State mileages

[pkinnetz]

What are the AT mileages for each state? I know the data book lists some of the total mileages but its not clear for others, since it lists for example North Carolina in with Georgia and TN. Likewise, VA is broken up into several groupings, inc. MD, and WV. Is there an official mileage for each state other than the data book? The northern states look a little easier to figure out since the AT doesn't criss-cross the state line as it so often does in the south.

[The Old Fhart]

Wikipedia has a state by state mileage breakdown but it probably isn't exact, none are. Try this link (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Appalachian_Trail_by_state).

The ATC has this inf (http://www.appalachiantrail.org/site/c.jkLXJ8MQKtH/b.762667/k.AEBB/New_Hampshire.htm)o that is more detailed.

[Appalachian Tater]

This is interesting stuff.

http://www.appalachiantrail.org/site/c.jkLXJ8MQKtH/b.730555/k.96ED/State_by_State.htm

There's the information you're looking for, from the horse's mouth. On the Tennessee/North Carolina border it is difficult to assign the trail to one state or another as it follows the ridgeline, which is also the border, for about 200 miles.

An additional complication is that the border itself is not always known without doubt. Supposedly when there is a border dispute, they take a bucket of water, pour it out, and see which direction it flows. (I can't confirm that on the internet but was told that by a local hiker.) There are problems with what is "the main ridge" or "the extreme height". http://supreme.justia.com/us/235/1/case.html

There are places where there seems to be old fencing on the ridgeline and you are likely to be in one state or the other, and other places where the property could straddle the state line and the trail seems to be exactly on the border with your left foot in Tennessee and your right foot in North Carolina.

The trail is real while the state borders are just abstract for the most part, unlike the border between the U.S. and Mexico, which is fortified in places, and acts as "one of the greatest divisions of wealth on Earth". When you hike the Long Path, you actually go through a gate in a chain-link fence when you cross from New Jersey to New York.

If you look at a map, you can see that Tennessee was part of North Carolina until the late 1700s. In the 1970s Georgia still disputed its border with North Carolina and Tennessee and still occasionally squabbles with South Carolina, and there's a river on that border!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/State_cessions

[Jaybird]

Wikipedia has a state by state mileage breakdown but it probably isn't exact, none are. Try URL="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Appalachian_Trail_by_state"]this link[/URL].
The ATC has this inf (http://www.appalachiantrail.org/site/c.jkLXJ8MQKtH/b.762667/k.AEBB/New_Hampshire.htm)o that is more detailed.



Damn WIKIPEDIA!

[dperry]

I've done a pretty detailed breakdown of mileages along the AT, using several different approaches, as preparation for the program of section hikes my fiancee and I want to take. This is what I came up with for state mileages, adjusted for the figures in the 2007 Data Book (though I'm sure there is some error, as the milepoints in the Data Book do not always match up exactly with the points at which the trail meets or leaves a border):

Georgia: 75.4
North Carolina, counting mileage obviously exclusive to that state: 127.6. This figure includes the distance from the Georgia line to Doe Knob, where the trail first meets the border in the Smokies. It also includes a couple of segments where the trail noticeably leaves the border (e.g., the stretch that passes through Hot Springs.)
North Carolina, counting all mileage on or very close to the border: 288.1
Tennessee, counting mileage obviously exclusive to that state: 92.5. This includes the distance from where the trail finally leaves the border at Doll Flats to the Virginia line, as well as the jog over to the Erwin area.
Tennessee, counting all mileage on or very close to the border: 253.0
Total mileage on or very close to the TN/NC border: 160.5
Virginia, not including those portions on the border with West Virginia: 525.9
Virginia, including the WV border: 550.6
West Virginia, not including the VA border: 2.6
West Virginia, including the VA border: 27.3
Total mileage on or very close to the VA/WV border: 24.7
Maryland: 40.9
Pennsylvania: 229.3
New Jersey: 72.4 (I just realized that this includes the little jog into New York near Unionville. Will have to see if I can isolate that stretch any.)
New York: 90.2. This does not include the aforementioned Unionville stretch, but does include two miles for the portion where the trail re-enters the state near Schaghticoke Mountain, which the ATC usually assigns to CT.
Connecticut: 49.6. Does not include the aforementioned two miles for the part near Schaghticoke.
Massachusetts: 90.2
Vermont: 149.8
New Hampshire: 161.0
Maine: 281.4

Fun facts: Put together, the portions of trail within VA, PA, ME, and NC/TN make up almost 65.2% of the trail. On the other hand, the portions within MA, NY, GA, NJ, CT, MD, and WV (even including the parts shared with VA) make up a bit more than 20.5%. The second group is half of the 14 total states.

YMMV (literally :D).

[Cookerhiker]

I've done a pretty detailed breakdown of mileages along the AT, using several different approaches, as preparation for the program of section hikes my fiancee and I want to take. This is what I came up with for state mileages, adjusted for the figures in the 2007 Data Book (though I'm sure there is some error, as the milepoints in the Data Book do not always match up exactly with the points at which the trail meets or leaves a border):

Georgia: 75.4
North Carolina, counting mileage obviously exclusive to that state: 127.6. This figure includes the distance from the Georgia line to Doe Knob, where the trail first meets the border in the Smokies. It also includes a couple of segments where the trail noticeably leaves the border (e.g., the stretch that passes through Hot Springs.)
North Carolina, counting all mileage on or very close to the border: 288.1
Tennessee, counting mileage obviously exclusive to that state: 92.5. This includes the distance from where the trail finally leaves the border at Doll Flats to the Virginia line, as well as the jog over to the Erwin area.
Tennessee, counting all mileage on or very close to the border: 253.0
Total mileage on or very close to the TN/NC border: 160.5
Virginia, not including those portions on the border with West Virginia: 525.9
Virginia, including the WV border: 550.6
West Virginia, not including the VA border: 2.6
West Virginia, including the VA border: 27.3
Total mileage on or very close to the VA/WV border: 24.7
Maryland: 40.9
Pennsylvania: 229.3
New Jersey: 72.4 (I just realized that this includes the little jog into New York near Unionville. Will have to see if I can isolate that stretch any.)
New York: 90.2. This does not include the aforementioned Unionville stretch, but does include two miles for the portion where the trail re-enters the state near Schaghticoke Mountain, which the ATC usually assigns to CT.
Connecticut: 49.6. Does not include the aforementioned two miles for the part near Schaghticoke.
Massachusetts: 90.2
Vermont: 149.8
New Hampshire: 161.0
Maine: 281.4

Fun facts: Put together, the portions of trail within VA, PA, ME, and NC/TN make up almost 65.2% of the trail. On the other hand, the portions within MA, NY, GA, NJ, CT, MD, and WV (even including the parts shared with VA) make up a bit more than 20.5%. The second group is half of the 14 total states.

YMMV (literally :D).

Very thorough. Every time someone tells me they've hiked all of WV, I ask them "what about the stretch north of Pearisburg where the trail dips into WV?" Invariably the response is "I didn't know that." And then I bring up about how the NJ section strays into NY and the CT section strays into NY.

I assume you're aware that MD starts at the Potomac shoreline on the WV side - not in the middle of the bridge nor on the MD shoreline.

[dperry]

I assume you're aware that MD starts at the Potomac shoreline on the WV side - not in the middle of the bridge nor on the MD shoreline.

I. . .did not know that. Re-checking the Data Book, it appears that they have the border in the right place. So I think I'm still good.