Feature 1: Rich Evans - A broken neck and a pink tutu were the catalyst for Rich Evans' discovery of his passion for hiking and his involvement in the backpacking community.

Feature 2: Grandma Gatewood - A pioneer long-distance hiker, Grandma Gatewood captured the imagination of the hiking community and touched many lives around the country during her travels from coast to coast.

Feature 3: Charter members of the Appalachian Trail Hall of Fame - On June 17, 2011, The Museum Society hosted it's first Hall of Fame Banquet, and inducts six charter members into the newly formed Hall of Fame. Members include (alphabetically) Myron Avery, Gene Espy, Ed Garvey, Benton MacKaye, Arthur Perkins, & Earl Shaffer.

Feature 4: Video of The Early Days of the Appalachian Trail - Explore an early documentary film of the building of the Appalachian Trail with new narration to bring everything into perspective.

Feature 5: Excerpts from an Upcoming Biography of Earl Shaffer- By David Donaldson and Maurice Forrester.

Feature 6: Yogi-ing Purists, Trail Magic, and Men in Skirts: An
Analysis of Appalachian Trail Culture - By Shellie L. Andrews. A look at the emergence of trail culture and the culture of thru-hiking since the inception of the idea for the Appalachian Trail.

Feature 7: The Thru-Hiking Papers - By Spirit Eagle. Everyone who intends to hike the AT has questions. If you intend to thruhike the Appalachian Trail - or any other long trail - you'll want answers to your questions.These narratives will help answer many of them.

Feature 8: History of the Appalachian Trail Conference at 75 years- Although a history of the organization, included is much information about other aspects as well including the history of the trail, prominent figures in it's history, hikers, etc. 64 pages worth.

Feature 9: August 1928 - The Mentor - One of the first magazine articles featuring the Appalachian Trail which points out some of the sights one would expect have access to when the trail was completed.

Feature 10: August 1949 - National Geographic (6 MB)- One of the major magazine articles featuring the Appalachian Trail following Earl Shaffer's completion of his historic thru-hike in 1948. The article features narrative with black and white photos, and also 15 color images. We have split them up here to keep download times to a minimum: Color Images (5 MB)

Contact Information


1120 Pine Grove Road
Gardners, PA 17324
Phone: 717 486-8126

Electronic mail
General Information: info@atmuseum.org

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