Long before eco-tourism, the National Park system, or National Geographic made hiking in the rugged outdoors an inviting pastime, the American wilderness was largely unexplored by white settlers even by the late 1700s.

Then along came William Bartram, who should go down as one of America’s most famous botanists and early explorers — as big a name as Daniel Boone or Lewis and Clark. Instead, he became a footnote in history.

Fortunately, the life and legacy of William Bartram has seen a revival over the past 25 years. With bicentennial celebrations in 1976, historians dusted off the bicentennial of Bartram’s travels, and scholars began amassing a collection of his writings.

Trail initiatives sprung up in Georgia and the Carolinas as a Southern Highlands recreation study set out to mark Bartram’s travels through the region. In 1977, the North Carolina Bartram Trail Society formed a nature trail preservation group that has grown to more than 200 volunteers and helps maintain about 80 miles of the approximate trail that Bartram once took through Western North Carolina.

The trail, emblazoned with yellow rectangles and designated as a National Recreation Trail in 1997, starts at the North Carolina/Georgia border near Rabun Bald, climbs northwest across the Fishhawk Mountains, falls into the Little Tennessee River Valley, rises to its highest elevation at Wayah Bald (5,341 feet) in Macon County, and joins up with the Appalachian Trail before winding its way down to the Nantahala Gorge and climbing up again to finish at Cheoah Bald. Other trails named in honor of Bartram have been designated in Georgia and Alabama.

The North Carolina trail took some 20 years of work, a small army of volunteers, land easements and assistance from the U.S. Forest Service, and trailblazing through dense forest and steep terrain.

Work on the trail began only after checking with the Forest Service and a team that would include an archeologist, botanist, geologist and other experts to make sure the area along the trail was not endangering the ecosystem or a potentially sensitive historic site.

Each year, once in the spring and once in the fall, the North Carolina Bartram Trail Society meets to discuss issues affecting the trail, public education about the trail, and, of course, hiking opportunities.

“Our purpose is to keep the trail open, and that’s quite a task,” says Jim Padar, current vice president for the Society and a volunteer for the trail.

Even though the trail is about two feet wide, maintaining its seven sections year-round is a full-time job — especially with weeds, leaves and sometimes trees blocking or clogging the pathway, Padar explains. Volunteers of an assortment of ages — even some 75 years and older — work in rain, snow and heat. Some days, it might take three or four people an entire day to move a heavy tree that’s fallen in the way of the trail. And the paths can be pretty steep. In section four, the elevation rises about 5,000 feet over 11.5 miles.

It’s all worth it, Padar adds, when you’re lucky enough to spot an acre of blooming trillium or a fresh patch of snow or sunrays scattering in a fiery red maple.

“It’s a beautiful thing to be out there,” says Padar.

Since some of Bartram’s trail actually goes along what are now highways, the Society continues to seek easements that would allow hikers to walk along wooded paths rather than a potentially dangerous road. For hikers who don’t want to follow the road on section three of the trail, there’s an option of canoeing down a 9-mile stretch of the Little Tennessee River.

The upcoming fall meeting for the North Carolina Bartram Trail Society will be held at 9:30 a.m. Saturday, Oct. 22, at the Macon County Library. The agenda for the meeting includes a reception, guest speaker Brent Martin, associate director of the Land Trust for the Little Tennessee River, a bring-your-own lunch and hikes for adults, children, and disabled or slower-moving adults. The Society is looking for Western Carolina University students or any volunteers who would be willing to assist the disabled and elderly in a greenway walk after the Society’s meeting on Oct. 22.

Maps of the North Carolina section of the Bartram Trail can be purchased at area outfitting stores, through the Society or at U.S. Forest Service ranger stations serving the trail areas. Maps are $2.50 for each section or $15 for all seven sections.

For more information about becoming a member of the North Carolina Bartram Trail Society or to purchase a map, write to N.C. Bartram Trail Society, P.O. Box 144, Scaly Mountain, N.C., 28775 or go to the Web site www.ncbartramtrail.org.