Links to Hiking Trails, by State

..and Tunes to travel along with

Unfortunately, the average slackpacker spends almost as much time behind the wheel as on foot. Whether cruising cross country or driving to a trailhead, or cruising cross country to a trailhead, or driving...well, it helps pass the time if you do it with the right soundtrack.

In the good old days, you dusted off a few albums and made a hot cassette tape. (Some of us still do) Today, I suppose, you download a file and burn a CD. Whatever your method, here's a tune for every state...with some reference in the lyrics.

Please click on the appropriate link below for hiking trails by state. Feel free to hum any of the listed tunes while waiting for the page to load. The tune links go to amazon.com, where you can usually listen to a sample. The reason we use amazon.com for our affiliate links is that they provide excellent service; you can return an item with no hassles.

[Alabama] Alabama Getaway -- The Grateful Dead; Sweet Home Alabama -- Lynyrd Skynyrd

[Alaska] North to Alaska -- Johnny Horton

[Arizona] Arizona -- Mark Lindsay; Take It Easy -- The Eagles; Big Iron -- Marty Robbins; By the Time I Get to Phoenix -- Glen Campbell; or how about Carefree Highway -- Gordon Lightfoot.

[Arkansas] What'd I Say -- Ray Charles

[California] California Girls -- The Beach Boys; California Dreamin' -- Mamas & Papas; San Francisco -- Scott McKenzie; California Saga, Part III (On My Way to Sunny California) -- Beach Boys

[Colorado] Rocky Mountain High -- John Denver; Up On Cripple Creek -- The Band; virtually any song by John Denver.

[Connecticut] Peace Frog -- The Doors

[Delaware] Delaware -- Perry Como; Delaware Slide -- George Thorogood

[D.C.]

[Florida] Tallahassee Lassie -- Freddy "Boom Boom" Cannon; Theme from Miami Vice -- Jan Hammer; Seminole Wind -- John Anderson

[Georgia] Rainy Night In Georgia -- Brook Benton; East Bound and Down -- Jerry Reed

[Hawaii] Blue Hawaii -- Elvis Presley; Kona Coast -- The Beach Boys

[Idaho] Private Idaho -- B52s

[Illinois] Chicago -- Frank Sinatra; Rock Island Line -- Johnny Horton

[Indiana] Indiana Wants Me -- R. Dean Taylor; Gary, Indiana -- Robert Preston; Back Home Again In Indiana -- Jim Nabors

[Iowa] Iowa Stubborn -- Cast of "The Music Man"

[Kansas] Wichita Lineman -- Glen Campbell

[Kentucky] Kentucky Rain -- Elvis Presley; Piece of the Road -- Tom T. Hall; Busfare to Kentucky -- Skeeter Davis

[Louisiana] Way Down Yonder in New Orleans -- Freddy "Boom Boom" Cannon; New Orleans -- Gary "U.S." Bonds

[Maine] King of the Road -- Roger Miller

[Maryland] Hungry Heart -- Bruce Springsteen

[Massachusetts] Old Cape Cod -- Patti Page; Massachusetts -- The Bee Gees

[Michigan] Detroit City -- Bobby Bare; Saginaw, Michigan -- Left Frizzell; I also have to add Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald by Gordon Lightfoot.

[Minnesota] Love Is All Around -- Joan Jett

[Mississippi] Jackson -- Jack Blanchard & Misty Morgan or Johnny Cash & June Carter; My Head's In Mississippi -- ZZ Top; Mississippi Cotton Pickin' Delta Town -- Charley Pride

[Missouri] Kansas City Star -- Roger Miller; Kansas City -- Wilbert Harrison; Cowboy -- Eddy Arnold

[Montana] American Dreams -- Hoyt Axton

[Nebraska] Convoy -- C.W. McCall; Three Days Out Of Omaha -- Sonny James

[Nevada] Viva Las Vegas -- Elvis Presley; Viva Las Vegas -- ZZ Top

[New Hampshire] Durham Town -- Roger Whittaker

[New Jersey] Born to Run -- Bruce Springsteen

[New Mexico] Tucumcari -- Jimmie Rodgers

[New York] New York, New York -- Frank Sinatra; The E-RI-E Canal -- The Weavers; Rhinestone Cowboy -- Glen Campbell; Brooklyn Roads -- Neil Diamond; Nights on Broadway -- Bee Gees

[North Carolina] Sweet Caroline -- Neil Diamond; Durham Town -- Roger Whittaker

[North Dakota] No brainer here...almost anything by Vic Pellerano is perfect for a trip to North Dakota. Locals call him "The John Denver of the Dakotas." We assume that means he's a good soul, perhaps a bit flaky, and an excellent singer/songwriter. You can verify the latter if you click on this link. Good stuff, and a real must to have in your CD player if you're doing the Teddy Roosevelt thing.

[Ohio] Gonna Take A Lot of River -- The Oak Ridge Boys

[Oklahoma] Okie From Muskogee -- Merle Haggard; Tulsa Time -- Don Williams

[Oregon] Love's Been Good to Me -- Frank Sinatra; or Love's Been Good to Me -- Mark Lindsay

[Pennsylvania] Philadelphia Freedom -- Elton John; Allentown -- Billy Joel

[Puerto Rico] Miss You -- The Rolling Stones

[Rhode Island]

[South Carolina] Drive South -- Suzy Bogguss

[South Dakota] South Dakota -- Liz Phair. Also, see description under North Dakota above for almost anything by Vic Pellerano, the John Denver of the Dakotas.

[Tennessee] Memphis -- Johnny Rivers; Rocky Top -- The Osborne Brothers; Smoky Mountain Rain -- Ronnie Milsap; Tennessee Waltz -- Patti Page; Nashville -- David Houston

[Texas] God Blessed Texas -- Little Texas; La Grange -- ZZ Top; El Paso -- Marty Robbins; Cross the Brazos at Waco -- Billy Walker; Luckenbach, Texas -- Waylon Jennings; Galveston -- Glen Campbell

[Utah] Salt Lake City and Spirit of America -- The Beach Boys;

[Vermont] Moonlight In Vermont -- Margaret Whiting

[Virgin Islands] Creeque Alley -- The Mamas & Papas

[Virginia] Carry Me Back to Old Virginny -- Jerry Lee Lewis; Valley Road -- Bruce Hornsby; Battle of Bull Run -- Johnny Horton

[Washington] Seattle -- Perry Como

[West Virginia] Take Me Home, Country Roads -- John Denver

[Wisconsin] Madison Blues -- George Thorogood

[Wyoming] Green River -- Creedence Clearwater Revival

Canada Up In Canada -- Larry Norman; Canadian Sunset -- Andy Williams

International The Happy Wanderer (Val-de-re)

FAQs

Q: Is the slackpacker a commercial site?

A: Yes; that is why you see the long, empty table column on the left of each page. We plan to assemble a core of key links that the average hiking enthusiast will find convenient and helpful. Also, you may notice a few links to books and specialized hiking gear. We add these only when we have direct experience and wish to recommend the item. We earn a small commission on some, but not all, of those links. To date, those commissions have covered absolutely none of our expenses.

Q: Alright then, is this thing advertising?

A: Yes. But these things don't even cover our costs.

Q: So you don't make money on this...why do it?

A: The founders of this site are avid hikers, and other than GORP and a few other sites, felt it was a hassle to try and locate specific trail information for a given region or community. The site concept came from the old portal concept...if you remember the early days of the web, people would publish their "favorites" links on theme pages. The current search domination by Yahoo!, Google, Overture, etc. has made these types of pages harder and harder to find. Now the slackpacking web user has a true resource in the original spirit of the internet.

Q: What about pop-up ads?

A: None on this site, ever. If you get any, they come from the sites you hyperlink to, and we can't help that. Very often the "free" hosting services use pop ups and background ads to "pay" for their hosting services. And since so many good people create fine web pages that are hosted this way, you might get a few of these after clicking our links. It's free information, good information, so you'll have to put up with the stupid pop ups now and then. Also

Q: Do you have a privacy policy?

A: Yes. We only send a return e-mail to you if you send one to us first. We do not save your e-mail, sell your e-mail, trade your e-mail or anything like that, to anybody. Chances are if you sent us a link, we had your e-mail to reply to, and we then delete it. [I personally despise spam and have a hidden page on this site to trap spammers and let them collect their own e-mail addresses. Heh heh heh]

Q: Do you have an agenda?

A: What is this, a meeting? No agenda. We've always collected links to cool hiking sites, to make research easier for ourselves. Now that we have a website and publish these links, we have an outlet for our semi-creative drivel, which is what you are reading now. Agenda? Well, there is one thing...some hiking trails aren't that great. Some don't have to be taken to the bitter end to get the best experience. Some of them offer outstanding things if you just know where to look. Some get a lot of undeserved publicity, while a better one nearby goes unmentioned. We always hate it when we learn these things the hard way, why should you suffer the same? So I guess our agenda is to provide intelligent information for people like us who have precious little time available. We also believe hiking poles are overused.

Q: What's your position on mountain bikers?

A: We cordially invite all mountain bikers to join us on the trail! But they have to walk, just like everybody else. Leave those ghastly mountain bikes at home.

Q: Who is the best ever?

A: Hard to say. Elvis certainly comes to mind, although Perry Como lasted longer and remained the picture of class throughout his life. Frank Sinatra has his fans. Of course it's always interesting to consider what Bobby Darin might've achieved. Johnny Cash is tops on the all-time country roster. On the subject of female vocalists, you could pick Patti Page or Dinah Shore. Dinah hit notes perfectly -- better than any female vocalist before or since -- but Patti Page beats her for pure song styling. If you asked about the most "underrated" ever, you'd have to turn to Andy Williams, Eddy Arnold or Dean Martin. None of whom ever smashed through the wilderness on a damned mountain bike.

Q: Best group ever?

A: Listen to some of the vocal tracks by the Beach Boys and you know the answer. The extra-curricular baggage is a bit much, however. So the boys from Hawthorne California will have to defer to the boys from Staunton Virginia...the most recognized and awarded group from the mid 1960s to the mid 1990s...Harold, Lew, Phil, Jimmy and Don...the Statler Brothers.

Q: Do you operate any other websites?

A: Yes, a site similar in format to this one called SkierNet.com, specifically for skiers. You can check it out by clicking here.

The Slackpacker will Link to Your Site

Just click on the "Submit a Site" button above. It's free, it's easy, and we won't sell your e-mail address, so fear not!

Be advised that if your site requires an individual to "register" prior to getting any information, your site will not be accepted. If your site requires an individual to pay for information, it will not be accepted. Commercial sites are fine -- as long as some useful content is provided. Link farms are acceptable as long as they focus on a specific region or locale. Vague, meaningless sites with scads of commissioned banners will not receive links. Sites with x-rated or inflammatory content will not be linked.

We want to link to your hike reports, trail narratives, etc. If you have worthwhile links for the other pages (intro to Slackpacking, Geology links, etc.) then by all means tell us. If you've taken the pains to create a web page, you probably want people to view it...a free link on slackpacker.com will certainly help. Thank you for your participation.

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