This is the official guide to the 236 miles of the Appalachian Trail from its southern terminus on Springer Mountain in Georgia (about an hour north of Atlanta) to the eastern boundary of Great Smoky Mountains National Park on the North Carolina-Tennessee border. The route traverses the Chattahoochee-Oconee and Nantahala national forests, as well as the park, and includes the most rugged sections of the legendary footpath south of New Hampshire and Maine.This guidebook comes with four five-color topographic maps printed on two sheets of waterproof, tear-resistant material, for the areas south of the park and National Geographic Maps' five-color topographic map of the park, with its side trails. All the maps have scales of about one inch to one mile.The book includes detailed trail descriptions as well as information on overnight sites, water sources, natural and cultural history of the areas, and directions to trailheads. Packaged in an exclusive, Kraft display box designed for shelves, with consumer information on the back.