There are unique characteristics to the '
Appalachian National Scenic Trail by state', generally known as the 'Appalachian Trail' or simply 'The A.T.'. Overall, it is between 2,150 and 2,200 miles (3,500-km) in length. (The exact length of the Appalachian Trail is not known, as periodic changes and maintenance to the trail alters the trail's length, making an exact figure difficult, if not impossible, to ascertain.) The trail extends between
Springer Mountain in
Georgia and
Mount Katahdin in
Maine. Along the way, the trail also passes through the states of
North Carolina,
Tennessee,
Virginia,
West Virginia,
Maryland,
Pennsylvania,
New Jersey,
New York,
Connecticut,
Massachusetts,
Vermont and
New Hampshire. The path is maintained by thirty trail clubs and multiple partnerships
[ ]
A.T. Essentials .
The trail is currently protected along more than 99% of its course by federal or state ownership of the land or by
right-of-way. Annually, more than 4,000
volunteers contribute over 175,000 hours of effort on the Appalachian Trail, an effort coordinated largely by the
Appalachian Trail Conservancy (ATC) organization.
In the course of its journey, the trail follows the ridgeline of the
Appalachian Mountains, crossing many of its highest peaks, and running, with only a few exceptions, almost continuously through
wilderness.
Georgia
Georgia has 75 miles (120 km) of the trail
Explore the Trail: Georgia , including the southern terminus at
Springer Mountain (elevation 3,280 feet, 992 m). An 8 mile (12 km) approach trail (not part of the AT) begins at the
Amicalola Falls State Park visitor center. The approach trail is often littered with items cast aside by overburdened hikers unprepared for the difficulties of the initial hike. At 4,461 feet (1,360 m),
Blood Mountain is the highest point on the trail in Georgia. The AT and approach trail are managed and maintained by the
Georgia Appalachian Trail Club.
:
★ See:
Georgia Peaks on the Appalachian Trail
North Carolina
North Carolina has 88 miles (142 km) of the trail
Explore the Trail: North Carolina , not including more than 200 miles (325 km) along the Tennessee border. Altitude ranges from 1,725 to 5,498 feet (525 to 1,676 m).
Tennessee
View (north) from the summit of Clingman's Dome
Tennessee has 293 miles (472 km) of the trail
Explore the Trail: Tennessee , including more than 200 miles (325 km) along or near the North Carolina border. The section that runs just below the summit of
Clingmans Dome in '
Great Smoky Mountains National Park' is the highest point on the trail at 6,625 feet (2,019 m). The trail enters Tennessee from North Carolina atop Doe Knob, on the crest of the Smokies, and exits Tennessee into Virginia atop
Holston Mountain.
The first 64 miles (103 km) of the A.T. in Tennessee follows the crest of the Smokies, and is largely shared with North Carolina. In the Western Smokies, the trail traverses a young forest that replaced what was once a large highland pasture, most noticeable in areas such as
Spence Field,
Thunderhead Mountain, and
Silers Bald. The trail reaches 6,000 feet for the first time on the western slope of Mount Buckley (a sub-peak of Clingmans Dome) and comes within a few meters of the summit of Clingmans. The trail crosses US-441 at
Newfound Gap and traverses a series of rocky cliffs known as "The Sawteeth" en route to the high ridges of the Eastern Smokies. Here, the trail crosses
Mount Chapman and
Mount Guyot, and passes one of its most remote shelters at
Tricorner Knob before gradually descending.
The view looking north from Engine Gap, in the Roan Highlands
Just beyond
Mount Cammerer, the A.T. exits the Smokies, crossing
I-40 into the
Cherokee National Forest. After traversing Snowbird Mountain, Max Patch Bald, and Lemon Gap (just south of
Del Rio), the trail exits Tennessee atop Bluff Mountain and re-enters again atop Rich Mountain (in
Greene County), some 10 miles (16 km) to the northeast.
After traversing the Bald Mountains, the Appalachian Trail crosses the
Nolichucky River and enters the Unakas, gradually ascending to the
Roan Highlands near the town of
Roan Mountain in
Carter County. Atop Roan High Knob, the A.T. again eclipses 6,000 feet (approximately 6,280 feet), and passes the highest shelter along the entire trail. After crossing Grassy Ridge, which is the longest stretch of
grassy bald in the Appalachias, the trail descends to the Laurel Fork Valley, where it turns west away from the state boundary.
Just beyond White Rocks Mountain, the trail passes through
Hampton, Tennessee before turning north again. At
Watauga Lake at the TVA Watauga Dam, the trail turns northeast, crossing Iron Mountain before turning briefly to the northwest at the
Carter County-
Johnson County line. After passing over Cross Mountain, the trail again turns northeast and ascends Holston Mountain en route to Virginia.
Virginia
Virginia has the largest mileage of the trail of any state (more than a quarter) with 550 miles (885 km) of the trail
[ ]
Explore the Trail: Virginia , including about 20 miles (32 km) along the West Virginia border. Some consider the Virginia section to be the wettest, most challenging part of the hike for northbound hikers. Substantial portions closely parallel the
Skyline Drive and the
Blue Ridge Parkway in '
Shenandoah National Park'.
West Virginia
West Virginia has 4 miles (6 km) of the trail
Explore the Trail: West Virginia , not including about 20 miles (32 km) along the Virginia border. The trail passes through the town of
Harpers Ferry, headquarters of the
Appalachian Trail Conservancy. Harpers Ferry is considered the "psychological midpoint" of the AT.
Maryland
Maryland has 41 miles (66 km) of the trail
Explore the Trail: Maryland , ranging in elevation from 230 to 1,880 feet (70–570 m) The section, great for three- or four-day trips, is easy by AT standards, and is a good place for hikers to find out if they are ready for more rugged parts of the trail. Hikers are required to stay at designated shelters and campsites, no camping off-trail.
Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania has 229 miles (369 km) of the trail
Explore the Trail: Pennsylvania The trail extends from the Pennsylvania-Maryland border at
Pen Mar, a tiny town straddling the state line, to the
Delaware Water Gap, at the Pennsylvania-New Jersey line. The
Susquehanna River is generally considered the dividing line between the northern and southern sections of the Pennsylvania AT. The AT crosses the Susquehanna via the
Clarks Ferry Bridge, near
Duncannon.
In the southern half of the state, the AT passes through
Caledonia State Park,
Michaux State Forest, and
Pine Grove Furnace State Park (the actual midpoint of the AT is near PGF State Park). In the northern half of the state, the AT passes through
St. Anthony's Wilderness, which is the second largest roadless area in Pennsylvania and home to several coal mining ghost towns, such as
Yellow Springs and
Rausch Gap.
Trail towns that are popular stops with thru-hikers are
Boiling Springs,
Duncannon,
Port Clinton,
Palmerton, and Delaware Water Gap.
Northwest of the
Schuylkill River, the trail runs along the top of the
Blue Mountain ridge. Just before entering New Jersey, the Blue Mountain ridge becomes the
Kittatinny Ridge.
With the description of "where boots go to die", Pennsylvania is infamous among thru-hikers for having more long stretches of rocky trail than any other state, although many feel the rocks are overrated. The worst rocks are in the northern half of the state, north of the Susquehanna River. Many consider Pennsylvania one of these easier parts of the AT, since it is mostly walking on ridges with relatively small elevation changes compared to many other states.
New Jersey
Sunfish Pond on the Appalachian trail in
New Jersey.
New Jersey is home to 72 miles (116 km) of the trail
[ ]
Explore the Trail: New Jersey . More than half of it is along the top of
Kittatinny Ridge at the northwestern corner of the state. The trail enters New Jersey from the south on a pedestrian walkway along the
Interstate 80 Delaware Water Gap Toll Bridge over the
Delaware River, ascends from the Delaware Water Gap to the top of Kittatinny Ridge in
Worthington State Forest, passes Sunfish Pond, continues through
Stokes State Forest, and eventually reaches
High Point State Park, highest peak in New Jersey (a side trail is required to reach the actual peak). It then turns in a southeastern direction along the New York-New Jersey border for about 30 miles (48 km), passing over long sections of boardwalk bridges over marshy land, then entering
Wawayanda State Park and then the
Abraham Hewitt State Forest just before entering New York near
Greenwood Lake.
Black bear activity along the trail in New Jersey increased rapidly starting in 2001. In August 2005, a teenage hiker sleeping at Mashipacong Shelter was awakened by a bear biting his leg. The bear was later identified and killed by authorities (
New Jersey Herald or this
more complete account). Metal bear-proof trash boxes are in place at all New Jersey shelters.
New York
Island Pond, Harriman State Park
Bear Mountain Bridge
New York's 88 miles (142 km) of trail
Explore the Trail: New York contain very little elevation change compared to other states. From south to north, the trail summits many small mountains under 1,400 feet (430 m) in elevation, its highest point in New York being Prospect Rock at 1,433 feet (438 m), and less than half a mile (800 m) from the border with New Jersey. The trail continues north, climbing near Fitzgerald Falls, passing through
Sterling Forest, and then entering
Harriman State Park and
Bear Mountain State Park. In Harriman State Park, the trail passes through the famous
Lemon Squeezer, a narrow crack between huge boulders. It crosses the
Hudson River on the
Bear Mountain Bridge, which is the lowest point on the entire Appalachian Trail at 124 feet (38 m). It then passes through
Fahnestock State Park and continues northeast until it enters Connecticut via the
Pawling Nature Reserve. The section of the trail that passes through
Harriman and
Bear Mountain State Parks is the oldest section of the trail, completed in 1923.
Connecticut
The 52 miles (84 km) of trail in Connecticut
Explore the Trail: Connecticut lie almost entirely along the
ridges to the west above the
Housatonic River Valley. The trail climbs ridges below the town of Kent, and then works its way past the Housatonic River to Falls Village, where it regains the heights. After the town of Salisbury, the trail ascends into the Taconic Range, in order: Lions Head, Riga Ridge, and Bear Mountain, after which the Massachusetts line is achieved at Sage's Ravine.
The trail passes within one mile (1.6 km) of the business district of
Kent, a popular resupply point for long-distance hikers. In the town of
Salisbury (which occupies the northwestern corner of the state), it skirts the town center before reaching the summit of
Bear Mountain, the highest peak in Connecticut at 2,316 feet (706 m), descending, and entering Massachusetts. (The state's highest ''point'', on the shoulder of
Mount Frissell at the Massachusetts line, lies about 1.5 miles (2 km) off the AT, as does the junction of those two states with New York. Such a side-trip is on the order of 4 miles (6.5 km) long and entails about 1,300 vertical feet (400 m) of climbing.)
Facilities
The Appalachian Trail through Connecticut encounters over 30 scenic views and vistas with the most scenic areas being the portion from Bull's Bridge south to about the New York border and the northern leg around Bear Mountain. In total, there are 20 designated camping spots along the Appalachian Trail through Connecticut. Most are very remote with only running streamwater as a facility, but there are a handful of shelters designed to be used by groups. There are only a couple of outhouses along the entire route requiring the hikers to use leave-no-trace eithics. The most equipped campsite, with outhouse and water pump, is along the route at the confluence of the Ten Mile River and the Houastonic River. For the most part, this trail is not accessible by those with extreme disabilities; the trail is very rugged with steep climbs and rocky terrain in many areas. However, there is a short wheelchair accessible part of the trail just oustide of Falls Village which follows a portion of the Housatonic River. Additionally, open fires are not permitted along any portion of the Appalachian Trail through Connecticut.
Saint Johns Ledges is a popular rock climbing route located along the Appalachian Trail about 2 miles north of Kent, CT and just west of River Road adjacent to the Housatonic River. The ledges are the rocky outcroppings along the eastern flank of Calebs Peak. This is the most rugged portion of the Appalachian Trail through Connecticut.
Schaghticoke Mountain
The
Schaghticoke Mountain leg of 6 miles (10 km) beginning and ending at road crossings in
Kent (namely with the west-bank river road near
Bulls Bridge and
state route 341), has several distinctions, beyond being the bulk of one of three "Best Backpacking Spot[s] In Connecticut" as cited in
''Backpacker'' magazine in
October 2001.
This portion is usually described as if continuously in the state, but it actually passes into New York State for nearly two miles (3 km) to reach a maximum distance of about 1,800 feet (500 m) west of the state line. This portion meets neither roads nor maintained trails in New York, is in practice accessed only via portions of the trail that ''are'' actually in Connecticut, and is maintained by the Connecticut chapter of the AMC (rather than the New York/New Jersey one).
At the northern end of that isolated New York segment, the state line is also the western boundary of a 480-acre (190 ha) Connecticut
reservation inhabited by 11
Schaghticoke Indians. Inside it, the AT roughly parallels its northern boundary, crossing back outside it after 2,000 feet (640 m).
In light of the routing through the reservation, the ATC and National Park Service began efforts in the early 1980s to acquire land to the north that would provide for a federally owned route avoiding the reservation's current recognized boundaries. In
2000, the recognized leadership of the reservation announced exclusion of hikers from the reservation portion of the AT for a period of four days, and the ATC temporarily rerouted the trail onto four miles (7 km) of roads in place of the entire six miles (10 km) of trail, before the scheduled closure was cancelled. The acquisition plans are also complicated by possibly illegal (though in either case not necessarily legally remediable) sales of reservation land in the
18th and
19th centuries, that might at least include some of the proposed acquisition.
This leg was officially and temporarily rerouted again in the early
2000s, as the result of a
wildfire in both states that was fought with
earth-moving equipment. The trailbed south of the summit faced erosion from destruction of
logs used for
side-hilling, and of vegetation and organic soil adjacent to it; reconstruction was a major Connecticut-AT trail-maintenance effort.
Massachusetts
Massachusetts has 90 miles (145 km) of trail
Explore the Trail: Massachusetts . The entire section of trail is in western Massachusetts'
Berkshire County. It summits the highest peak in the Southern Berkshires,
Mount Everett (2,602 feet, 793 m), then descends to the
Housatonic River Valley and skirts the town of
Great Barrington. The trail passes through the towns of
Dalton and
Cheshire, and summits the highest point in the state at 3,491 feet (1064 m),
Mount Greylock. It then quickly descends to the valley within 2 miles (3 km) of
North Adams and
Williamstown, before ascending again to the Vermont state line. The trail throughout Massachusetts is maintained by the Berkshire Chapter of the Appalachian Mountain Club.
Vermont
Vermont has 150 miles (241 km) of the trail
Explore the Trail: Vermont . Upon entering Vermont, the trail coincides with the southernmost sections of the generally north/south-oriented
Long Trail (which is subject to a request by its maintainers to protect it in its most vulnerable part of the year by forgoing spring hiking). It follows the ridge of the southern
Green Mountains, summiting such notable peaks as
Stratton Mountain,
Glastenbury Mountain and
Killington Peak. After parting ways with the Long Trail at Maine Junction, the AT turns in a more eastward direction, crossing the
White River, passing through
Norwich, and entering
Hanover, New Hampshire, as it crosses the
Connecticut River. In Vermont, The
Green Mountain Club maintains the AT from the Massachusetts state border to
Route 12. The
Dartmouth Outing Club maintains the trail from Route 12 to the New Hampshire state line.
New Hampshire
New Hampshire has 161 miles (259 km) of the trail
Explore the Trail: New Hampshire . The New Hampshire AT is nearly all within the
White Mountain National Forest. The easier southern portion of the trail, from Hanover to Glencliff, passes over Velvet Rocks,
Moose Mountain,
Smarts Mountain, and
Mount Cube. It then ascends
Mount Moosilauke and enters the high peaks region of the
Whites. For northbound thru-hikers, it is the beginning of the main challenges that go beyond enduring distance and time: in New Hampshire and Maine, rough or steep ground are more frequent, and
alpine conditions are found near summits and along ridges.
The trail runs completely above treeline from the summit of Mt. Pierce to the north side of the cone of Mt. Madison, a distance of about 12 miles.
The AT passes over the summits of 16 of the 48
four-thousand footers of New Hampshire: Moosilauke, South and North Kinsmans, Lincoln, Lafayette, Gartfield, South Twin, Jackson, Pierce, Washington (the highest point of the AT north of Tennessee), Madison, Wildcats D and A,
Carter Dome, Middle and South Carters. It comes close to the summits of 8 other of the 48
four-thousand footers: Liberty, Galehead, Zealand, Eisenhower, Monroe, Jefferson, Adams, and Moriah. A series of comfortable
huts is maintained along parts of the NH trail by the
Appalachian Mountain Club. In New Hampshire, the
Dartmouth Outing Club maintains the AT from the Vermont border to Mount Mousilauke, with the AMC maintaining the remaining miles through the state. The trail passes through the towns of Hanover and Gorham, which have grocery stores and are accessible by public transportation (Dartmouth Coach and Concord Trailways) from Boston. Concord Trailways also has bus service to Lincoln (several miles off the AT) and AMC Pinkham Notch. During the summer season, AMC runs a shuttle service to Crawford Notch and Fraconia Notch.
Maine
A thru-hike completed!
The 281 miles (452 km) of the trail in Maine are particularly difficult
Explore the Trail: Maine . More
moose are seen by hikers in this state than any other on the trail. The northern terminus of the Appalachian Trail is on Katahdin's Baxter Peak in
Baxter State Park.
The western section includes a mile-long (1.6 km) stretch of boulders at
Mahoosuc Notch, often called the trail's hardest mile.
The central Maine section crosses of the
Kennebec River at a point where it is 200 feet (65 m) wide, the widest unbridged stream along the trail.
Fording the river is unsafe because of swift and powerful currents and the unannounced release of water from upstream
hydroelectric facilities. The
Maine Appalachian Trail Club offers a
canoe ferry ride across the river during peak hiking season. Although there are dozens of river and stream fords on the Maine section of the trail, this is the only one that requires a boat crossing.
The most isolated portion in the state (and arguably on the entire trail) is known as the "
100-Mile Wilderness." This section heads east-northeast from the town of
Monson and ends outside
Baxter State Park just south of Abol Bridge.
Baxter State Park closes the summer rules overnight camping season from
October 15 to
May 15 each year. Park management strongly discourages thru-hiking within the park before
May 31 or after
October 15 [1].
In Maine, the AMC maintains the AT from the New Hamsphire border to Grafton Notch, with the Maine Appalachian Trail Club responsible of maintaining the remaining miles to Katahdin.
References
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