Today, the origin story of the Appalachian Trail, which stretches more than 2,000 miles from Maine to Georgia. But it was a peak in southern Vermont that inspired the idea of the trail in the first place. 

Thanks to one of our favorite podcasts, Off the Path, for sharing this story with us. Here’s a link to the original web post.

For more stories from the trail, check out our episodes, “What’s it like to hike the Long Trail?” and “What’s the deal with Vermont’s fire towers?”

This episode was reported and produced by Davis Dunavin at WSHU Public Radio. The Brave Little State team is Josh Crane, Sabine Poux and Burgess Brown. Our Executive Producer is Angela Evancie. Theme music by Ty Gibbons; Other music by Blue Dot Sessions.

As always, our journalism is better when you’re a part of it:

Brave Little State is a production of Vermont Public and a proud member of the NPR Network.