Appalachian Trail Shelters Face Removal and Replacement

The Appalachian Trail Conservancy (ATC) is systematically removing some of the trail's iconic shelters and replacing them with tent pads to mitigate environmental damage. This strategy follows a successful pilot program at Georgia's heavily impacted Hawk Mountain Shelter, where interventions shrank a four-acre impact zone to a quarter-acre.

Morgan Sommerville, the ATC's director of visitor use management, says the traditional shelter system is antiquated. Most of the over 250 shelters were built before modern sustainability practices were understood, often placed on flat ground near water. "They were a necessity 100 years ago when lightweight hiking gear didn't exist," Sommerville says. Today, soaring usage has led to denuded forests and eroded soil around many shelters.

The Hawk Mountain Pilot Project

Hawk Mountain Shelter, eight miles from the trail's southern terminus, became a test case. During peak season, over 100 hikers would converge daily at a shelter built for twelve, trampling the surrounding forest. Beginning in 2016, a team led by Sommerville and recreation ecologist Jeff Marion implemented changes. They cordoned off damaged woodlands, spaced out thru-hiker start times via an online system, and installed bear boxes.

The most significant innovation was carving 30 tent pads into slopes with grades of at least 15 percent along a half-mile trail section. "Jeff pointed out that high use doesn't automatically result in high damage," says Sommerville. The pads provided a better, guided alternative to the thousands of unofficial stealth campsites hikers create. The rehabilitation over four years was startling, with the understory surging back to life.

A Trail-Wide Shift in Strategy

The ATC's approach has since expanded. At photogenic McAfee Knob, which sees about 60,000 visitors yearly, crews installed a dozen dispersed camping pads near the Catawba Mountain Shelter. The strategy for aging shelters has also shifted. The ATC and Forest Service now opt to remove decaying structures rather than repair them.

The iconic red barn at Overmountain Shelter in the Roan Highlands was torn down in 2023, a decision that drew considerable opposition from some in the community. The cinderblock Cherry Gap Shelter, damaged by Hurricane Helene and widely disliked, was removed and will be replaced in a more sustainable location. Sommerville insists these changes are necessary to protect the landscape, though he clarifies the ATC does not envision a future with no shelters. Historic or sustainably-built examples will remain.

Data-Driven Future Management

To guide future efforts, the ATC recently commissioned a survey of every campsite on the trail. Three teams of thru-hiker alumni each covered roughly 730 miles, tallying sites and measuring impact areas. Sommerville's team will pair this data with a 2025 usage study that used anonymous cell phone data and satellite imagery to estimate real-time visits.

Now we know exactly where hikers are choosing to camp and in what numbers, Sommerville says. This information will allow for need-based interventions. The process will take time, but hikers can expect to see more tent pads and fewer shelters in the future, a change Sommerville believes will redefine the AT experience for the next century.