The Appalachian Trail

Each spring nearly 3,000 hikers set out to conquer the Appalachian Trail (AT), the 2,190-mile granddaddy of all hikes. Most hike north from Springer Mountain, Georgia, toward Mt. Katahdin, Maine. By the time they get to the Great Smokies, 160 miles from the trailhead in Georgia, about half the hikers will already have dropped out. Typically, fewer than 800 hikers per year complete the entire AT, which takes an average of 165 days. At Newfound Gap Overlook, you can get on it for a short hike on the North Carolina–Tennessee line. Clingmans Dome is the highest elevation on the AT.