International Appalachian Trail (Europe)
The Ayrshire Coastal Path is now a key link in the Scottish Chapter of the newly launched IAT Europe (October 2010). This is a long-distance route being developed, using existing trails, that will stretch from the south of Ireland, right up through Scotland via the Loch Ryan Coastal Path, the ACP, West Highland Way, Great Glen Way, and Cape Wrath Trail to John o Groats, Orkney, Shetland, and over to Norway. There are also plans to extend it south as far as Spain, Portugal, and Morocco.
The IAT (www.iat-sia.com) is one of the world’s greatest walking ‘brands’, extending the famous Appalachian Trail, which runs from Georgia to Maine, right up eastern Canada to Newfoundland. This imaginative concept of extending to Europe was born from the geological links between the rocks of eastern America and Canada and the ancient rocks of Scotland, Ireland and Norway - and the historical bonds between New World and Old through centuries of emigration by their peoples.
The IAT has really ‘thought big’ in setting up this walking link. We are delighted to be part of it, and look forward to many more ‘thru-hikers’ from overseas coming to enjoy the gentle beauty of our Ayrshire coastline as a foretaste of the wild grandeur of the Scottish Highlands. We hope that this great initiative will also lead to a reciprocal exodus of adventurous Scots heading for the beautiful Canadian wilderness.