The Appalachian Trail Conservancy recently celebrated the 75th anniversary of the completion of the trail, which runs almost 2200 miles from Springer Mountain, GA to Mount Katahdin, ME.
According to the AT Conservancy’s web site:
The A.T. was completed 75 years ago on August 14, 1937. This task took over 15 years to complete and involved thousands of volunteers, agency partners, local Trail maintaining clubs and the Appalachian Trail Conservancy. The A.T. is one of the longest continuously marked footpaths in the world, measuring roughly 2,180 miles in length. The Trail goes through fourteen states along the crests and valleys of the Appalachian mountain range from the southern terminus at Springer Mountain, Georgia, to the Trail?s northern terminus at Katahdin, Maine.
It has been estimated that 2-3 million people visit the Trail every year and about 1,800?2,000 people attempt to ?thru-hike? the Trail. People from across the globe are drawn to the A.T. for a variety of reasons: to reconnect with nature, to escape the stress of city life, to meet new people or deepen old friendships, or to experience a simpler life.
The A.T. is a unit of the National Park System and is managed under a unique partnership between the public and private sectors that includes, among others, the National Park Service, the USDA Forest Service, an array of state agencies, the Appalachian Trail Conservancy, and 31 local Trail-maintaining clubs.