About the Appalachian Trail

The Appalachian Trail is a hiking/backpacking trial that stretches 2,178 miles from Springer Mountain in Georgia to Mount Katahdin in Maine. The trail meanders through the Appalachian mountains, hence being call the Appalachian Trail.

Completing the entire 2,178 miles of the Appalachian Trail in one trip is a mammoth undertaking. This is called thru hiking. Each year, thousands of hikers attempt a thru-hike; only about one in four make it all the way.

There are more than 250 shelters on the Appalachian Trail at varying intervals. A typical shelter, sometimes called a “lean-to,” has a shingled or metal roof, a wooden floor and three walls and is open to the elements on one side.

The Appalachian Trail is marked using two-inch by six-inch white paint "blazes" on trees, posts, and rocks.

The time it takes someone to complete the whole trek "thru hike" on the Appalachian Trail is five to seven months, depending on how fast they hike. The average is slightly over six months.

The trail is many things to many people.