Trail Introduction

The Appalachian Trail is a 2,170 mile foot path extending from Springer Mountain in Georgia, about 70 miles north of Atlanta, to Mt. Katahdin in Central Maine. It goes through 14 states: Georgia, North Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia, West Virginia, Maryland, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New York, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Vermont, New Hampshire, and Maine. To see a complete map of the trail Click hereTo see a complete map of the trail click here (about 700Kb) or click here for the NPS version in PDF format(it's a 1.3Meg file).

The trail has a little bit of something for everyone. It consists of standard woodland trail, abandoned roads, abandoned railroad beds, and some paved road. A lot of it is either uphill or downhill. It goes through forests, towns, creeks, bogs, over rivers, and over mountains. It also goes through history, through abandoned timber camps, farmsteads, and battle sites. Each state has its own wonders and challenges and has its own page. The state index will link to the individual state pages.

While it passes through a wilderness corridor, it passes through one of the most densely populated areas of our country. The hiker is rarely more than 2 or three days away from a major highway or town..It's proximity to cities and towns makes it one of the most heavily traveled footpaths in the world.