GUIDEBOOKS

The Appalachian Trail Conservancy offers a number of books that can help you with planning and carrying out a hike.

THE APPALACHIAN TRAIL GUIDEBOOK SERIES

This series of 11 books offers detailed trail descriptions for both north-to-south and south-to-north hikes. The books provide information on mileage between major points, shelters and facilities on the trail, road crossings and trailhead parking, water, side trails, and relevant history of the area the trail is passing through.

All of the guidebooks come with 3 to 12 maps. The topographic maps also include elevation profiles, which should not be taken literally: flat sections on the elevation profile are almost never truly level when you are actually hiking the trail. And some steep sections, especially those on the Maine maps, are not quite as bad as they appear on the profile.

The Appalachian Trail is well blazed, and a detailed, step-by-step description is not necessary to keep from getting lost. The trail descriptions do, however, keep you informed of your progress and how far it is to the next shelter, water, etc.

Guidebooks cannot be taken as Gospel. The trail route gets altered, storms knock down trees, springs dry up and disappear, and the trail descriptions are the opinions of the writer. The guides are updated every couple of years or so. They can be purchased with the maps or you can buy the maps separately.

You can also purchase the trail guides on CD-ROM. Ten of the eleven Appalachian Trail guide sets, including books and maps (trail guides for half of Pennsylvania are produced by The Keystone Trails Association) are available on four CD-ROMs with a free strip map of the whole Trail, plus Maptech’s Terrain Navigator planning software.

APPALACHIAN TRAIL DATA BOOK

The Appalachian Trail Data Book is updated annually to keep hikers current with the relocations of the Trail. It contains mileages between points on the Trail. At road crossings, the Data Book lists distances to post offices, lodgings, groceries, and restaurants.

This book informs you of the location of shelters and notes if the shelter doesn’t have water available. It also lets you know the distance between sources of water in water-scarce areas.

The ATC intended the Data Book to be used only for broad-scale planning of hikes; but it is also a practical guide that can be taken along with you (or a photocopy of the pages you need), particularly if you opt not to carry the Trail guidebooks.

The Appalachian Trail Mate, a CD-ROM version of the A.T. Data Book, is also available with trip-planning software included, developed under license from the ATC.

THE APPALACHIAN TRAIL THRU-HIKER’S COMPANION

This small book published annually by the Appalachian Trail Conservancy offers a wealth of information to long-distance hikers on goods and services available along the Trail and much more. The guide is edited by the Appalachian Long-Distance Hikers Association. The book is compiled for the following spring from information supplied by thru-hikers and others at the end of every year. This spiral-bound book will help you decipher the information in the Data Book by telling you more about the places, such as grocery stores, than the letter code in the Data Book conveys.

Another, non-ATC, guide available for thru-hikers is Dan Bruce’s The Thru-hiker’s Handbook, which is also updated annually. It is available from Bruce at www.trailplace.com.