Is there a difference between a hiking trail and a backpacking trail, including if it's the same piece of land?
I saw an article about the Long Trail, a 272-mile trail through the Green Mountain range in Vermont, USA. It's famous for being the oldest hiking trail in the United States, having been built between 1910 and 1930.
According to the Green Mountain Club, which is referred to as the organization which has protected and maintained it since the beginning:
The Long Trail follows the main ridge of the Green Mountains from the Massachusetts-Vermont line to the Canadian border as it crosses Vermont’s highest peaks. It was the inspiration for the Appalachian Trail, which coincides with the Long Trail for 100 miles in the southern third of the state.
Built by the Green Mountain Club between 1910 and 1930, the Long Trail is the oldest long-distance hiking trail in the United States. (Emphasis mine.)
A different souce lists it as the same number of miles, and the same area. However, it calls it a "hiking path" in Vermont, then the oldest long-distance "backpacking trail" in the United States. (Emphasis mine.)
The Long Trail is a 272-mile long-distance hiking path in Vermont, which runs the length of the state. It is the oldest long-distance backpacking trail in the United States, finished in 1930 by the Green Mountain Club. (Emphasis mine.)
Since that source made a distinction between types of trails, I'm curious what that means.
Unless I'm mistaken, hiking path and hiking trail are pretty much the same. What interests me is why one source would also call it a backpacking trail .
In this instance, does backpacking trail mean something different from hiking trail? If so, what's the difference?
Is it just a matter of semantics?
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The second source you cite comes from a website maintained by a corporation calling themselves Backpacker Magazine.
When a person expects to go backpacking, it would seem to me that they would be disappointed if they went on any ol' hiking trail and felt as though the only function for their backpack was to make the hiking more strenuous. Might as well load it up with bags of sand.
Of course, the entirety of the practice known as “backpacking” has a much larger field than it being an augmented form of hiking.† I myself, and some other people I know, take backpacks with us often — I often bring mine even when I use my automobile. But, from my experience, that's not someone who likes to label or identify themselves as a wilderness backpacker — or, as the Backpacking Magazine website states,
Backpacker magazine inspires and empowers our readers to Get Out More—to enjoy the world outside more often. As the authority on escaping to the backcountry, (…) 1
By advertising a path as one which appeals to backpacking, you are announcing to your readers that they can hike such a path to go away from the established amenities long enough to require taking a backpack, which may include food and water, temporary shelter, a folded easel, or photography equipment.
In short: it's a marketting gimmick, more or less.
footnotes:
- † There is such a thing as “urban backpacking”. This is why, though a “backpacking trail” does imply it also being a trail suitable for hiking, or possibly riding, simple ‘backpacking’ is not a subset of hiking.
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While there's a lot of overlap, a trail that can't possibly lead to anywhere to stay the night is unlikely to be called a backpacking trail, as backpacking implies multi-day trips carrying sleep gear etc. (not necessarily tents/bivis, as it could be hut-to-hut for example). If wild camping is forbidden this would include most trails that aren't suitable for hiking to a campsite, mountain hut or similar.
A hiking trail is a broader term, so doesn't imply that one can't use it for backpacking.
However terms are often used loosely, even by those who should know better (like the authorities that administer wilderness areas).
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Hiking is a superset of backpacking. A backpacking trail can be used for hiking, since that's how you move along the trail while backpacking too.
Any trail specifically stated to support backpacking would be understood to:
- Be long enough that sleeping out at least one night actually makes sense.
- Allow camping along the trail, or at least at enough places along the trail to allow for hiking a reasonable distance with a pack between nightly camping stops.
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