The Appalachian National Scenic Trail stretches over 2,100 miles from Springer Mountain in Georgia to Mount Katahdin in Baxter State Park, Maine.
In 1911 the Dartmouth Outing Club proposed creating a chain of cabins extending northwards from Hanover to the White Mountains of New Hampshire for ski touring. This collection of cabins and associated trails were ultimately insturmental in the creation of the Appalachian Trail. Today, the Dartmouth Outing Club is responsible for the maintenance of over fifty miles of the Appalachian Trail, from the Ledyard Bridge over the Connecticut River, to Route 112 in Woodstock, New Hampshire. The DOC is assisted in its maintenance by local community members: Trail Adopters each maintain a few miles of trail and Corridor Monitors steward the land the trail runs through. Larger projects, such as trail relocations, improvements, and new shelter constructions, are undertaken by the members of Cabin and Trail, one of the DOC’s member clubs. We always need help with this work!
If you are interested in becoming a trail adopter in the DOC section, please contact Joe Danna, our fantastic Adopter Coordinator; if you are interesting in stewarding the land that surrounds the AT, please contact Bernie Waugh, our amazing Boundary Monitor Coordinator. For more information about these projects, please see the DOC Wiki. If you would like to hear about opportunities to work on individual projects or specific trips to do work, contact Cabin and Trail.
Recent times have seen a renewed local interest in the trail and hikers. Hanover, NH was recently granted status as an official AT Trailside Community and an application from Norwich, VT is pending.
The trail and its shelters are overseen by the National Park Service and the U.S. Forest Service, and maintained by thirty-one volunteer organizations overseen by the Appalachian Trail Conservancy (ATC) in Harpers Ferry, West Virginia.
Questions about the Appalachian Trail should be addressed to the Appalachian Trail Conservancy in West Virginia: (304) 535-6331, or to its New England Regional Office in Lyme, New Hampshire: (603) 676-4102. The Dartmouth Outing Club can answer questions specific to the DOC section of the trail: (603) 646-2429.
AT Section Hiker Parking
If you are section hiking and wish to leave a car in Hanover for up to two weeks, you may park in Dartmouth's A Lot on Wheelock st. Contact Dartmouth Transportation Services (603-646-2340) to confirm and leave your licence plate number and dates of travel.
