Appalachian Approach Trail
9 mi long · in Georgia · centroid 59 mi from Atlanta
The Appalachian Approach Trail runs 8.8 miles from Amicalola Falls State Park to the southern terminus of the Appalachian Trail at Springer Mountain. Optional but traditionally used by AT thru-hikers as a ceremonial start, it climbs roughly 600 feet of elevation per mile and includes the 729-foot cascade of Amicalola Falls — Georgia's tallest waterfall.
- States
- Georgia
- Length
- 9 mi
- Trail type
- Approach trail
- Network
- Regional (rwn)
- Centroid nearest city
- Atlanta, GA · 59 mi · ~1.7 hr drive
- Centroid coords
- 34.5922°, -84.2204°
- Official site
- gatc.org/the-appalachian-trail/the-approach-trail
- OSM relations
- 1 sub-relations on OpenStreetMap
Termini
Southern terminus: Amicalola Falls State Park, Georgia.
Northern terminus: Springer Mountain, Georgia (start of the Appalachian Trail).
Plan your hike
Maps + permits: long-distance trails like this often require permits for through-hiking, backcountry camping, or specific sections (especially in National Parks). Check with the maintaining organisation listed above and the relevant land manager before booking travel.
Water + supplies: water sources vary seasonally on most U.S. trails. Carry a filter and consult current trail-condition reports — through-hiker journals (PCT-L, AT Reddit, etc.) and the maintaining organisation publish regular updates.
When to go: hiking seasons vary widely with elevation, latitude, and snowpack. Through-hikers traditionally start the AT in March-April (Springer northbound) and the PCT in late April (Campo northbound). High-elevation western trails (CDT, JMT, Wonderland) generally aren't passable until July.
If you've hiked Appalachian Approach Trail and have current notes (water sources, trail closures, permit changes), tell us at /contact — we update pages as we learn.
Stay nearby
Other trails within 50 miles
Sources
Trail data on this page is compiled from OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL), the maintaining organisation's public-facing materials, and Wikipedia (CC BY-SA where excerpts are quoted). Distance, terminus, and descriptive text for nationally-designated trails are hand-curated from federal land-manager websites and trail-association sources. We do not modify the underlying data; this page presents what is already publicly recorded. To suggest corrections, see our methodology page.