Our goal for this website originated from our early trail experiences where we found that the vast majority of hikers in the southeast U.S. seem to be sucked on to the Appalachian Trail as if were some kind of backpacking black hole.  Although we had wonderful experiences on the A.T., we wanted to find trails where it didn’t seem like we were hiking down main street at rush hour and the terrain was more varied than ridge walking within the sometimes confining green of the tree canopy.

 

Once we ventured off the A.T., we found trails with these attributes in great abundance.  Unfortunately, information on these trails including length, degree of difficulty, trail conditions, points of interest, camping spots, shuttle services, natural history, and photos sometimes is hard to find, probably because the trails just aren’t used that much.  It may also be that many of these trails are jealously guarded by the few folks who actually use them and they don’t want anyone else to. They may be unhappy with our attempt to popularize their private Shangri Las.  To them we say “no worries!” We don’t think there are all that many people who want to experience places where trail maintenance may be poor or there is no trail at all, trail signs are lying on the ground or are non-existent, and the rescue team will not arrive until long after you’ve either solved your problem or been done in by it.        

 

Although guidebooks can be found that may have more trail details than we provide, our goal is to help someone interested in taking a trip on these trails know what it actually feels like to experience the terrain with all its wonders, difficulties, and hazards – and maybe to have a few laughs at our misadventures in the process.