Appalachian National Scenic Trail

  

    

The Appalachian Trail is a  scenic hiking trail that stretches over 2,200 miles (3,500 km)   

from Springer Mountain in Georgia to Mount Katahdin in Maine, passing through 14 states in the eastern United States.

The states are Georgia, North Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia, West Virginia, Maryland, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New York, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Vermont, New Hampshire, and Maine.

Ramesh  was fascinated by this hike, which takes about 6months. We got an opportunity to cover some of the  sectional hikes during our trips to this states.

Annually, almost 4,000 inspired thru-hikers begin their ambitious journeys at Georgia’s Springer Mountain, with the goal of hiking the entire A.T. north through 14 states to Maine

Taking 6 months off from work for this Thru hike  is not feasible for us , and needs lot more practice to achieve this hiking, walkings 10's of miles each day.

Below are some of the hikes we visited as part of Appalachian trial

1. Georgia

Georgia has 76.4 miles (123.0 km) of the trail, including the southern terminus at springer mountain at   (elevation 3,780 ft or 1,150 m). 

2. Tennessee

Tennessee has 287.9 miles (463.3 km) of the trail, including more than 200 miles (320 km) along or near the North Carolina border. The section that runs just below the summit of Clingmans Dome  in the Great Smoky mountain National park is the highest point on the trail at 6,625 feet (2,019 m)

3. Virginia

Virginia has the most mileage of the trail of any state with 550.3 miles (885.6 km) of the trail (one-fourth of the entire trail), including more than 20 miles (32 km) along the West Virginia border

Substantial portions of the trail closely parallel  skyline drive in Shenandoah National Park and, further south, the Blue ridge parkway

4. West Virginia

West Virginia has 2.4 miles (4 km) of the trail , not including about 20 miles (32 km) along the Virginia border. The trail passes through the town of  Harpers Ferry

The AT crosses the railroad bridge at left in Harpers Ferry National historic park

5 . Pennsylvania

Pennsylvania has 229.6 miles (369.5 km) of the trail, extending 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. 

6. New Jersey

New Jersey has 72.2 miles (116.2 km) of the trail.This makes the New Jersey section of the Appalachian Trail the second longest trail in the state, behind the  Delaware and Rarital canal ,and eventually reaches High point state park highest peak in New Jersey 

7. New york

New York's 88.4 miles (142.3 km) of trail, contain very little elevation change compared to other states. At Bear mountain state park it goes through the park zoo, where the lowest point on the entire AT, at 124 feet (38 m) above sea level, is located in front of the bear cage. 

8. Massachusetts

Massachusetts has 90.2 miles (145.2 km) of trail. It ascends into the Taconic Mountains again, visiting Mount Greylock  the highest point in the state at 3,491 feet (1,064 m)

9.  New Hampshire

New Hampshire has 160.9 miles (258.9 km) of the trail. The New Hampshire AT is nearly all within the White mountain national forest , and enters high peaks region of the white mountains.