Appalachian Trail by state

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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 a 2,174-mile (3,500-km)^[1] marked hiking trail in the eastern United States, extending 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.^[2]

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.

Contents 1 Georgia 2 North Carolina 3 Tennessee 4 Virginia 5 West Virginia 6 Maryland 7 Pennsylvania 8 New Jersey 9 New York 10 Connecticut 10.1 Schaghticoke Mountain 11 Massachusetts 12 Vermont 13 New Hampshire 14 Maine 15 Notes

[edit] Georgia

Georgia has 75 miles (120 km) of the trail,^[3] 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

[edit] North Carolina

North Carolina has 88 miles (142 km) of the trail,^[4] 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).

[edit] Tennessee

Tennessee has 293 miles (472 km) of the trail,^[5] 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 crosses from Tennessee to Virginia atop Holston Mountain.

[edit] Virginia

Virginia has 550 miles (885 km) of the trail,^[6] 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.

[edit] West Virginia

West Virginia has 4 miles (6 km) of the trail,^[7] 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.

[edit] Maryland

Maryland has 41 miles (66 km) of the trail,^[8] 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.

[edit] Pennsylvania

Pennsylvania has 229 miles (369 km) of the trail.^[9] 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.

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.

[edit] New Jersey

New Jersey is home to 72 miles (116 km) of the trail.^[10] 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.

[edit] New York

New York's 88 miles (142 km) of trail^[11] 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. 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.

[edit] Connecticut

The 52 miles (84 km) of trail in Connecticut^[12] lie almost entirely along the ridges to the west above the Housatonic River Valley.

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.)

[edit] 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.

[edit] Massachusetts

Massachusetts has 90 miles (145 km) of trail.^[13] 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.

[edit] Vermont

Vermont has 150 miles (241 km) of the trail.^[14] 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.

[edit] New Hampshire

New Hampshire has 161 miles (259 km) of the trail.^[15] The New Hampshire AT is nearly all within the White Mountain National Forest. The easier southwestern portions of this section pass over Velvet Rocks, Moose Mountain, Smarts Mountain, and Mount Cube before ascending Mount Moosilauke and entering 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 reaches more than half of the four-thousand footers of New Hampshire, including Mount Washington, the highest point of the AT north of Tennessee. 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.

[edit] Maine

The 281 miles (452 km) of the trail in Maine are particularly difficult.^[16] 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 Mt. Katahdin.

[edit] Notes

Hiking Trails in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States of America

202 Trail - Appalachian - Baker - Black Forest - Brandywine - Bucktail Path - Chester Valley Chuck Keiper - Conestoga - Cresheim - Cross County - Darlington - Donut Hole - Evansburg Forbes Road - GAP - Glacier Ridge - Golden Eagle - Horse Shoe - Joseph P. Saylor Laurel Highlands - Liberty Bell - Link - Lost Turkey - Lower - Loyalsock - Mason-Dixon - Mill Creek Montour - North Country - Old Loggers Path - Mid-State - Pennypack - Perkiomen - Pinchot Power Line - Quebec Run - Quehanna - Rachel Carson - Rock Run - Schuylkill East Schuylkill River - Sunrise - Susquehannock - Tanbark - Thunder Swamp - Tuscarora - Warrior - West County - West Rim - Wissahickon - Youghiogheny River