Stony Man: The Appalachian Trail

The blazes marking the trail will change several times, from white to blue to yellow.

Since you left the parking lot, you have been hiking along a section of the Appalachian Trail -- a 2,190 mile long jaunt that stretches from Georgia to Maine. If you're here in late spring you may see some hikers with large backpacks, hiking north on the Appalachian Trail at a brisk pace. These are "thru-hikers", people that attempt to hike the entire length of the trail in a single year. They each have unique stories. It generally takes 4-6 months to complete a thru-hike. Think about what it would be like to spend that amount of time, often alone, in the Wilderness.

Another building block of Stony Man, and the Park, is the recreation we experience here. The Appalachian Trail predates Shenandoah National Park, with it first being dreamt up by Benton MacKaye in 1925, and the trail being installed in what is now the National Park in 1931. The construction of Skyline Drive actually halted and altered the A.T. in several areas, causing it to be relocated further down the slope. While Benton MacKaye opposed the A.T. co-existing along a recreational highway, the president of the Potomac Appalachian Trail Club (PATC), Myron Avery, believed the roadway would expand access for more people to experience the beauty of the trail.

Many trails criss cross with the 101 miles of the Appalachian Trail in Shenandoah National Park. Not only are these sections of the A.T. notable for their unique marker, a capital letter A sitting atop a capital T (making a pine tree-like symbol), but the painted blazes along the trail are stark white. Notice, as you leave the Appalachian Trail, continuing straight on the Stony Man Trail, the white blazes change to blue. The colored blazes will vary three separate times: white marking the A.T., blue marking a standard hiking trail, and yellow marking a horse trail.