Appalachian Trail thru-hikers are forming life-long memories this season and, according to the latest data, leaving a big economic impact in Western North Carolina and towns across the Southeast.
A beloved part of western North Carolina’s ecosystem, the A.T. sees hiking and camping throughout most of the year, with local volunteers working to maintain the path. In the early spring, towns like Franklin get a financial boost from visiting hikers. Overall, visitor spending on outdoor recreation in the region nets around $5 billion in economic impact.
This year, over 2,000 hikers set out on the more than 2,000-mile thru-hike from Georgia to Maine. The first stop for many is Franklin, at mile 110.
Many hikers are in search of life-changing experiences on the A.T.
“This is definitely a reset on life,” said Tyler Liverman, from Wake Forest, N.C.
On the trail, he’s known as “Reset.” Liverman says that he recently decided not to work in his family’s contracting business. He’s taking his time on the Appalachian Trail to get healthy and plan his next steps.
“It's kind of like a pivotal point in life where I am still trying to figure out the purpose or what I want to do going forward in my life,” Liverman said.
His parents saw him off on this journey by hiking the first mile of the trail with him.
“It meant a lot like having my parents be there. They've been my support system my whole life,” Liverman said.
They plan to be at Mt. Katahdin in Maine when Liverman reaches the end of the trail.
“I'm not trying to look too far down the line, but essentially just left foot, right foot. Keep it real simple,” he told BPR in an interview this month in Franklin.
The “bubble” heads up the trail, hiking popularity continues to grow
Hikers head out on the trail in early spring in hopes of missing freezing temperatures in Georgia and hitting the end of the trail in Maine before winter sets in. The Appalachian Trail Conservancy (ATC) helps manage the trail and tracks the numbers of registered hikers on the trail.
“If you start too much earlier than March you have a very high probability of still hitting snow, especially in the Smokies,” said Monica Mogilewsky, Visitor Use Management Data Manager of the Appalachian Trail Conservancy.
Since late 2021, Mogilewsky has been working to better understand how many hikers use the trails.
Thru-hiking the A.T. has grown more popular over time, Mogilewsky said. The trail was especially busy in 2000, 2017 and 2022.
In 2022, at Amicalola Falls State Park in Georgia, the thru-hiker count was over 3,100. Last year, that number dipped to about 2,960, and so far in 2024 about 2,250 hikers started in Georgia.
High numbers on the trail aren’t always a good thing. Too many hikers isn’t sustainable, Mogilewsky said.
“2022 was a difficult year for the natural resources, a difficult year for the infrastructure, and I think everyone's a little relieved to see more normal numbers,” Mogilewsky said.
Mogilewsky explains that about 4,000 people attempt the thru-hike on the trail and start in other locations outside of Georgia. The ATC estimates that over 3 million people visit the trail each year.
ATC didn’t count hikers during the pandemic when the trail was closed. The ATC didn’t certify hikers in 2020 or 2021, including the hike of the oldest person to complete the A.T., 83-year-old Sunny Eberhart, whose trail name is Nimblewill Nomad. He completed the A.T. in 2021.
Around 25-30% of thru-hikers who start actually complete the whole trail, Mogilewsky said.
Appalachian Trail Community - Mile 110
Franklin was the first designated Appalachian Trail Community. The town embraces hikers to help them re-up on supplies and outdoor essentials.
Hikers often have to re-evaluate their packs as they learn in the first 100 miles what to do - and what not to do. Liverman says he hadn’t really hiked before this experience so he is still learning.
“You can watch 100 YouTube videos, but until you're actually out there in the elements … you kind of figure it out,” Liverman said.
Appalachian Trail hikers in Macon County provide an economic boost to the community each year, explains Franklin Town Manager Aime Owens. The town collects a 3% occupancy tax on all hotel stays and lodging sales.
“The economy tends to slow during January and February and the return of the A.T. hikers in March signals the outdoor season has begun,” Owens told BPR in an email.
“Occupancy taxes tend to trend upward and we see lots of friendly new faces in town staying overnight, eating at local establishments and purchasing supplies for their continuing journey.”
Last year in Franklin, occupancy tax revenue jumped up from less than $9,000 in February to almost $14,000 in March as hikers headed into town. This year, revenue increased from February to March but at a lower rate with a monthly gain of about $3,000.
For welcoming towns along the trail, the A.T. is an important source of revenue. For its users, the A.T. provides life-long memories. Best friends Alex Huezo and Benjamin Householder are from Knoxville, Tenn.
They’ve been adventure buddies for a long time. Householder will turn 30 on the trail.
“I have a lot of things I still want to do before I get bogged down with the normal routines of life and I just really appreciate the perspectives this offers you with kind of taking each day as it comes and for what it's worth,” Householder said.
Huezo, 31, says he is also hoping to learn life lessons on the trail.
“This is going to be momentum that I can use towards, hopefully, the rest of my life, and especially this important phase where I have to make the decision or it's going to be made for me if I sit stagnant,” Huezo said.
Hiking brings in big money to the region
At the beginning of 2024, a new survey targeted outdoor recreation participants across 25 Western North Carolina counties and the Qualla Boundary. It asked 1,786 respondents from Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee and Virginia what they do in the mountains.
The survey results reflect $4.9 billion in economic output – the equivalent of 48,000 full-time jobs created – and $197.5 million in county-level tax revenues across the region generated by outdoor recreation.
Most of the respondents said they spent time day-hiking in Buncombe or Watagua counties and stayed overnight.
The next top counties for visitors were Cherokee, Alleghany, Ashe, Avery, Henderson and Jackson.
“This unique data is valuable in helping individual counties better understand the economic contribution of their outdoor recreation infrastructure, and can be used to aid future decision making,” said Ashe Morgan, Center for Economic Research and Policy Analysis Director at Appalachian State University in a press release.
Made By Mountains Partnership started in 2021 as a regional partnership for the outdoor industry.
The impact of the outdoor recreation industry extends across the state of North Carolina. Outdoor recreation in North Carolina contributed over $11.8 billion to the state’s GDP in 2021, according to the U.S. Department of Commerce’s Bureau of Economic Analysis. The analysis found outdoor recreation generates over $28 billion annually in consumer spending across the state.
