2024 Highlights

The ATC works passionately to manage and protect the Appalachian Trail and its surrounding lands. As the only non-profit devoted exclusively to the entirety of the Trail and its landscape, we endeavor to keep its vast natural and scenic beauty healthy, resilient, and connected, so that everyone can experience its transformative power for generations to come.  

2024 — our 99th year of service to the Trail — brought unexpected and unprecedented challenges to the A.T. in the wake of Hurricane Helene. At the same time, we also made great progress in efforts to ensure a more sustainable and immersive recreational experience, promote a sense of belonging, and expand the community of Trail stewards.  

As we get ready to celebrate our Centennial in 2025, we want to spotlight a few accomplishments made possible thanks to your support and partnership. 

Enhanced Trail Features

From installing rock steps to constructing bridges and upgrading privies and other A.T. features — each year the ATC coordinates with local Trail clubs, public agency partners, and volunteers to repair, replace, and improve worn out features and construct safer and more sustainable infrastructure to ensure everyone’s Trail experience is the very best it can be.   

In 2024, ATC collaborated with the Maine Appalachian Trail Club to replace three dilapidated privies with new moldering privies in the rugged Maine backcountry that will last longer, require less structural maintenance, and benefit both ecological and human health.

Photo courtesy of the Maine Appalachian Trail Club

Our partners at the Green Mountain Club (GMC) constructed a new moldering privy at the Winturri Shelter, which was the culmination of a decades-long collaboration between GMC, the ATC, the Green Mountain National Forest, and the National Park Service to remove all pit privies on Appalachian Trail in Vermont. 

To create a safer route for visitors crossing a dangerous road at the popular McAfee Knob trailhead in Virginia, newly constructed (and nearly complete) pedestrian bridge will enhance the recreational experience of thousands of people each year.

Earned Sentinel Landscape Designation for Kittatinny Ridge

One hundred and sixty miles of the A.T. traverses the Kittatinny Ridge in south-central Pennsylvania, and thanks to the ATC’s leadership, the region will now benefit from improved land-use stewardship with federal agencies, state and local governments, and NGOs. Designated in May 2024, the Kittatinny Ridge Sentinel Landscape is the first landscape partnership to receive this prestigious recognition in the state and the first that includes a portion of the A.T.

Kittatinny Ridge photo by Ben Goodman, courtesy of the Kittatinny Ridge CL

We look forward to accelerating our existing conservation and community work along The Ridge and expanding our efforts with new Sentinel Landscape partners to ensure a vibrant and sustainable future for the people, natural lands and waters, recreational and historical resources, and military operations that share this critical and vibrant part of Pennsylvania. 

Supported Bipartisan Legislation to Strengthen National Trails’ Management

In July 2024, the Appalachian Trail Centennial Act was introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives and Senate by Senators Tim Kaine (D-VA) and Thom Tillis (R-NC) and Representatives Mike Lawyer (R-NY) and Don Beyer (D-VA). The landmark bipartisan legislation marks the ATC’s 100th anniversary and recognizes that National Trails need strong partnership agreements with the federal government that enable them to forever protect the places we love.

The legislation will also bolster land protection, gather data and information on the visitation and economic impact of trails, and help ensure the A.T. and all our National Trails are maintained and conserved for the next generation. 

Safeguarded the Green Tunnel’s Ash Trees

The A.T.’s iconic “green tunnel” landscape is rich in biodiversity. But invasive species continue to threaten the natural habitats that hikers traverse and wildlife depend on for their survival. Over the last decade, the ATC has been working to protect nearly 1,400 ash trees along the A.T. from the deadly and invasive emerald ash borer.  

This spring and summer, our team monitored and treated 613 ash trees on the Tennessee-North Carolina border and in Massachusetts with an insecticide to increase their chances of survival and support the genetic diversity and regeneration of the ash population once the pest has passed through the landscape. These efforts to protect the green tunnel’s diverse canopy cover and provide an unparalleled A.T. experience for millions of Trail visitors have been remarkably successful with a 98% survival rate.

Energized the Next Generation of Trail Stewards

Teens are powerful voices for environmental stewardship. By collaborating with local and national organizations, the ATC has developed successful programs to cultivate the next generation of stewards through a shared connection and sense of belonging on the A.T.  

In April, the ATC and its partners welcomed thirty students — in grades eight through eleven — from thirteen schools across Georgia and Metro Atlanta counties to serve as NextGen Forest Ambassadors. The ambassadors participated in expert-led camping at Wahsega 4-H Center in Dahlonega, Georgia, and a hike on the Appalachian Trail. During the program, the students learned about Leave No Trace principles and A.T. maintenance, honed outdoor skills, took time for self-reflection, and contributed to solutions-based conversations on how to connect young people with the A.T.

“Part of NextGen is to give them the skills to publicly engage others about environmental issues, to give them the tools to become the best stewards they can be, and to confidently step out as leaders.” — Stefan L. Moss, NextGen program leader and instructor.

Coordinated Helene Cleanup and Rebuilding Efforts

Hurricane Helene was the largest natural disaster to impact the Appalachian Trail in its 100-year history, leaving behind tremendous and complex destruction in the southern A.T. landscape and surrounding communities.

Our top priority was the safety and well-being of our staff and their families, first responders, and all our neighbors in the hard-hit communities in the Appalachian Trail landscape who lost so much in this tragic event. In the weeks that followed, we moved into the recovery phase and have been working with Clubs and volunteers to assess and clear the Trail so visitors can get back on the A.T. safely and return to the nearby towns that rely on recreation as a part of their livelihood.    

Thanks to the generous outpouring of support from ATC donors and partners to our A.T. Resiliency Fund, we’ve been able to activate pro crews, coordinate certified sawyer volunteers from 6 Trail Clubs (Mount Rogers Appalachian Trail Club, Outdoor Club at Virginia Tech, Roanoke Appalachian Trail Club, Natural Bridge Appalachian Trail Club, Old Dominion Appalachian Trail Club, and Potomac Appalachian Trail Club) and provide the tools and resources needed to clear roughly 27 miles of trail in southern Virginia and northern Tennessee, including cutting through over 1,600 fallen trees! 

Photo by Tyler Irving

While the work to clean up and repair the treadway and Trail infrastructure and restore the damaged A.T. landscape will continue into 2025 and beyond, the ATC is committed to supporting the complete recovery of the A.T. and its communities no matter how long it takes.  

 We’re also committed to providing the latest A.T. information and alerts about Helene-related impacts and conditions for the entire Trail. If you are planning a 2025 A.T. adventure, be prepared for what you may encounter in the hardest hit sections and register your overnight hike on ATCamp.org to stay informed about Trail conditions.

All of these, and many more projects from Georgia to Maine, were possible because of support from our partners, members and individuals. But there is still more work to do in our Centennial year and beyond! Help protect the Trail for future generations. Please give today at AppalachianTrail.org/Donate 

GIVE A GIFT TO THE A.T.