea in western North Dakota to Lake Champlain in New York. That includes  300 miles through Pennsylvania in an arc roughly describing the northwestern corner of the state. Step into McConnell’s Mill State Park, Moraine State Park, Cook Forest State Park or the Allegheny National Forest, among other public lands, and you’re never far from the trail.”

The Allegheny National Forest Chapter of the North Country Trail Association is particularly active in helping hikers discover and utilize the trail. If you’re in the market for an introduction to opportunities on the ANF chapter’s stretch of the NCT, visit them at the Erie Sport & Travel Expo March 1-3 at the Bayfront Convention Center.

Chapter officials Keith and Karen Klos also will give a presentation, “All about the North Country Trail,” March 1 at 4:30 p.m., March 2 at noon and March 3 at 1 p.m. Stop in and say hi to them.