How many places does the AT cross or come incotack with Amtrack or bus routes??
How many places does the AT cross or come incotack with Amtrack or bus routes??
too broad a question. lots of buss and train options on or close to the trail. any town specifically?
Bus routes: many. Probably read the Companion for specifics.
Amtrak: Harpers Ferry is probably the only town with an Amtrak station on the trail. White River Junction is close to Hanover, and Rutland Vermont is close to Sherburne Gap. You cross Amtrack in Dalton and at Bear Mountain, but no trail station.
Amtrak will take you to Gainsville, GA. Gainsville is close to Springer Mt. You can catch a cab or hitch a ride.
Amtrak in
Gainsville, GA
Charlottesville, VA
Harpers Ferry, WV
Harrisburg, PA
Rutland, VT
White River Junction, NH
Probably a couple more in NY, Conn, Mass.
Commuter trains in Harpers Ferry and Pawling, NY and probably more as well.
WRJ is in Vermont on the other side of the Connecticut River.
I would advise you to stay away from Greyhound at all costs. My brother used it to come down to FL from PA, (fear of flying) and said it was beyond horrible. He is pretty tough too.
Going back to PA took almost 4 days because of drivers calling out sick and buses breaking down. We wrote them a very proffesional letter explaining how bad the trip was, no response.
“If one advances confidently in the direction of one's dreams, and endeavors to live the life which one has imagined, one will meet with a success unexpected in common hours.” Henry David Thoreau
Forget Amtrak in Connecticut. It goes along the shoreline and up the middle of the state (through Hartford); all too far away from the AT to be useful. A local train runs from Norwalk (about 50 miles out of NYC) to Danbury, maybe 20 miles south of Kent. Very inconvenient. Instead you're much better off taking the Harlem Div. line from NYC to Pawling.
Greyhound is just fine for shorter distances.
But longer ones?
Hell, no, unless you're insane.
I went from DC to Atlanta in August on the 'hound.
If President Obama wants to replace Guantanamo with something equally effective, equally unpleasant, but Constitutionally legal, he should make the detainess take this trip.
Believe me, it'll break 'em by the time they hit Charlotte.
In the NY/CT border, Metro North Harlem Line to Pawling, NY is best. Along the Hudson, you can take the Metro North Hudson Line to Peekskill or Manitou. Amtrak stops in CT are many miles from the AT. There are other train options west of the Hudson crossing.
http://mta.info/mnr/html/mnrmap.htm
To be precise, the Harriman, NY station on the line to Port Jervis is the closest stop to the trail west of the Hudson. It's still a couple of miles away, though, so you'd have to walk or get a ride somehow.
For more options in the NY area (both bus and train), please see the following pages:
http://www.nynjtc.org/trails/no-car.html
http://www.amc-ny.org/recreational-a...ationcodes.pdf
Also, see this post:
http://www.whiteblaze.net/forum/show...370#post381370
for a discussion of public transportation options in the Harrisburg, PA area.
As always, please verify with the carrier that the service still exists and still runs on the same schedule before you start your trip.
David Perry
79.1 down, 2,101.9 to go.
Where exactly is that Appalacian Trail train stop in NY before Pawling downtown proper? Is it on the Metro North Hudson Line? I think it' seasonal and it's just a small platform. The stop I'm thinking of is just before U cross a paved 2 lane highway and enter the Nature Conservancy land parcel where U walk on the boardwalks through
forest and wet areas. The Peekskill Train stop is a bit off the AT. I know the train also goes right through Pawling, but I thought that was a different line.
Thanx TM. Was scratching my head trying to figure it out. So when posters here R talking about the Pawling train station R they talking about the train in downtown Pawling proper or the AT station. R both on the Harlem Line?
Thanx again TM. Missed my meds yesterday.
The AT station is about two miles up the Harlem track from the Pawling station, so it's an easy road walk up Rte 22 if you go at a time when the train isn't stopping at the AT platform. Next after that is Wingdale, I believe, which would give you an equivalent walk back south on Rte 22 to the trailhead.