Oregon has the Lewis and Clark Trail.

The Grand Canyon has the Bright Angel Trail.

New England has the Lobster Trail.

It doesn’t? Well, it should.

Think of it, a gustatory path from Connecticut to Maine built on the red shells of lobsters: boiled, broiled, steamed, baked – in eggs, in crepes, in phyllo dough, even in ice cream.

This hike is not for everyone. Not for, say, the couple from the Midwest overheard at a downtown Bar Harbor, Maine, restaurant as they laid horrified eyes on their first boiled lobster dinner.

He: “My wife wanted lobster.”

Waiter: “That is lobster, sir.”

He: “She wanted lobster. (Pointing ) Not that.”

The offending red bug was whisked away, replaced by a pile of white crustacean flesh, minus shell. Lobster, Iowa style.

It is hard to imagine who decided in pre-Pilgrim times that there was something inside a lobster shell worth fighting for. But God bless that brave soul.

The Lobster Trail doesn’t have markers or guidebooks. It doesn’t have any clubs or associations to tout and maintain it.

Grab your plastic bib, your prepackaged wet wipe and your attending cardiologist and head northeast. The trail hugs the coastline, starting in Connecticut and winds through Rhode Island, Massachusetts and New Hampshire before reaching the Lobster Promised Land in Maine.

The trail head starts at Abbott’s Lobster in the Rough in Noank, Conn. The open-sided waterfront establishment just across the water from Mystic Seaport sticks with the basics.

The 80 or so picnic tables stretch out on the lawn, providing a perfect place to unwind from traveling and to watch the boats in Noank Harbor.

Abbott’s is BYOB, so stop at the Universal Package store first. You can’t miss it. The blue and white sign out front says, “Going to Abbott’s? Stop here for beer or alcohol.”

After waiting in line at Abbott’s (they serve 1,200 meals daily) start with a bowl of broth-based clam chowder or have some ice-cold shrimp “in the rough” (with shells) or steamed mussels or clams. Lobsters begin at 1 1/4 pounds and run up to 10 pounds.

You’re sure to fall in love with old Cape Cod if Arnold’s Restaurant in Eastham, Mass., is on the itinerary.

Another in-the-rough restaurant, Arnold’s is clean, has indoor and outdoor seating and serves some of the world’s best onion rings and sweet corn to go with lobster. The raw bar, operated by a local shellfisherman, provides great appetizers.

Everyone says, “Maine lobster,” but, you can catch the buggers anywhere off the coast from North Carolina to Newfoundland. But they always taste best in Maine.

Red’s Eats in Wiscasset purveys lobster on the street corner.

The little wooden structure with a handful of tables clustered along the curb sits at the foot of the Route 1 bridge.

Red’s means lobster rolls stuffed to the top with chunks of lobster, a pound of meat in each. Get it with mayo or butter.

Continuing up the Maine coast on Route 1, stop in Boothbay Harbor and have a Down East clambake on Cabbage Island. For $39.95, you get a nature cruise out to the island, beverages, fish chowder, two lobsters, a pound of clams, corn and a boiled potato. If you have room, have a slab of great blueberry cake.

You’re in the heart of Lobster Country now, and the stops along the Lobster Trail come fast and furious.

On Deer Isle, it’s easy to find the Fisherman’s Friend on School Street in Stonington. Just look for the storefront with the line snaking out into the parking lot.

The restaurant serves fresh, inexpensive seafood to locals. The lobsters are nicely prepared and the Toll House pie and wild blueberry pie will make you groan contentedly. The Fisherman’s Friend has no liquor license, so bring your own.

Head up the coast on Route 1 and in Ellsworth turn right on Route 3. There on the left is Jasper’s, with lobster served a million ways.

How do we love lobster at Jasper’s? Cocktail, stew, salad, roll, Newburg, boiled, baked, stuffed, casserole, Alfredo and saute. Throw in the breakfast omelet and the special and that’s a baker’s dozen.