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Appalachian National Scenic Trail

Appalachian National Scenic Trail is a national scenic trail beginning in Mt. Katahdin, Maine to Springer Mountain, Georgia and is part of the same national park system that includes Yellowstone National Park, Yosemite, and the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, while its boundaries make it the longest and skinniest area within that system.

The highest point on the trail is on Mount Washington State Park within the rugged White Mountains. More backcountry visitors are attracted to the area between Franconia Notch State Park, NH, along Mt. Washington at 6,288 square feet, through Gorham, than any other area where the temperatures may change very rapidly and possible snow fall occurs during any season.

The rapidly changing weather within the White Mountains area require hikers to be prepared for any weather condition. On this section of the trail, hikers can only five to eight miles per day travel for its mostly steep ascents and descents. More backcountry visitors are attracted to this portion of the trail than any other.

The trail traverses the ridges and valleys of the Appalachian Mountains for more than 2,174 miles through fourteen states: Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Maryland, West Virginia, Virginia, Tennessee, North Carolina and Georgia. It passes through more than sixty federal, state, and local parks and forests; hundreds of roads cross through it; and portions of the trail's corridor are only a few hundred feet wide. Its elevation ranges between 740 and 6,288 feet above sea level.

The A.T. began as Forester Benton MacKaye's vision, was developed by volunteers, and opened as a continuous trail in 1937. It was designated as the first National Scenic Trail by the National Trails System Act of 1968. Each year volunteers with the Appalachian Trail Conference give 40,000 of their time towards the preservation, management, and promotion of A.T. as a primitive outdoor-recreation area and as a teaching tool for Trail visitors.

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