Some like short hikes. Others prefer a longer stroll. On the Appalachian Trail (A.T.) you can take a quick trip. Or you can walk for months. The A.T. connects the eastern United States. It’s nearly 2,200 miles (3,540 km) long! The A.T. is a famous trail. And it’s now 100 years old.
Benton MacKaye had the idea for the A.T. in 1921. Back then, cities were growing quickly. More people worked in factories. MacKaye thought workers should be able to explore nature. He dreamed of a footpath that would connect “the tallest mountain in the north” to the “tallest mountain in the south.” That was Mount Washington in New Hampshire and Mount Mitchell in North Carolina.
MacKaye planned this trail in the Appalachian Mountains. He hoped people would hike the mountain range. But first, workers had to build the trail. Workers began building the A.T. in 1922 by Bear Mountain in New York. The first part opened on October 7, 1923.
At first, the A.T. was 15 miles (24 km). Over time, volunteers built more of the trail. By 1937, it connected Georgia to Maine. The first person to hike the whole trail did that in 1948. A law changed the A.T. too. It was the National Trails System Act of 1968. That made the A.T. a National Scenic Trail.
In 1980, Larry Luxenberg hiked the A.T. “I was fed up with my life,” he remembered. “I decided to take this grand adventure.” Luxenberg didn’t know much about hiking. But with “heart and ” he finished the A.T. Luxenberg later founded the Appalachian Trail Museum. It’s halfway through the A.T.
“The Appalachian Trail opens the door to outdoor adventure,” said Luxenberg. And he called the hike “life-changing.” It was for him. And it was for Max Swinhoe too. Swinhoe can’t use her left arm. Yet she did the full hike in 2017.
“It was the best, hardest, most amazing experience,” said Swinhoe. “I laughed, cried, hurt, and dug deep.” Swinhoe called the A.T. “long and exhausting.” But she said it taught a lesson. “If you want to achieve something, you will,” she said. “You can find the energy.”
“It also teaches you to take a step at a time,” Swinhoe explained. She said the A.T. was easier by breaking it into parts. “Don’t look at the whole scary thing,” she suggested. “Progress is progress, no matter how small.”
The A.T. is part of America. Millions of people have walked the trail. It’s more than a hike. Larry Luxenberg said the trail brought the country together. The A.T. opened 60 years after the Civil War. During that, people from the south fought people from the north.
“Benton MacKaye thought the trail would help to tie the north and south together,” said Luxenberg. “He believed this would be a peaceful project.” After all, hikers on the A.T. see the country. Luxenberg called that “a gentle way to you to different cultures.”
Updated October 5, 2023, 5:01 P.M. (ET)
By Russell Kahn (Russ)
