A 90-year journey: Appalachian Trail marks anniversary

October 05, 2013
Journal News, lohud.com

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A 90-year journey: Appalachian Trail marks anniversary

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[The Bear Mountain] section officially opened Oct. 7, 1923, according to “Harriman Trails: A Guide and History” by William J. Myles and Daniel Chazin. Since then, it has been the most traveled part of the trail, with more than 100,000 visitors tromping along it each year, the New York-New Jersey Trail Conference said. Three miles of it are being rerouted and rehabilitated, a project that began seven years ago and is expected to end in 2016.

“No one ever really imagined how popular hiking would become. So the trail wasn’t necessarily built with high usage in mind,” said Ama Koenigshof, a trail builder with the conference.