JäsenAppTrailMuseum(it, its)

The Research Library at the Appalachian Trail Museum was established shortly after the Museum itself. We aim to collect, organize, preserve, and make available for use any and all resources about the Appalachian Trail, other long distance trails, and trails and hiking in general.

Our non-circulating collection is strong in books, pamphlets, maps, shelter registers, newsletters, magazines (continuing resources), and multi-media. We are growing in digital resources, hiker journals, unpublished documents, and other types of resources.

We do not hold the archives of the Appalachian Trail Conservancy (ATC), a separate entity with deeply overlapping interests. Those archives are at George Mason University Library's Special Collections and Research Center https://scrc.gmu.edu/

The Appalachian Trail Museum serves the Appalachian Trail community by telling the stories of the founding, construction, preservation, maintenance, protection, and enjoyment of the Trail since its creation. The Museum collects, preserves, and interprets materials relevant to these subjects in an effort to portray not only the history of the Trail, but also the essence of the physical, intellectual, emotional, and spiritual human experience of the Appalachian environment and the culture of hiking.

Opened in June 2010, our Museum is located in Pennsylvania's Pine Grove Furnace State Park, near the midpoint of the Appalachian Trail, halfway between Maine and Georgia. The Museum is housed in a building that is itself a historical artifact: a stone grist mill more than 200 years old. It's across the road from the Pine Grove General Store, where thru-hikers traditionally stop to celebrate having hiked half the Trail by eating -- or trying to eat -- a half gallon of ice cream in one sitting.

The Appalachian Trail Museum is an active, positive advocate for the preservation and enjoyment of the Appalachian Trail. Through the presentation of museum exhibits, programs, audio-visual presentations, and publications, the staff and volunteers tell the exciting stories of the human experience of the Appalachian Trail since its founding in 1921. The museum actively collects artifacts and historical material related to these stories, cares for them in a professional manner, and provides access to researchers seeking information about the Trail. Trustees, staff, and volunteers seek to share their knowledge, but also their excitement and love for the Trail, their dedication to its preservation and maintenance, and their appreciation for the culture of hiking and the Appalachian Mountains environment.