Bart Smith

Bart Smith is an environmental photographer who has concentrated his efforts on walking and photographically documenting America’s National Trails System. In 2009 Bart became the first person to walk all eleven National Scenic Trails. He did so carrying an extra 20 pounds of camera gear providing him the opportunity to share his sense of wonder through the medium of photography and to visually convey the character of each trail. In 2011 Smith embarked on walking and photographing America’s National Historic Trails of which there are nineteen. On October 2nd 2018 Bart walked under the Gateway Arch completing his thru-hike of the Lewis and Clark Trail becoming the only person to have walked the entirety of America's National Trail System which is comprised of 30 trails and some 36,000 miles. His ultimate goal is to have a world class image gallery celebrating America’s remarkable National Trails. Bart was the 2018 recipient of the Lifetime Achievement Award given by The Partnership of the National Trails System.

Bart is the sole photographer of ten books. His book “America’s Great Hiking Trails” (Rizzoli) 2014 reached the New York Times bestseller list in the Travel category and was the 2015 recipient of the Lowell Thomas Gold Award for Travel Books. He also contributed images to five collaborative photographic books as well, those being “The Pacific Crest Trail” (Rizzoli) 2016, “The North Cascades; Finding Beauty and Renewal in the Wild Nearby (Mountaineers Books) 2014, "Great Hiking Trail of the World" (Rizzoli) 2017, The Continental Divide Trail: Exploring America's Ridgeline Trail (Rizzoli) 2018 and "Wanderlust USA" (Gestalten) 2019.

Please visit bartsmithphotography.com