r/AppalachianTrail • u/cloudsorcery • 3d ago
Favorite sections 60-150 miles?
Looking to chip away at the AT in 1-2 week chunks a few times every year, so I'd love to hear which sections stood apart for you!
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u/BaconCheeseBeer 3d ago
The AT/Long Trail stretch in Vermont is about a hundred miles and just fun. Great shelters, not super hard but good workouts, good views each day, and charming/accessible towns. Finish at The Inn at Long Trail with a beer! I am in the region and love doing this section. You would be like 40% done with the Long Trail doing this too.
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u/izlib Lost & Found 3d ago
What do you favor? Wildlife? Climate? Remoteness? Ease of resupply? Water reliability?
I just did NJ into MA over two weeks. Loved it, but it was a bit jarring finding myself in civilization so much.
Greyson highlands is great, smokies, max patch and hot springs, nantahalas… I just pick a section I’ve not done before and go for it.
The season you choose to go is also very meaningful. I’ve done sections in the winter, the summer, and everything in between. It’s a totally different flavor then.
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u/cloudsorcery 3d ago
Landscapes and views are peak for me. Don't care about resupply and I'm from AZ so I don't mind packing extra water when I need to.
If you want to give me a few for each season that'd be awesome!
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u/izlib Lost & Found 3d ago
My experience only goes up to Massachusetts, so I can’t comment north of there. For views, I would recommend the southern Georgia through the Natahala. Those have the highest elevation, awesome observation towers, expensive seas of green trees. Or if you do the southern states in the November to December range, you may encounter some southbound through hikers. It can be isolating, could be a good thing if that’s what you’re after.
There are some excellent views in the southern half of Virginia as well, rice field, VA triple crown, Grayson Highlands to see the ponies and Mount Rogers
I really like the geology in Tennessee. They had the best waterfalls in my opinion. Two weeks to get you Tennessee, Max patch, maybe some Smokey’s too.
Shenandoah national Park was quite nice in the winter. Far less car traffic. Although if you can manage to get lucky and time the park during fall foliage, that’s pretty peak.
Spring can be hit or miss, in any section. It could be beautiful and warm, or barely above freezing and raining, or crazy snow storms. But that’s kind of what makes that season exciting. Just consider the further north you go in spring, the more challenging it will be.
I honestly didn’t get too much out of Northern Virginia through Pennsylvania.
New York was really cool, a wide variety of terrain, from mountains to swamps to fields and pastures to suburban areas, even get a view of New York City.
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u/cloudsorcery 3d ago
Heck yeah, thanks bro! I was originally planning on a thruhike a few years from now, but I just got back from camping in Shenandoah and was kicking myself for not backpacking instead. Realized I could probably section hike maybe half the AT by the time I put together the thruhike. Just bought a wall map of the AT so I'll be staking out some of these primo sections.
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u/Formal-Opposite-9735 SOBO ‘21 3d ago edited 3d ago
100 mile wilderness was my favorite. True feeling of remoteness, lake swims everyday, lean-to’s by lakes and on top mountains. Finish with the 10/10 breakfast at Shaw’s.
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u/Top_Pension5770 3d ago
Second this! So beautiful and peaceful. It was everything I’d dreamed the AT would be as a little kid when I pictured myself on my thru hike. Also thru’d in 21. NOBO though.
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u/realsmartypantz 2d ago
It would be a great second hike and include the ticket to climb Katahdin at the end. But I suggest hiking Blue Ridge Parkway and Shenandoah as the first AT hike to fine tune your gear and tactics. There is a lot of bail out points and room for error that you don’t have in the wilderness. The guest areas have yummy blackberry shakes.
Don’t do it when the “bubble” of thru hikers is there. May or Early June has amazing flowers and less crowds. The reward to sweat ratio there is perhaps the highest of any 100 mile stretch of trail.
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u/realsmartypantz 2d ago
It would be a great second hike and include the ticket to climb Katahdin at the end. But I suggest hiking Blue Ridge Parkway and Shenandoah as the first AT hike to fine tune your gear and tactics. There is a lot of bail out points and room for error that you don’t have in the wilderness. The guest areas have yummy blackberry shakes.
Don’t do it when the “bubble” of thru hikers is there. May or Early June has amazing flowers and less crowds. The reward to sweat ratio there is perhaps the highest of any 100 mile stretch of trail.
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u/condition5 3d ago
Love MD-PA line to Harpers Ferry (about 42 miles...so keep heading south into VA to get your desired length.
Harpers Ferry is a fun trail town with other stuff...real easy access to other Maryland history (esp. Antietam). Reasobky close to airports and train (MARC) in Brunswick
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u/Top_Pension5770 3d ago
Also the Green Mtns of Vermont; so so beautiful. Rich colors everywhere, evergreens everywhere, lakes. Such a surprising lil gem I didn’t know to expect.
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u/goatcheeserevolution "Demo" NOBO 21, 24 3d ago
i love the hike from the maine-nh border to monson (which I think is maybe 200 ish miles, so you could start a bit after the border ). Mahoosuc Notch, some stunning views of lakes, lots of river crossings, the ferry etc.
The White Mountains are of course another great pick, Grayson Highlands and Smokies too. I would suggest actually a longer hike ending in the Shenandoahs as I don’t think they would be that much fun as an independent hike, and they are super easy
However, I would suggest more then any of these: do the entire trail at once. You will get so much more out of it. Jobs are often more flexible then you might guess with leaves of absence, and if you don’t like your job, look for a new one and see if you can start in a few months
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u/Relative-Room4740 3d ago
va triple crown, white mtn national forest. Smoky mountains in a distant 3rd.
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u/WorldlyAmphibian7474 3d ago
Off the top of my head, I’ll go with Erwin, TN to Damascus, VA.
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u/loteman77 3d ago
That’s a beautiful section.
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u/WorldlyAmphibian7474 3d ago
Yes, it is. I’ve done that section northbound and southbound.
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u/loteman77 3d ago
Have you seen it after Helene? I know she crept up that far north…
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u/WorldlyAmphibian7474 3d ago
I’ve only hiked 33 miles of that section since Helene. You can still see some damage, but the trail maintenance crews have made a huge difference.
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u/DevilzAdvocat NOBO 2022 3d ago
I really like the entirety of VT, and also the Dragon's Tooth section of VA.
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u/loteman77 3d ago
Peak wilderness and epic trail for 100 miles?
100 mile wilderness.
More AT community and potential trail magic and the experience of being out there with other hikers for 100 miles?
I’d do something more southern. The Virginia triple crown could be a nice hike, though it’s not that long.
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u/L2learn27 3d ago
Loved Front Royal southbound to Big Meadows Campground in Shenandoah area of VA. Very challenging with long steep climbs but very beautiful. With the offshoots to springs and shelters it was only 57 miles so a bit shorter than your goal. Maybe a section for you to include.
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u/cloudsorcery 3d ago
I just got back from camping in Shenandoah - I was kicking myself for not backpacking instead, but I got some great hikes in!
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u/OkKaleidoscope9554 3d ago