Northeast (MA, CT, RI, ME, NH, VT)

Adam Wilcox proposed the route:

This has been a staple training route of mine for years that I've done variations of numerous times. It's a logical way to link up four 4,000 foot peaks with one car, clocks in at about 17 miles and 5,520' feet of gain, and has a good variety of trails; steep rocky climbs, flowy singletrack, and viewpoints. I have enough experience here that I'd like to think I picked the most sensible and aesthetic variation.

Backpacker Magazine called Maine's Bigelow Traverse one of "America's Hardest Dayhikes", saying "You’ll be tempted to run this northbound traverse of the AT from ME 27/16-not because you’re feeling jaunty, but to escape the Maine woods’ infamous black flies. But the relentlessly steep and rocky trail along long, forested ridges discourages any such fantasies.

The northern terminus is just south of Mt. Monadnock at the NH/MA state border, and the southern terminus is at the Long Island Sound in Guilford, CT. It is just over 200 miles long, and it is one of the National Scenic Trails. It runs along rugged traprock ridges.

Lee-Stuart Evans ran the entire NET & described it briefly as follows:

There are numerous possibilities, and no one FKT route has yet become standard.  Here is some of the discussion that happened on our old website:

Tim Seaver (7/11/2014):

Mount Mansfield, Sunset Ridge/Maple Ridge Loop w/summit (VT)

I've been running this loop for almost 20 years, and still think it's one of the finest in New England.

Joe's Guide to Acadia National Park describes the route:

Dan Rosenthal proposed the route:

I loved the idea of an Acadia Traverse but didn't have the time or transportation to complete it and make time for the family.  So, my Blackwoods loop originated from a problem.  How can I have the most epic run in Acadia on a limited time frame with a start and finish at Blackwoods campground?  I was intrigued that two trails exited the campground.  My route was influenced by Phil Maynard's route. 

The are now four different defined loops in the Great Gulf area of the Whites. The original Swan Song describe by Robert Rives (which now is also a Strava segment), the Gulf Song by Todd Nappi, both of which have been run several times and over the years. Now there is the much longer (40 miles) Ravine Song submitted by Nate Weitzer and the Ultra Tour of the Great Gulf by Ray Martin (30 miles). There is a gpx file for each round available here.

Detail here below:

Robert Rives posted the Swan Song route:

Sam Price posted about the route & history:

"Without doing any research, I ascertained that there was no Fastest Known Time. History was within our grasp." --- TEO, FKT, Legendary Cube-Smarts Traverse, 11/18/12, www.vftt.org.

There are some great accounts of folks trying for a single traverse of this section of the AT and variations:

Dan Rosenthal posted about the 21.8 mile Glastenbury/West Ridge Loop:

Brian Culmo posted the route:

The Monroe Skyline is an iconic section of the Long Trail in Vermont. This run is on the southern part of the section, It covers 2 of Vermont's 5 4000ft peaks (Mt. Abraham and Mt. Ellen) and traverses one of Vermonts most prominent ridgelines. This Gap2Gap2Gap run (Appalachian Gap to Lincoln Gap) follows the Long Trail the entire time. I started at Appalachian Gap and ran on the LT southbound to Lincoln Gap then ran back on the LT northbound to finish at Appalachian Gap.