Ruins?

[Odd Man Out]

We took a guided tour of some old homesteads in SNP when staying at Big Meadows Lodge - not hiking but the AT goes right through there. I think the far side of the meadow across the road. Note that all historic structures in SNP are protected and you can't camp near them.

[TrailNameLucky]

In the northern section of the AT in SNP about mid way through the north section(near mathews arm) there is a full chimney and stone floor/harth. If I could figuire out how to post a pic I would post it.

The chimney is next to this tower.

[Another Kevin]

Feral Bill is right that Harriman is full of ruins. Between the Elk Pen and Island Pond there's an abandoned 19th-century gravel pit, and the gravel sorter is still there, rusting away. There are lots of iron mine workings all through the park. The reason that the park service formally forbids bushwhacking is that people have drowned in abandoned mineshafts. The park also has the ruined village of Doodletown, The state burned the buildings some years ago because of recurrent problems with squatters, but the foundations and roads are still there, and there are even placards telling you what everything was. It's about a mile and a half east of the A-T. Easiest approach for a northbounder is probably to take the yellow-blazed Suffern-Bear Mountain trail down from West Mountain Shelter to the bridle path, turn right and take that into Doodletown, and then return to the A-T by the 1777W trail. (Or go out and back on the 1777W if you're a purist, but I'd not bother. The mile or so of A-T that you'd bypass isn't all that interesting.)

The 1777W trail is part of the system that commemorates the Revolutionary War campaigns: it follows the route that part of the British army took to Fort Montgomery. (The 1777E trail, which divides from it at Doodletown, is the route the other group took to Fort Clinton.)

[rickb]

You may want to google up Katahdin Iron Works.

[RamblingHiker]

The remains of Rapidan Camp (President Hoover's old mountain retreat) in SNP isn't on the AT but is an interesting place to visit. A semi-loop can be made by using the Laurel Prong and Mill Prong trails although doing so will result in missing part of the AT in that area and some elevation loss and gain. Or out and back on either trail w/o missing any of the AT.

[Mizirlou]

I love working my way into abandoned structures, and I've been wondering if there are any things like these on the AT or one of the Florida trails.

Some historical structures are headstones, and lots of historical artifacts are in cemeteries near the Florida Trail. Lewis Powell of the Confederate Secret Service was one of four conspirators hanged in D.C. for the Lincoln assassination plot. After death his severed head was stored at the Smithsonian until 1992. Head and body were eventually reunited in the Geneva Cemetery near the FT in Seminole County.
http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg...826964&df=all&

[Seatbelt]

AT Sept 2012 004.jpg
Just 1/2 mile south of Kincora

[Sevsa]

St Anthony's Wilderness in central PA has a stone tower and some ruins.
http://www.midatlantichikes.com/stonetower.htm has a short description of it and the directions from the AT to the tower.

[Almost There]

Is the Blair Witch House still there just south of VA42 in Sinking Creek Valley? Kind of neat to see.