Appalachian Trail Hikes
Check out Wildland trips that include hiking on the famous Appalachian Trail
Interesting in hiking on the Eastern United States’ most famous trail? Check out our list of trips that include hiking on the Appalachian Trail!
In the Great Smoky Mountains of North Carolina and Tennessee, and the White Mountains of New Hampshire we enjoy portions of the Appalachian Trail.
In the Smoky Mountains we do not stay in the shelters due to overuse and unsavory aspects like rodents. Instead we have set up our itineraries to enjoy sections of the Appalachian Trail and enjoy pristine, wilderness-oriented campsites in the splendor of the Smokies.
In the White Mountains we stay in the mountain huts to piece together thru-hikes along the AT.
We invite you to see our Appalachian Trail tour offerings below and learn more about this amazing trail.
All Appalachian Trail Hikes Trips (13 results)
More About the Appalachian Trail
What is the Appalachian Trail?
Arguably America’s most famous hiking trail, the Appalachian Trail (AT) stretches across the United States from Georgia to Maine. It is almost 2200 miles (2178 to be exact) and America’s most popular long distance hiking trail. Roughly 3 million people each year hike a portion of the AT, but it’s a tiny fraction of that who actually complete the entire 2178-mile journey. It’s estimated that between 20,000 and 30,000 people have done the whole trail since its inception in 1936.
History of the Appalachian Trail
The idea of creating a hiking trail to connect Georgia and Maine was first dreamed up by a man named Benton Mackaye. Mr. Mackaye – a Harvard University graduate, avid hiker and experienced outdoorsman – introduced the idea via an article in the Journal of the American Institute of Architects in 1921. The idea took hold and the wheels of creation were turning.
In 1930 a gentleman by the name of Myron Avery, an attorney and hiker from Washington D.C., took the reigns and began to execute on Benton Mackaye’s vision. After mapping a route for the trail through the thick forests and rippling mountains of Appalachia, he began recruiting volunteers to build it. Avery was a contentious fellow but drove the process that created America’s first long distance trail. It took 7 years, with the last bit of trail carved out of the southern slopes of Maine’s Sugarloaf Mountain in 1937. Avery was also the first person to hike every inch of the entire trail, which he pieced together in sections over 16 years.
Today the crown jewel achievement on the AT is to hike it in one continuous journey from North to South, or from South to North. The first person to accomplish it in this fashion was Earl Shaffer in 1948. A Pennsylvanian and World War II veteran, Shaffer read about the trail in an outdoor magazine. It is thought by some that he tackled the hike as a therapeutic endeavor to overcome PTSD from the war. He hiked south to north, and completed the journey in 124 days. He would hike it two more times in his life, the final time in 1998 when he was in his late 70s. The record for the shortest time is 46 days, 8 hours and 7 minutes, set by Scott Jurek in 2015.
When to Hike on the Appalachian Trail
The Appalachian Trail covers such an immense distance, that it’s difficult to pin this down for the entire trail. Wildland Trekking’s Appalachian Trail trips are in the Great Smoky Mountains and in the White Mountains of New Hampshire.
The Smokies are fantastic year round, with spring and fall being the peak seasons, and winter and summer creating more extremes of cold and heat/humidity. The White Mountains, on the other hand, are really best in the summer due to their high elevation and northern latitude.
Got more questions? Contact us – we’re here 7 days a week to help any way we can!