Southern Terminus of Appalachian Trail To Move?

With the Pinhoti trail completed will the new southern terminus be in Alabama?

When the Appalachian Trail was first laid out in 1925, drafts included an extension to Birmingham that was never blazed. But volunteers in Alabama and Georgia have worked for more than two decades to pound out their own path that could eventually extend the Appalachian Trail to the foothills of Alabama.

The Pinhoti's boosters are under no false illusions that the winding path could immediately be adopted by the venerable Appalachian Trail. But they hope the trails - which chart a combined 266 miles through the two states - could lay the groundwork for some sort of expansion.

It might require an act of congress but the people of Alabama are undeterred.

The Birmingham Regional Chamber of Commerce is trying to build buzz among hikers that the Appalachian Trail's eventual expansion to Alabama is inevitable.

The plan could involve giving cash incentives to hikers who start the Appalachian Trail in Alabama. Then after five or 10 years, Alabama lawmakers could start lobbying for the change in earnest.