The Appalachian National Scenic Trail, generally known as the Appalachian Trail or simply the A.T., is a marked hiking trail in the Eastern United States extending between Springer Mountain in Georgia and Mount Katahdin in Maine. The trail is about 2,200 miles (3,500 km) long, though the exact length changes over time as parts are rerouted or modified. The Appalachian Trail Conservancy describes the Appalachian Trail as the longest hiking-only trail in the world. More than 2 million people are said to take a hike on part of the trail at least once each year.
Appalachian Mountain Club (AMC) is the oldest outdoor group in the United States. Created in 1876 to explore and preserve the White Mountains in New Hampshire, it has expanded throughout the northeastern U.S., with 12 chapters stretching from Maine to Washington, D.C. The AMC's 275,000 members, advocates, and supporters mix outdoor recreation, particularly hiking and backpacking, with environmental activism. Additional activities include cross-country skiing, whitewater and flatwater canoeing and kayaking, sea kayaking, sailing, rock climbing and bicycle riding. The Club has about 2,700 volunteers, who lead roughly 7,000 trips and activities per year. The organization publishes a number of books, guides, and trail maps.
Walden Pond is a pond in Concord, Massachusetts, in the United States. A famous example of a kettle hole, it was formed by retreating glaciers 10,000–12,000 years ago. The pond is protected as part of Walden Pond State Reservation, a 335-acre (136 ha) state park and recreation site managed by the Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation. The reservation was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1962 for its association with the writer Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862), whose two years living in a cabin on its shore provided the foundation for his famous 1854 work, Walden; or, Life in the Woods. The National Historic Preservation Act of 1966 ensured federal support for the preservation of the pond.
Rhododendron State Park is a public recreation area and nature preserve occupying 2,723 acres (1,102 ha) on and around Little Monadnock Mountain in Fitzwilliam, New Hampshire, United States. The state park contains a 16-acre (6.5 ha) stand of native Rhododendron maximum, the largest of nineteen similar stands in central and northern New England, the northern limit of their growing range. The stand was designated a National Natural Landmark in 1982. The park also includes wild blueberries, cranberries, mountain laurel, heathers, mayflower, and wintergreen.
Elkmont is a region situated in the upper Little River Valley of the Great Smoky Mountains of Sevier County, in the U.S. state of Tennessee. Throughout its history, the valley has been home to a pioneer Appalachian community, a logging town, and a resort community. Today, Elkmont is home to a large campground, ranger station, and historic district maintained by the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.
The High Huts of the White Mountains are eight mountain huts in the White Mountains of New Hampshire, owned and maintained by the Appalachian Mountain Club. They are modeled after similar huts in the Alps and positioned at intervals along the Appalachian Trail, allowing "thru-hikers" who hike the entire Appalachian Trail to benefit from their services. They are generally separated by six to eight miles, about a day's hike.
Blue Hills Reservation is a 7,000-acre (2,800 ha) state park in Norfolk County, Massachusetts. Managed by the Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation, it covers parts of Milton, Quincy, Braintree, Canton, Randolph, and Dedham. Located approximately ten miles south of downtown Boston, the reservation is one of the largest parcels of undeveloped conservation land within the Greater Boston metropolitan area. The park's varied terrain and scenic views make it a popular destination for hikers from the Boston area.
Taconic State Park is located in Columbia and Dutchess County, New York abutting Massachusetts and Connecticut within the Taconic Mountains. The state park is located off New York State Route 344 south of Interstate 90 and 110 miles (180 km) north of New York City. It features camping, hiking, bicycling, hunting, cross county skiing and other recreational opportunities.
Roan Mountain State Park is a Tennessee state park in Carter County, in Northeast Tennessee. It is close to the Tennessee-North Carolina border and near the community of Roan Mountain, Tennessee. Situated in the Blue Ridge of the Appalachian Mountains, the park preserves 2,006 acres (8.12 km2) of mostly hardwood forest. The park is in close proximity to 6,285-foot (1,916 m) Roan Mountain and the Appalachian Trail, both of which are owned and managed by the US Forest Service. On exceptionally clear days, the Charlotte skyline can be photographed from the peak.
The Metacomet-Monadnock Trail is a 114-mile-long (183 km) hiking trail that traverses the Metacomet Ridge of the Pioneer Valley region of Massachusetts and the central uplands of Massachusetts and southern New Hampshire. Although less than 70 miles (110 km) from Boston and other large population centers, the trail is considered remarkably rural and scenic and includes many areas of unique ecologic, historic, and geologic interest. Notable features include waterfalls, dramatic cliff faces, exposed mountain summits, woodlands, swamps, lakes, river floodplain, farmland, significant historic sites, and the summits of Mount Monadnock, Mount Tom and Mount Holyoke. The Metacomet-Monadnock Trail is maintained largely through the efforts of the Berkshire Chapter of the Appalachian Mountain Club (AMC). Much of the trail is a portion of the New England National Scenic Trail.
The Little Lyford Pond camps is a historic logging camp located in the Maine Woods.
Holy Mount, 1,968 feet (600 m), is a prominent peak in the Taconic Mountains of western Massachusetts, formerly used as the location of religious ceremonies by a nearby Shaker community.
Roughan Hall is a historic commercial building at 10 City Square, the historic central square of the Charlestown neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts. Built in 1892 and enlarged in 1896, it is the square's only surviving 19th-century commercial building, and a distinctive example of Romanesque and Renaissance Revival architecture. Its upper levels now serve as the headquarters of the Appalachian Mountain Club. The building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1982.
The Westover–Bacon–Potts Farm is a historic farm along Massachusetts Route 41 in Egremont, Massachusetts. Built beginning in 1744 on 150 acres (61 ha) of land, it is one of the best-preserved farmsteads of the period in Berkshire County. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1990. Until 2019, the property was owned by the Appalachian Trail Conservancy and was named the Kellogg Conservation Center. In 2019, Greenagers acquired the property "for a nominal sum" and renamed it the April Hill Conservation & Education Center.
The Willow Prairie Cabin is a rustic one-room cabin located in the Rogue River-Siskiyou National Forest in western Oregon, United States. It was built by a road construction crew in 1924. When the road was finished the United States Forest Service began using it to house fire crews assigned to patrol the surrounding National Forest. The Forest Service now rents the cabin to recreational visitors. The Willow Prairie Cabin is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
Moswetuset Hummock is a Native American site and the original name of the tribe in the region. The wooded hummock in Squantum, Massachusetts, is formally recognized as historic by descendants of the Ponkapoag people.
Gifford Woods State Park is a state park located at the base of Pico Peak in Killington, Vermont. The wooded park provides camping, picnic, and fishing facilities, and has hiking trails, including a portion of the Appalachian Trail. It preserves an area of old-growth forest that has been designated a National Natural Landmark, and is accessible via an interpretive trail. The park was established in 1931. Part of it is listed on the National Register of Historic Places, for facilities developed by the Civilian Conservation Corps in the 1930s.
Bearnstow is a summer camp on Parker Pond in Mount Vernon, Maine. The camp offers weeklong and day programs for adults and children, with an emphasis on appreciation of nature through the arts and sciences. Founded in 1946, the camp occupies 65 acres (26 ha) on the east side of the pond, and is centered on the former Spruce Point Camps, whose facilities, built in the 1920s and 1930s, are listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
Ricker Pond State Park is a state park in Groton, Vermont in the United States. It is one of seven state parks located in Groton State Forest. The park is just off Vermont Route 232. The park provides public access to Ricker Pond, a 95-acre (38 ha) lake in central Groton, and was developed in the 1930s by crews of the Civilian Conservation Corps. Activities includes camping, motor boating, waterskiing, fishing, swimming, paddling, horseback riding, hiking, mountain biking, snowshoeing and cross-country skiing. The park is open between the Memorial Day and Columbus Day weekends; fees are charged for day use and camping.
Ponkapag Pond is a 203-acre impoundment in the Blue Hills Reservation. The pond is located on the border of Canton and Randolph, Massachusetts about a half mile south of Route 128 and a half mile east of Route 138. It has a maximum depth of seven feet and an average depth of four feet. As would be expected on a pond this shallow, aquatic vegetation is pervasive and very abundant. Only a small portion of the eastern shoreline is developed; the southeastern and western shores are bordered by large expanses of marshland. A walking trail circles the pond, with parking at three locations.
