Introduction - Tourism and Trails: Cultural, Ecological and Management Issues - page 12

heavily hiked in the US, although relatively few people navigate its entire
length, instead joining it somewhere along the way and hiking for a few days
at a time (Foresta, 1987; Hill et al. , 2009). The National Trails system in the
UK includes primarily long-distance footpaths and bridleways. Hadrian's
Wall Path (135 km) is one of the most popular national trails in England
and extends from the west coast to the east coast in the north of the coun-
try. It follows the old Roman frontier built nearly 2000 years ago. The wall
and its parallel path pass through some of the most scenic landscapes of
northern England. The path is popular for ramblers and drive tourists, the
latter tending to stop at various locations, forts, turrets and interpretive
centers along the wall (Coleman, 1994; McGlade, 2014; Usherwood, 1996).
Beyond the regional or national scale, there are many binational or mul-
tinational routes that have become the focus of tourism promotional efforts
(Timothy, 2014; Wanalertsakul et al. , 2011). In most cases, these are desig-
nated because of their cultural characteristics and the human elements of the
past they purport to connect across international boundaries. Sometimes,
although these link places in more than one country, they might be of a
shorter length than completely domestic trails. One example is the 40 km
Cross-border Mining Education Trail ( Grenzüberschreitender Bergbaulehrpfad /
Pˇíhraniční naučná hornická stezka ), shared by Germany and the Czech Republic
to interpret the tin mining heritage of Central Europe. The route connects
monuments, mines, ditches and tailings, museums and other attractions into
a loop route that can be driven part of the way or walked entirely, crossing
the German-Czech border twice (Kowalke, 2004).
Short international trails such as this one can be found by the thousands
in all parts of the world (e.g. Koščak, 1999; Rennicke, 1997a). There are,
however, larger routes that include many different countries. In some cases
it is almost impossible to negotiate the entire route because of its sheer scale,
the complexity of its connecting sub-trails, or because of political or physical
geographical barriers. In several instances, travelers can follow the general
direction of the trail or at least one branch of it by airplane, bus, train, private
car, or a combination of these. Perhaps the best example is the Silk Road,
which passes through the territories of several countries in Asia and Europe
(Tang, 1991; World Tourism Organization, 1996). China, Kyrgyzstan, Turk-
menistan and Uzbekistan are among the most active countries seeking to
inscribe the route and some of its related sites on UNESCO's World Heritage
List in a truly transnational way. The Silk Road is not one single corridor but
rather a wide network of ancient land- and sea-based silk trade routes that
crisscross Central Asia, South Asia, the Middle East and the Mediterranean.
With the recent opening of a cargo train line from western China to Germany,
in theory one of the main corridors of the Silk Road can now be traveled
(Mu, 2011). Other large-scale routes have been proposed, including La Ruta
Maya to connect the Mayan lands of Mexico and Central America as a cul-
tural swath for preservation and economic development (Ceballos-Lascuráin,