Walking Through Time: Heritage Resources within the Appalachian Trail Corridor

Parts of the Appalachian Trail (and nearly half of Vermont's Long Trail) are located on New England National Forests, and managed in partnership with the Appalachian Trail Conference, Green Mountain Club, and other volunteers. Since the Trail corridor is a linear, if serpentine, sample of northern Appalachian highland environments it's not surprising that it often runs on, over, along and/or through a variety of Heritage Resource sites reflecting the rich land-use history of the region. These sites range from Native American quarries and early Euro- American toll roads, to 19th century logging camps, settlements and mines, to historic recreation structures, CCC-erected fire towers and more recent ski areas. While there is some inherent potential for conflict between trail management priorities and historic preservation, the White Mountain and Green Mountain National Forests have been sensitive to both sets of needs through awareness, data collection and planning. Preservation of significant Heritage sites within this National Scenic Trail corridor is a baseline. We also identify the enhancement of the hiking recreation experience through interpretation of some of these resources as a worthy and feasible goal in the near future.