Hey, I was just wondering what side trails or even day hikes off the AT people would recomend that not be missed. In an effort to have the most enjoyable hike possible, I am looking for some jaunts that are worth the time. I hear that Maine is full of them, any truth to that?
Many thanks
Ben
Ben Reuschel
There are numerous side hikes all the way along the trail. Which ones you do, if any depends on the goals and objectives of your hike.
In Maine, I managed to do side hikes so that I bagged all but 2 of the 4000 footers in Maine. I would have liked to spend more time in Baxter State Park, but at that point, I was beat. I would have liked to arrange a ride so that I could have gone across the Knife Edge and down into Chimney Pond as one example. My best advice is to look at the AMC Maine Mountain Guide. In fact, I carried the map from this book so I could see what some options for side hikes.
In the White Mountains, there are all kinds of side hikes. When I went through, I tried to bag as many of the 4000 footers as possible. Got 22 out of 46. But, depending on time, there are numberous other places, like waterfalls to side hike to.
The best parts of Shenandoah National Park are off the AT. The maps show all the trails. Maybe brouse some of the books written about hiking in this park for some good hikes. Certainly White Oak Canyon is popular, as is Old Rag, and Camp Hoover, just to name three.
Ditto for Great Smokey Mountains.
You might consider summiting Mt. Rodgers and Whiteface in Virginia.
So many trails (and peaks), so little time.
Peaks
i would say gulf hagas in ME is a definite, there are several awesome waterfalls in the SNP that are off the A.T., but brain is dead right now. Also in western NC there are some nice areas when you get near the Tellico area.
Hard to list too many, I know the parts of the A.T. I have hiked in NC/VA/NH all had way too many enjoyable hikes that are not on the A.T. to even try to list them. I would recommend hitting the library and checking out some of the hiking books on the individual states, something like Exploring the A.T. “Hikes in Northern New England” which has a ton of hikes that are based around the A.T…
mdjeeper