How the Appalachian Trail began
It's an epic undertaking - so how did they pull it off?
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Here's a map of the trail today: https://nps.maps.arcgis.com/apps/weba...
And here's Mackaye's original essay:
https://appalachiantrail.org/our-work...
Benton Mackaye is known as the "inventor" of the Appalachian Trail — and that's completely true. But it's also important to understand the historical forces that made his big idea become a reality.
Urbanization, competition with the West, and existing networks all helped the AT be more than the figment of Mackaye's imagination. Today, we still enjoy the results of all those trends coming together, along with one man's impassioned plea for a new way of living.
