Appalachian Trail
2,197 mi long · across 14 states · centroid 36 mi from Allentown
The Appalachian National Scenic Trail runs roughly 2,197 miles along the Appalachian Mountains from Springer Mountain in Georgia to Mount Katahdin in Maine. Designated a National Scenic Trail in 1968, it is maintained by the Appalachian Trail Conservancy along with thirty volunteer trail clubs and several state and federal agencies. A typical thru-hike takes five to seven months.
- States
- Georgia, North Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia, West Virginia, Maryland, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New York, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Vermont, New Hampshire, Maine
- Length
- 2,197 mi
- Trail type
- National Scenic Trail
- Network
- National (nwn)
- Centroid nearest city
- Allentown, PA · 36 mi · ~1.0 hr drive
- Centroid coords
- 40.4696°, -76.1437°
- Official site
- appalachiantrail.org
- OSM relations
- 12 sub-relations on OpenStreetMap
Termini
Southern terminus: Springer Mountain, Georgia.
Northern terminus: Mount Katahdin, Maine.
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 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.