Tag Archives: appalachian trail

What’s the Buzz?

While I was employed at Rettew Associates, Inc. in the late 1990s, I worked with a great survey technician by the name of Craig West. Craig and I got the opportunity to work together on a big boundary survey for the National Park Service along the Appalachian Trail in Maryland. The boss sent me because...

Left: A hiker stands above the clouds at the Appalachian Trail’s northern terminus: the summit of Katahdin in Baxter State Park, Maine. Courtesy of Jeffrey Stylos.

Mapping the Appalachian Trail, Part 2

How the AT was brought into GIS via a collaboration among ATC staff, NSP professionals, and dedicated volunteers. Part 1 of this article (May 2015) reveals the history of the trail, particularly how the land that comprises it was surveyed. Read here about how the trail was brought into GIS.  In 1998, the Appalachian Trail...

Kirk Norton, NPS land surveyor for the AT, sets up a foresight in Pennsylvania with help from members of the Potomac Appalachian Trail club on the hill above him. Credit: Nicole Wooten.

Mapping the Appalachian Trail

How the AT was created and surveyed, from Avery’s wheel to GPS The Appalachian Trail (AT) is very old, very long, and iconic. Completed in 1937, it stretches 2,189 miles through 14 states, 88 counties, 168 townships, eight national forests, six national parks, two national wildlife refuges, and more than 65 state game lands, wildlife...