Master planning document for the Appalachian Trail, adopted by the National Park Service and the U.S. Forest Service in 1981.

An act to establish a land and water conservation fund to assist the States and Federal agencies in meeting present and future outdoor recreation demands and needs of the American people, and for other purposes.

A transcript of the hearings in the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Roads, October 24, 1945, on a bill proposed by Congressman Daniel K. Hoch (Pennsylvania) to establish a "national system of foot trails." Hoch's proposal was made as an amendment to the Federal Aid Highway Act of 1944. The transcript includes the text of the amendment, as well as statements by Hoch, Myron Avery of the Appalachian Trail Conference, L. F. Schmeckbier of the Potomac Appalachian Trail Club, as well as others in favor or or opposed to Hoch's amendment. The amendment, which failed to clear the committee, would have provided $50,000 per year for the acquisition of land or easements for up to 10,000 miles of foot trails in the United States.

Report of the 1965 study commissioned by the Secretary of the Interior Morris Udall and completed by the Bureau of Outdoor Recreation (U.S. Department of the Interior). The report was a response to President Lyndon Johnson's "Natural Beauty Message" of February 8, 1965, in which he called for development and protection of a balanced system of trails—in the nation's metropolitan areas as well as in the countryside—in cooperation with State and local governments and private interests. Johnson called for such a trail system to help protect and enhance the total quality of the outdoor environment as well as to provide much needed opportunities for healthy outdoor recreation. This report helped provide a framework for the creation of the the National Trails System Act of 1968.

The National Trails System Act of 1968 created three types of national trails, "to promote the preservation of, public access to, travel within, and enjoyment and appreciation of the open-air, outdoor areas and historic resources of the Nation." The three trail types were National Scenic Trails and National Recreation Trails, along with associated side and connecting trails. Two of the most important of the National Scenic Trails were the Appalachian Trail (AT) and the Pacific Crest Trail (PCT). Eventually in 1978, a fourth category of trail, National Historical Trails, was added to those protected by the Act. This Act is the foundation stone of federal oversight of the Appalachian Trail, the Pacific Crest Trail, and other long distance trails such as the Continental Divide Trail.