Best of the Appalachian Trail: Day Hikes

Leonard M. Adkins has been intimately involved with the Appalachian Trail for several decades. He has hiked its full length five times and lacks just a few hundred miles to complete it for a sixth. He has maintained a section of the Trail near McAfee Knob and was a ridgerunner for the Appalachian Trail Conservancy. He has also served as an A.T. Natural Heritage Site Monitor, aiding the conservancy and the National Park Service in overseeing the welfare of rare and endangered plants. In addition, he has served on the boards of directors of the Roanoke Appalachian Trail Club and the Old Dominion Appalachian Trail Club. Among other long-distance trails Leonard has completed are the Continental Divide Trail from Canada to Mexico, the Pacific Northwest Trail from Glacier National Park to the Pacific Ocean, and the Pyrenees High Route along the border of France and Spain. In all, he has walked more than 20,000 miles exploring the backcountry areas of the United States, Canada, Europe, New Zealand, and the Caribbean. Leonard is the author of 20 books on travel and the outdoors. His Wildflowers of the Appalachian Trail was presented the National Outdoor Book Award, while The Appalachian Trail: A Visitor’s Companion received the Lowell Thomas Travel Journalism Award. He has also written more than 200 articles for magazines such as Blue Ridge Country, Backpacker, Islands, The Roanoker, and Blue Ridge Outdoors. Along with his thru-hiking wife, Laurie, he lives in Virginia, within easy striking distance of the A.T. You may learn more about his adventures at habitualhiker.com. Victoria and Frank Logue hiked the entire Appalachian Trail in 1988 and have returned again and again to hike its many sections on day and overnight hikes. Frank has also served on the Appalachian Trail Conservancy’s Board of Managers. In addition, they have continued to hike out west and abroad, including Israel, Jordan, France, Italy, Iceland, Ireland, Scotland, and England. They live in Georgia, where Frank works as an Episcopal priest and as an assistant to the bishop of Georgia. Victoria, a writer of fiction and nonfiction, recently published her fourth novel. Currently, they love visiting and hiking with their daughter, Griffin, in Arizona.

Acknowledgments
Introduction
Maine



MAINE TRAIL TABLE

Katahdin

Baxter Ponds Loop

Little and Big Niagara Falls

Gulf Hagas

Barren Ledges

Pleasant Pond Mountain

Avery and West Peak of Bigelow

West Peak of Bigelow and The Horns

Sugarloaf Mountain

Saddleback Mountain

Moxie, Long, and Sabbath Day Ponds

Dunn Notch and Falls

Baldpate Mountain

The Eyebrow

Speck Pond


New Hampshire



NEW HAMPSHIRE TRAIL TABLE

Mount Hayes

Wildcat Mountain

Mount Washington

Webster Cliffs

Ethan Pond

Mount Lafayette and Mount Lincoln

Mount Liberty

Lonesome Lake

Mount Moosilauke

Wachipauka Pond

Mount Cube

Smarts Mountain


Vermont



VERMONT TRAIL TABLE

Clarendon Gorge

White Rocks Cliff

Little Rock Pond

Styles Peak

Prospect Rock

Stratton Mountain


Massachusetts



MASSACHUSETTS TRAIL TABLE

Eph’s Lookout

Mount Williams

The Cobbles and Gore Pond

Gore Pond

Warner Hill

Finerty Pond

Upper Goose Pond

Cobble Hill

Benedict Pond and The Ledges

Ice Gulch

East Mountain

Jug End

Jug End and Mount Everett

Mount Everett


Connecticut



CONNECTICUT TRAIL TABLE

Bear Mountain and Sages Ravine

Lions Head

Lions Head and Riga Shelter

Rand’s View

The River Trail

St. Johns Ledges and Caleb’s Peak

Indian Rocks

Ten Mile River and Hill


New York



NEW YORK TRAIL TABLE

Great Swamp and Corbin Hill

West Mountain

West Slope of Hosner Mountain

Canopus Hill

Denning Hill

Anthony’s Nose

Buchanan Mountain

Fitzgerald Falls and Mombasha High Point

Eastern Pinnacles and Cat Rocks

Prospect Rock


New Jersey



NEW JERSEY TRAIL TABLE

Pinwheel’s Vista

Pochuck Crossing

High Point Monument

Sunrise Mountain and Culver Fire Tower

Rattlesnake Mountain

Sunfish Pond


Pennsylvania



PENNSYLVANIA TRAIL TABLE

Winona Cliff, Lookout Rock, and Mount Minsi

Wolf Rocks

Lookout Rock and Hahn’s Lookout

Weathering Knob

Blue Mountain

Bake Oven Knob

The Cliffs and Bear Rocks

Windsor Furnace, Pulpit Rock, and The Pinnacle

Auburn Lookout

Table Rock

Hawk Rock

Boiling Springs

Chimney Rocks


Maryland



MARYLAND TRAIL TABLE

Raven Rock, Devils Racecourse, and High Rock

Annapolis Rock and Black Rock Cliffs

White Rocks

Weverton Cliffs

C&O Canal Towpath


West Virginia and Virginia



WEST VIRGINIA TRAIL TABLE

Harpers Ferry and Split Rock

Devils Racecourse

Bears Den Rocks and Lookout Point

Compton Gap to Compton Peak

Marys Rock

Hawksbill Loop

Lewis Spring Falls and Blackrock

Bearfence Mountain Loop

Blackrock

Bear Den Mountain

Mill Creek

Humpback Rocks

Hanging Rock

Brown Mountain Creek

Bluff Mountain

Fullers Rocks and Big Rocky Row

Apple Orchard Mountain and The Guillotine

Hay Rock

Tinker Cliffs

McAfee Knob

Wind Rock

Angels Rest and Pearis Mountain

Dismal Creek Falls

Garden Mountain

Chestnut Knob

Comers Creek Falls

Rhododendron Gap

Mount Rogers

Buzzard Rock

Straight Mountain and the Virginia Creeper Trail


Tennessee and North Carolina



TENNESSEE AND NORTH CAROLINA TRAIL TABLE

Iron Mountain

Laurel Fork Gorge and Falls

Dennis Cove Loop

Grassy Ridge

Roan Mountain

Little Rock Knob

Cliff Ridge

Big Bald

White Rocks Cliffs, Blackstack Cliffs, and Big Firescald Knob

Lovers Leap Rock

Max Patch

Charlies Bunion

Clingmans Dome and Mount Collins

Rocky Top

Shuckstack

Wesser Bald

Siler Bald

Standing Indian Mountain

Ravenrock Ridge


Georgia



GEORGIA TRAIL TABLE

Tray Mountain

Source of the Chattahoochee

Wolf Laurel Top Mountain

Blood Mountain

Springer Mountain and Three Forks Loop

Springer Mountain


Appendix: Trail-Maintenance Clubs
Index
About the Authors
About the Appalachian Trail Conservancy