Section Hike with Town Access

[Jerp]

I’m looking for suggestions on a section hike that goes through a town every few days, if that’s even possible. For the past 3 years my friend and I have section hiked from Amicalola Falls to Clingman’s Dome. We are unusually able to spend about 7-10 days on the trail every June. However, this year my wife is pregnant and is due in July, so I’m a little hesitant to be on the trail in the middle of nowhere in case something happens. I currently live in New Jersey and my friend lives in West Virginia, so any section between North Carolina and New Jersey would work. I would love to pick up where we left off at Clingman’s Dome, but that’s a little far south and besides Hot Springs, there isn’t a lot of town access. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Like I said, just looking for a section (60-100 miles) that has a little more town access. Thanks!

[Gambit McCrae]

Anywhere south of Vermont and you will have access to service, and a road for pickup at least once a day. May not be a town, but just have it setup with your shuttle driver that you may have an early bail out if she goes into labor. If you insist on having town access however, just south of you in MAss there is at least 1 town per day thru most of the state. NJ and NY are both known for having many town stops however the trail doesn't actually go THRU any, just skirts around them.

Southern PA is a good choice for this with penmar as a starting point heading nobo

[tdoczi]

depends on how fast you hike and what you mean by town.

for instance, lets say you start at clingmans dome. first i would knock that to newfound gap out as a day hike and get it out of the way, stay the night in town.

starting from NFG you can make it out of the smokies in one day. that puts you immediately at the ranger station and the country store, neither is a town but its a place you can make contact with civilization from/can leave from. standing bear farm ditto, a couple miles further on. when i was there it seemd like there was always people going back and forth to/from the nearest actual town there as well.

leaving from standing bear, the next day you get to the top of max patch. if its a nice day and/or a weekend (esp if it is both) the top of max patch is a town. even in bad weather though you can easily get picked up from there as its easily gotten to from anyone shuttling out of hot springs.

the next day youll actually be in hot springs. north of there i dont know yet but you might be able to play the game i describe above for a few more days and get to close to a week without being too out of touch.

[Tennessee Viking]

If you have a need to jump off and head home quick, you probably want to go Harpers Ferry to New Jersey. I haven't really visited anything north of Harpers Ferry.

In the south, you have towns about 2-4 days apart. What I mean "town" is enough convenience stores and services to re-supply for another leg. For TN/NC/S. VA, you will have to come off long stretch of ridgelines and mountains. Then make arrangements for shuttles to take you into the nearest town with larger services.

Another idea to consider, if you are going to be leap frogging cars, you can walk the NC-MST sections that parallel the parkway from car to car. Skip any really remote areas.

[Gambit McCrae]

depends on how fast you hike and what you mean by town.

for instance, lets say you start at clingmans dome. first i would knock that to newfound gap out as a day hike and get it out of the way, stay the night in town.

starting from NFG you can make it out of the smokies in one day. that puts you immediately at the ranger station and the country store, neither is a town but its a place you can make contact with civilization from/can leave from. standing bear farm ditto, a couple miles further on. when i was there it seemd like there was always people going back and forth to/from the nearest actual town there as well.

leaving from standing bear, the next day you get to the top of max patch. if its a nice day and/or a weekend (esp if it is both) the top of max patch is a town. even in bad weather though you can easily get picked up from there as its easily gotten to from anyone shuttling out of hot springs.

the next day youll actually be in hot springs. north of there i dont know yet but you might be able to play the game i describe above for a few more days and get to close to a week without being too out of touch.

From NFG to Davenport is 31 miles...
From Davenport to HS is 36...

[tdoczi]

From NFG to Davenport is 31 miles...
From Davenport to HS is 36...

by one day i didnt mean 24 hours. if you start in NFG at 7am on friday you can be at standing bear before sundown on saturday

if you leave standing bear at at 7am on saturday you'll be in the company of 200 people and their cars, most of them headed into hot springs before the end of the day.

the day after that you'll be in hot springs.

the less isolated places suggested in this thread the only real advantage, as you pointed out, is the ability to hit a road where someone can pick you up more often. actually towns, either on trail or near trail, dont really happen that much more often.

all that said, if getting home quick is a concern, you live in NJ and you havent hiked NJ yet.... kind of a no brainer already.

[stephanD]

Why not the Shenandoah National Park (SNP)? You have Front Royal in the north, Waynesboro in the south, and Luray in the middle. All three towns have a hostel and shuttle service. Very easy to get in and out of the park.

[Gambit McCrae]

by one day i didnt mean 24 hours. if you start in NFG at 7am on friday you can be at standing bear before sundown on saturday

if you leave standing bear at at 7am on saturday you'll be in the company of 200 people and their cars, most of them headed into hot springs before the end of the day.

the day after that you'll be in hot springs.

the less isolated places suggested in this thread the only real advantage, as you pointed out, is the ability to hit a road where someone can pick you up more often. actually towns, either on trail or near trail, dont really happen that much more often.

all that said, if getting home quick is a concern, you live in NJ and you havent hiked NJ yet.... kind of a no brainer already.

I can 100% agree on all that, I thought you ment in a "days worth of hiking:", physically doable but not by a very large percentage of hikers.

[MuddyWaters]

If your wife is a month out, sorry. You have no business leaving unless she has other people to take care of her. Then, it doesnt matter, not like she needs you specifically for anything.

[Slo-go'en]

Yeah, stick close to home. NJ/NY would be ideal. You could be home in an hour or two from any point along NJ/NY and you don't have to worry about cell phone coverage.