| Lebanon Mountain Trail | |
| Length Km: | 470 |
| Difficulty: | Easy to moderate |
| Season: | All year round |
| Website: | https://www.lebanontrail.org |
| Use: | Hiking |
The Lebanon Mountain Trail (LMT; Arabic: درب جبل لبنان) is a long-distance hiking trail in Lebanon. It extends from Andaket in north of Lebanon to Marjayoun in the south along a 470km (290miles) path that transects more than 76 towns and villages at altitudes ranging from 570 to 2,073 meters (1,870 to 6,800 feet) above sea level.
The LMT passes through UNESCO heritage sites, nature reserves, and protected areas, and consists of footpaths, dirt and paved roads, river crossings, and a wide range of terrain types. Though there are campgrounds along the trail, Lebanon does not have much of a camping culture, so backpacking on the LMT usually means hiking sections of the trail between villages and staying in a B&B or guesthouse overnight.
Projects like the LMT are important for Lebanon during the country's financial and political turmoil. In 2019, hikers spent over $100,000 in villages along the trail, creating a major incentive for locals to preserve and protect their heritage.[1]
Most of the trail can be freely accessed by anyone. A permit is only required for the southernmost part of the trail, which foreign visitors can get from the office of the Army Security Service.
The Lebanon Mountain Trail was proposed in 2002 by Joseph Karam, president of the US-based consulting company ECODIT, while thinking of ways to develop ecotourism products in Lebanon.[2] Taking inspiration from the Appalachian Trail in the US, he conceptualized the idea with his colleague Karim El-Jisr, and in 2005 applied for grant funding from USAID Lebanon. ECODIT was awarded $3.3 million to implement the project between 2006 and 2008, and to establish the Lebanon Mountain Trail Association (LMTA) to "ensure the long-term sustainability of the trail".[3]
In 2021, the German Government in partnership with the International Labour Organization invested $1.1 million in the LMTA to fund maintenance of 590 kilometers of the main trail and side trails.[4] Between 2021 and 2022, over 1300 temporary workers were hired to upgrade the existing trails and add additional side trails.
The LMT has been affected by Lebanon's economic crisis and the state of the country, including the Lebanese liquidity crisis, the 2020 Beirut Explosion, and the COVID-19 Pandemic, which caused a large decrease in tourism. Since 2019, the LMTA has been soliciting donations from hikers and the online community to help maintain the trail.
Every spring, the LMTA hosts a group thru-hike that covers the full trail in one month. More than 200 hikers join every year, though the number who complete the full trail is much smaller.
Many hikers also choose to hike the trail alone, or with a local guide. However due to limited information on solo hikers, the actual number of hikers is unknown.
On May 1, 2021, Ali Kedami and Nayla Cortas completed the LMT together in 6 days 12 hours and 15 minutes.[5] Nayla also became the first woman to run the LMT. The previous record of 6 days and 17 hours was set in June 2017 by Patrick Vaughan.[6]
The LMT is divided into 27 sections, each of which is 9–24 km long and can be hiked in one day:
Section 0: Andaket–Qobaiyat