The Appalachian Trail, also called the A.T., is a hiking trail in the Eastern United States, extending almost 2,200 miles (3,540 km) between Springer Mountain in Georgia and Mount Katahdin in Maine, and passing through 14 states. The Appalachian Trail Conservancy claims the Appalachian Trail to be the longest hiking-only trail in the world. More than three million people hike segments of the trail each year.
Appalachian Trail logo
Marker on the trail near Sugarloaf Mountain in Maine
Panoramic image of the Catawba Valley from the McAfee Knob overlook
Original 1930 ATC copper marker from a tree in New Jersey
Mount Katahdin is the highest mountain in the U.S. state of Maine at 5,269 feet (1,606 m). Named Katahdin, which means "Great Mountain", by the Penobscot Native Americans, it is within Northeast Piscataquis, Piscataquis County, and is the centerpiece of Baxter State Park. It is a steep, tall massif formed from a granite intrusion weathered to the surface. The flora and fauna on the mountain are typical of those found in northern New England, with the summit hosting fragile and endangered alpine tundra.
Katahdin from 10,000 ft (3,000 m)
Mount Katahdin
Mount Katahdin from Millinocket Camp, by Frederic Edwin Church, 1895
The Appalachian Trail on Katahdin's Hunt Spur