National Parks top interest of International Visitors

 

The National Travel and Tourism Office has released 12 market profile reports of overseas visitors for calendar year 2024 and prior years.  These profiles, based on the Survey of International Air Travelers (SIAT), detail the characteristics of overseas visitors engaged in the following activities: Air (Intra-USA), Visit American Indian Communities, Amusement-Theme Park, Business, Car Rental, Cultural Heritage, Fine Dining, Hotel-Motel, National Parks/Monuments, Package, Shopping, and Vacation.

2024 selected highlights include:

Top overseas source markets that visited U.S. National Parks/Monuments were the United Kingdom (1.8 million), Germany (1 million), France (901,000), Brazil (876,000), and Australia, (726,000).

Top U.S. cities visited by overseas Business Travelers were New York City (973,000), Los Angeles (664,000), Miami (444,000), San Francisco (312,000), and Chicago (271,000).

Of the 3.3 million overseas visitors who came to the United States on a package tour, 19.8 percent were from Japan, followed by the United Kingdom (16.7 percent), China (8.2 percent), India (6.5 percent), and South Korea (5.9 percent). 

Overseas visitation to Amusement-Theme Parks increased 16 percent from 2023 to 9.5 million, accounting for 27 percent of total overseas visitation to the United States in 2024.

Overseas visitors who experienced Fine Dining in the United States had an average household income of $104,361. 

27.5 percent (2.7 million) of overseas visitors who Rented Cars in the United States also took air-travel between U.S. cities during their trip.

Big Dreams for the Appalachian Trail

 I had big dreams for my AT hike.  Here are my expected post office drops.

Basically once a week to 10 days I would hit a town, to pick up mail, food, take a shower, wash clothes and be a sloth.  From my book, here are my town stops and costs.

Town	Name	Type	Cost
Wesser, NC	Nantahala Outdoor Center	Motel	$10 +/-
Hot Springs, NC	Henderson Court	Motel	$7
Elk Park NC	Trivett House	Rooming House	$5
Damascus, Va	Sportsman Motel	Motel	$7.28
Pearisburg, VA	Holy Family Church Father Charles Hospice	Hostel	Donation $6
Cloverdale, VA	Howard Johnson	Motel	$6.00
Waynesboro, VA	Holiday Inn	Motel	Under $10
MD to MA section hiking	No town stops
Williamstown, MA	Williams College Perry House	Dorm	Free
Hanover, NH	Dartmouth Frat AD house	Frat House	Free
Pinkham Notch, NH	AMC property		Free
Gorham, NH	Stinson’s	Rooming House	$3.15
Monson, ME	French’s	Rooming House	$7

I did a flip flop once I reached Maryland and then headed south from Katahdin.

After several zeros due to bad weather, and to repair my boots in Hanover, I continued south to US Route 20 in Massachusetts after I broke the frame of my backpack after slipping on wet leaves.  No fun.

Today, the "AT Attraction" is so great that hundreds of wanna-be hikers hit the Trail at Springer only to leave a few days later.  Most are ill prepared, out of shape, and stress light weight over comfort and safety to do a long distance backpack.

Most seek advice online instead of doing the field testing of gear and food to prepare for a long distance hike.

Wanna' hike the AT, do it.  You need to hike in the rain, heat, snow and drought to prepare for a long distance backpack.

Just do it.

Available on Amazon or the Museum.  But please support the AT Museum since All proceeds go to the Museum.

Source: Bristow, R. (2025).  The Real Appalachian Trail BC.  Published by the Appalachian Trail Museum.

AT 2,000 Miler Plaque from ATC

 I don't think the ATC does this anymore, especially given the thousands who hiked the trail after me.

Fifty years ago, Today, I became a 2,000 miler

 And this was at US Route 20 in Massachusetts at the end of what I called "Both Ends to the Middle."  Flip flop was not known in the 1970s and while I tried to do GA to ME, a late start in June made that a challenge.

My story from 1975.

On Thursday, June 12th, 1975, and I reached US Route 20, following many roads until I got to Goose Pond.  As fitting, it was rainy. I took my ceremonious photo of the AT sign at the highway, shortly after crossing the Mass Turnpike.  Like the previous October, no one would pick up a soaking wet backpacker.  I got my bus ticket and was encouraged to visit the town’s jail to change clothes in Lee and be more presentable for the long bus trip.  I had hiked the entire AT. 

Since this trip was before Cell Phones and Uber, I took a Greyhound Bus home to Maryland for $23.70!

Another bus trip took me to Maryland, and by that weekend I was to start a summer job at Camp Straus in Hancock Maryland.  I had started college the spring term at Harford Community College and I worked summers at Scout camps and then transferred to then Towson State University before becoming a Camp Ranger for another 4 years after a couple tours as a seasonal ranger for Maryland State Parks.  On an Outward Bound Winter trip on Mt Moosilauke in New Hampshire in the early 1980s I decided to return to college and would receive doctoral degree from Southern Illinois University at Carbondale in 1990. (Whew, enuff links ey?)

In 2025, I wrote about this trip in this book. 

Available on Amazon or the Museum.  But please support the AT Museum since All proceeds go to the Museum.

Source: Bristow, R. (2025).  The Real Appalachian Trail BC.  Published by the Appalachian Trail Museum.

Road Walking in Massachusetts 50 years ago, today 11 June 1975.

 Road walking was common on the AT in the early days.  RELOs (relocations) would force the trail out of the woods onto dirt (and sometimes paved) roads for miles in just about every state.  States with miles or road walking, besides those who cut thru a town, were Virginia (probably 60 miles), Pennsylvania (20 miles), New Jersey and New York (40 miles), Massachusetts (20 miles) and even Maine where Tote Roads were the Trail for decades.

Crossing Valleys, like this one in Massachusetts was done on a road. Here are some pics of the once AT before the National Park Service bought a protected corridor for our trail. Notice the white blazing on the telephone poles.

And here was the topo for this road.

The topo from 1973 showed the trail off the road, but that was not the case in 1975.

Later that day, in Beartown Mountain State Forest, more road walking on Brace Road.

Brace Road was the route into Tyringham, where I camped at the Community Pavillon with Les from NJ. 

Today, Fifty years ago, I camped at Jug End Spring, Massachusetts

 Today, Fifty years ago, I camped at Jug End Spring, Massachusetts

Leaving Connecticut, I saw two porcupines and took a picture of one, but too dark to really see.  It was a 20 mile day and I was thankful it didn't rain.

Some pics taken a few years ago of the remains of the Jug End Spring and Campsite:

Notice the old white blaze on this first shot.

Since it was near a dirt road, the AT, some local teenagers stopped by that night, but left me alone.  Normally you would not camp so near a road.

Circle 2 is the spring and circle 1 is a nearby farm foundation.  Both are protected State lands.

From this camp I was 29.1 miles from US 20 and the completion of my 2,000 mile hike.

Read more about the AT, fifty years ago in this book.

Source: Bristow, R. (2025).  The Real Appalachian Trail BC.  Appalachian Trail Museum.

All proceeds go to the Museum.

Appalachian Trails Corridor monitoring Pics

 Just some pics of the 
Appalachian Trail and Corridor Monitoring.

If you love the AT and want to help, consider volunteering to watch over the lands.

In Tyringham, Massachusetts.

I write a little about AT Volunteering in this book:

Source: Bristow, R. (2025).  The Real Appalachian Trail BC.  Appalachian Trail Museum.

All proceeds go to the Museum.

Fifty years ago, today ... 8 June 1975

 Fifty years ago, today, was a Sunday.

A 20 mile day from Macedonia Campground to Pine Knoll LT in Connecticut.

From my journal.  

"Met an 86 year old man (Ernie) who is hiking from Rockfish Gap to Maine. Very Nice."

Here is a copy of a letter from the ATC:

Also that day...

"Am camping with a couple (Tom and Karen) .... Tomorrow is an easy day - good -"

Read more about the trail from 50 years ago here:

Source: Bristow, R. (2025).  The Real Appalachian Trail BC.  Appalachian Trail Museum.

All proceeds go to the Museum.

Springer Mountain June 7, 1974

On June 6, 1974, I left Maryland to hike the AT.

Topo of approach trail, a good introduction to the next 2,000 miles.

Most 2,000 milers start in Georgia, and most will quit in Georgia.  While the AT is most often defined as Maine to Georgia, since Earl Schaffer thru-hiked the Trail back in 1948, the chance to walk with Spring has been the idea for decades.  In fact, his trail memoir is titled Walking with Spring (1981) and continues to inspire thru hikers today.  The idea to move north with the seasons has been chronicled in numerous accounts of the five million step journey.

I too hoped to walk with the (late) spring, skipping my high school graduation and hopping a bus south. After an overnight bus trip from Baltimore, Maryland (5:00 pm) to Washington DC (6:00 pm) to Greensboro, North Carolina (3:30 am) to Ashville, North Carolina (6:30 am). I arrived at the birthplace of the GATC, Dahlonega, Georgia (11:00 am).  I probably slept for 30 minutes during the bus trip. From Dahlonega, I phoned home to let my parents know that I survived the long bus trip as I waited for someone from the local church to give me a ride to Amicalola Falls State Park.  

The famous plaque is found on a rock outcrop south of the summit and makes for a great photo op for the visitors.  The plaque was modelled after Mr. Warner Hall in 1934, and several monuments were installed at Neel Gap, and Unicoi Gap in addition to the one on Springer.

Just north of the summit, the first lean-to, abbreviated LT from now on, using the AT lingo on the period, was open for one more hiker, me. 

A capture from the ATC Mileage Factsheet.  The check marks show my camp for the night and an underline means I slept in that LT.

Read more about the trail from 50 years ago here:

Source: Bristow, R. (2025).  The Real Appalachian Trail BC.  Appalachian Trail Museum.

All proceeds go to the Museum.

In March 2025, international visitor arrivals to the US decreased 8.1 percent from March 2024

 Tourism continues to drop as the US becomes the "do not come" destination for foreign tourists.

and the facts from 

I-94 Arrivals Program

International Arrivals to the United States

Total non-U.S. resident international visitor volume to the United States of 5,410,331, decreased 8.1 percent compared to March 2024 and represented 86.4 percent of the pre-COVID total visitor volume reported for March 2019.

Overseas visitor volume to the United States of 2,391,265 decreased 11.6 percent from March 2024.

The largest number of international visitor arrivals was from Canada (1,704,688), Mexico (1,314,378), the United Kingdom (283,561), Japan (164,846), and India (152,105). Combined, these top 5 source markets accounted for 66.9 percent of total international arrivals.

The top 5 overseas tourism arrivals for March were the United Kingdom (219,797), Japan (133,279), Brazil (123,915), Germany (105,473), and India (94,744).

The top 5 overseas business arrivals for March were the United Kingdom (60,951), India (42,546), Germany (31,509), Japan (28,876), and China (23,327).

The top 5 overseas student arrivals for March were China (22,651), India (14,815), South Korea (5,068), Brazil (3,660), and Taiwan (2,858).

Any surprise?