One Year After Hurricane Helene on the Appalachian Trail

As we neared the one-year anniversary of Hurricane Helene, the Appalachian Trail Conservancy put out a call for hikers, volunteers, and people who live near the Appalachian Trail to share the ways that they observed Helene’s impacts. Hurricane Helene was the most destructive natural disaster to affect the A.T. in its 100-year history, and the damage left behind in some sections will be noticed by visitors for years to come. 

We received detailed accounts of hiking through storm damage, poems full of grief and determination, and gratitude for the A.T. Clubs, professional saw crews, and the hundreds of volunteers who worked to reduce the 430 miles of closed Trail after the storm down to just five miles.  

Thank you to those who shared their experiences on the Trail in the aftermath of Helene and those who selflessly gave their time and energy to help keep the Trail alive.  

Blog Excerpt by Madaket “Pitstop” Nobili

Hurricane Helene hit western North Carolina and eastern Tennessee in late September, 2024. Winds as high as 140 mph and catastrophic flooding inflicted significant damage to the region, much of which had yet to be repaired when my hiking partner, Viper, and I passed through the region in late April. In the weeks following the hurricane there was debate amongst the would-be thru-hiking Class of 2025 whether a northbound (NOBO) thru-hike would be ethical, or even possible, come spring.

Some argued that hiker traffic would put undue strain on recovering towns, while others pointed out that trail town economies depend on hiker tourism, and postponing one’s hike might inadvertently cause local businesses to suffer further. My partner and I monitored ATC updates through the end of 2024 and decided to move forward with our hike when it became clear in late December that the Trail itself was projected to be open (with a few small exceptions) by March.

While the Trail was open for the 2025 hiking season and towns were accepting hikers, things were still far from normal. At Standing Bear Hostel north of the Smokies, the owner informed us that work scheduled to take place the year prior was still on hold because construction contractors and equipment remained occupied with cleanup efforts. A two-lane bridge where the A.T. once crossed over the Nolichucky River in Erwin, TN, was severed on either end, rotated 90 degrees, and pushed downstream by floodwaters.  

Among the most visually devastated areas were some of the mountainsides: there were places where entire hillsides of decades-old trees were ripped up by the roots and tossed on the ground like matchsticks. The Trail itself was paved in sawdust where sawyers (many of them volunteers) chainsawed a hallway through the piles of trunks stacked head-high.  

It’s harrowing to think of what floods might be like should it rain so heavily again there, now that the tree cover is gone and the slopes are so exposed. Or conversely, in the case of drought, the hundreds of acres of downed trees drying in the sun would provide ample fuel for wildfires. It’s for this very reason that logging crews were working to remove felled timber between NOBO miles 360.6 and 365.9, necessitating the 5.8-mile mandatory road-walking detour we took on April 29. All this to say, Hurricane Helene’s devastating impact was still very much evident in the hard-hit places, and we’re grateful to the local communities for making our thru-hike possible this year despite the hardships they continue to face. 

Poem Excerpt by Arch “Two-Names” Jones

Helene 

In foothills and in mountain towns
we take care of our own somehow.
Like when Appalachians
lost their homes in the storm
they named Helene.

That Friday water filled our hollers.
Because mountain towns
are connected by streams,
but that day streams
turned into rivers.
And then those rivers, turned into killers.

In the wake
of Helene’s rotation breaking
on top of the Appalachian Trail.
Rivers once home to trout,
we’re momentarily
large enough for whales.

Comments from 2,000-Miler Applications

Mark “Hunger Pain” Bolduc, NOBO: “All in all, the entire hike was wonderful. Being able to complete this as father-daughter was a dream and it went very well. The Trail is beautiful, and the amount of work done by volunteers to maintain it, especially in the Hurricane Helene damaged areas was incredible.” 

Sandra “Peaches” Schmelzer, NOBO: “Thank you to the volunteers and organizations that cleared up the very long stretches of Trail decimated by Hurricane Helene.” 

Jean “Poppy” Snyder, Flip Flop: “I was so impressed with the heroic efforts evident in getting the Trail back in shape so soon after epic flooding and wind damage.” 

Vince “The Wizard of Ghee” Anderson, NOBO: “I started my hike in the cold on February 14, 2025. The immense amount of work by dedicated trail builders and maintainers was humbling. I walked from Amicalola Falls State Park through Damascus with minimal (less than 5 miles) of reroute. I am deeply grateful to the people who worked so hard to cut fallen trees, fix rootballs, repair the footbed, and everything else. They are heroes who helped me summit Katahdin on August 20, 2025. I am humbled and grateful.” 

Kim “Mama Savage” Watts, NOBO: “Impressed with the number of volunteers & hours put in to maintain the Trail, especially down in Tennessee and North Carolina due to Hurricane Helene. It was so humbling going through that area.” 

Carol “Cricket” Mathieson, Flip Flop: “It was so discouraging to have the southbound (SOBO) section of my thru-hike come to an abrupt halt when Hurricane Helene hit while I was sheltering at Four Pines Hostel near Roanoke, VA. I was able to return in the spring of 2025 to finish! The damage to the Trail was incredible and I am SO grateful to all the hard work trail maintenance crews did to reopen the A.T. for folks like me.” 

Hurricane Helene Impact Report 

Stories and photos from the people who hiked the Trail post-Helene help to demonstrate the massive impact of the storm.  

Explore the ATC’s Hurricane Helene impact report to learn more about the incredible efforts over the last year to help A.T. Communities and the Trail recover.

Those planning A.T. hikes in late 2025 or early 2026 can view the latest Trail conditions in storm-impacted areas at appalachiantrail.org/helene.