Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
well be different, but the fundamental principles appertain across the spatial
and environmental variations. It is a tourism pursuit that is slower than the
normality experienced in everyday life (Morris, 2006).
Case study: The Appalachian Trail
The Appalachian Trail follows the crest of the Appalachian mountains
through 14 eastern US states (see Figure 6.1). It is 2175 miles (3500km) in
length, with numerous climbs and passing through several forests, a national
park, several state parks and nature reserves. The trail was the vision of
regional planner Ben Mackaye, who sought to establish a walking route from
Springer Mountain, Georgia to Mount Katahdin in central Maine for enjoy-
ment of the great outdoors. The vision was written up with extraordinary
clarity in a journal article three years after the First World War, at a time of
unrest and economic recession; the author had a vision that the trail would
represent far more than a recreational trail. It would help to enhance citizen-
ship, ward against mental illness and unease in the population, and encourage
rural settlement (Mackaye, 1921).
By the mid-1920s several progressive individuals and clubs (the most
important being the Appalachian Trail Conservancy) gathered to support
Mackaye in working towards delineating a route on the ground that could be
publicized to encourage use by the near urban populations. Thus, between
1922 and 1937, voluntary groups, the private sector (mainly landowners) and
the public sector developed a continuous waymarked route across 2000 miles
of wilderness and deep rural areas. Throughout the ensuing decades the vol-
untary sector and public sector have re-routed the trail to follow a line across
Katahdin
Springer Mountain
Figure 6.1
Location of the Appalachian Trail
