Best Section Multi-Day Hike
Appalachian Trail—Shenendoah National Park, Virginia
If you want to do the 2,184 Appalachian Trail but can’t take off work for the entire five or six months it takes to finish, pick up a multi-day section hike to satiate your appetite. In Virginia’s Shenandoah National Park—host to 101 miles of the AT—experienced hikers can move 27 miles in two nights/three days from the Compton Gap Boundary on Route #610 to Thornton Gap. Pick up the trailhead at Chester Gap and hike 0.5 miles up the Compton Gap Trail to reach the AT. Shuttle a car or make plans to have someone pick you up where you exit the Appalachian Trail at Thornton Gap on U.S. Highway 211. Word of caution: don’t get caught without a backcountry permit or the National Park Service will spank you with fines. Pick up a permit at the self-register station just off of the junction of Compton Trail Gap and the AT.
