Benton MacKaye Trail
The Benton MacKaye Trail is a 287 mile trail that begins 0.2 miles north of Springer Mountain. The BMT is the southern AT as originally envisioned by the created of the AT, Benton MacKaye. Although the official start of the BMT is .2 miles north of Springer Mountain, I consider Springer Mountain the unofficial "official" start of the BMT.
The BMT is a far less traveled trail which is precisely its appeal. I have heard of thru hikers saying they went days without seeing another hiker on the BMT. You are alone when hiking the BMT. It is a lot different from its big brother, the AT, which at times could feel like it is swarming with people.
The BMT trail shares a start with the AT just north of Springer Mountain and crosses the AT at several locations. The BMT also crosses other trails such as the Pinhoti Trail. Therefore, a hiker could make a large AT-BMT loop hike starting at Springer Mountain and taking the AT to Davenport Gap and then joining the BMT back south to Springer for a 500+ mile loop hike.
Unlike the AT, which can be considered one continuous trail from Georgia to Maine, the BMT is composed of a series of other trails making navigating the BMT much, much more difficult than the AT. At some locations due to regulations there are no blazes for many, many miles. A hiker of the BMT, therefore, actually needs to be able to use a map and a campus. These are two skills that while great to have would likely never come into play on the AT.
Since the BMT is far less traveled, there is less support for hikers on this trail. Hikers should take great precautions while planning hikes or a thru hike of the BMT for this reason.
Like the AT, the BMT is often divided into states: The Georgia Benton MacKaye Trail and the North Carolina-Tennessee Benton MacKaye Trail.
The Georgia BMT is 81.1 miles and the NC/TN BMT is 205.7 miles.
Finally, where blazed, the BMT is blazed with a white diamond. The Georgia BMT is largely well blazed and easy to follow.
The BMT is a far less traveled trail which is precisely its appeal. I have heard of thru hikers saying they went days without seeing another hiker on the BMT. You are alone when hiking the BMT. It is a lot different from its big brother, the AT, which at times could feel like it is swarming with people.
The BMT trail shares a start with the AT just north of Springer Mountain and crosses the AT at several locations. The BMT also crosses other trails such as the Pinhoti Trail. Therefore, a hiker could make a large AT-BMT loop hike starting at Springer Mountain and taking the AT to Davenport Gap and then joining the BMT back south to Springer for a 500+ mile loop hike.
Unlike the AT, which can be considered one continuous trail from Georgia to Maine, the BMT is composed of a series of other trails making navigating the BMT much, much more difficult than the AT. At some locations due to regulations there are no blazes for many, many miles. A hiker of the BMT, therefore, actually needs to be able to use a map and a campus. These are two skills that while great to have would likely never come into play on the AT.
Since the BMT is far less traveled, there is less support for hikers on this trail. Hikers should take great precautions while planning hikes or a thru hike of the BMT for this reason.
Like the AT, the BMT is often divided into states: The Georgia Benton MacKaye Trail and the North Carolina-Tennessee Benton MacKaye Trail.
The Georgia BMT is 81.1 miles and the NC/TN BMT is 205.7 miles.
Finally, where blazed, the BMT is blazed with a white diamond. The Georgia BMT is largely well blazed and easy to follow.