Appalachian Trail Flip Flop Festival in Harpers Ferry, WV

Home Events Appalachian Trail Flip Flop Festival in Harpers Ferry, WV

Laurie Potteiger and The Wise Ones at the Appalachian Trail Conservancy's headquarters in Harpers Ferry, WV, deserve a lot of credit for promoting the idea of Appalachian Trail "Flip Flop" hikes. At the very least, it's a great excuse for the party known as

Remember when you thought the AT was America's Final Frontier of Wilderness & Solitude? Yeah. Things change. As of 4 PM on April 5, 2016, 1,321 hikers had signed their names in the Thru-Hiker Registry at Amicalola Falls State Park, home of the Approach Trail to the AT.

Instead of everyone hitting the Trail in Georgia all at once, smart hikers start at Harpers Ferry, WV -- near the halfway mark of the Trail -- and hike northbound to Katahdin in Maine or southbound to Springer Mountain. When they finish that section they have the option to Flip Flop and go SoBo from Baxter State Park back to Harpers Ferry, they can get off the train in Albany with seven strangers or they can go northward from Harpers Ferry to end the Trail in Maine.

Come meet Laurie, herds of hikers who will begin their Flip Flop hikes, and fun folk at the second annual Flip Flop Festival on Saturday and Sunday, April 16 and 17. Learn about Trail magic and etiquette, tap a toe to live music and stay to see the film "Trail Magic" at 7 p.m. -- the story of thru-hiking pioneer Grandma Gatewood.

"The Flip Flop Festival is a celebration of Harpers Ferry and Bolivar as a scenic and historic destination," said Laurie Potteiger, information services manager for the ATC. "We're also excited to promote Flip Flop thru-hiking, or an alternative way to hike the Appalachian Trail ... thru-hikers have found there are advantages to starting or ending somewhere in the middle, with Harpers Ferry an ideal location."

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