One Year After Hurricane Helene: The Massive Effort To Rebuild The Appalachian Trail

Recovery work on a portion of the Appalachian Trail/Appalachian Trail Conservancy

More than 680 volunteers, including some from as far away as Japan, descended on the Appalachian Trail in the past year to help recover a landscape forever scarred by Hurricane Helene. 

The storm in September 2024 shut down 431 miles of the A.T. Trees were snapped in half or completely uprooted, piled in what looked like a bizarre game of pickup sticks. Landslides and flooding tore away trails and treadway. Bridges and crossovers were gone.

It was — and still is — a disaster of historic proportions. But it’s also a story of resiliency of the land and the people who are stewards of it.

"Day after day after day, in the snow, literally like working for the post office, come rain, snow, it didn't matter," said Joe Morris with the Tennessee Eastman Hiking and Canoeing Club. "We were there, because we wanted to get it at least open enough to where the thru-hiking season in the spring could take place." 

In all, volunteers put in more than 19,000 hours, according to a report from the Appalachian Trail Conservancy released on Helene's one-year anniversary.

Nearly all of the trail was cleared within five months, save for some temporary detours.

The Wrath Of Helene

The Appalachian National Scenic Trail runs 2,200 miles from Springer Mountain, Georgia, to Katahdin, Maine. More than a third of it was damaged by Helene. The A.T. is unique in that most of it is on federal land but day-to-day upkeep relies on volunteer hiking clubs like Tennessee Eastman and is coordinated by the nonprofit Appalachian Trail Conservancy.

Helene made landfall in Florida as a Category 4 hurricane, then roared across the Southeast. The storm dumped up to 30 inches of rain in some areas and killed at least 250 people, making it the deadliest hurricane to hit the mainland United States since Katrina, according to the National Hurricane Center.

Areas along the North Carolina and Tennessee border were among the most devastated. 

The National Park Service, U.S. Forest Service and others conducted initial assessments along the trail. The clubs went to work as soon as they were allowed in, with the Appalachian Trail Conservancy helping lead the way. 

“You know, I'm a grown man, but I might have shed a tear or two, if I’m being honest about it,” Morris recalled of his first post-Helene glimpse of the trail. 

The conservancy paid professional saw crews who logged more than 4,400 hours clearing the more complex tangles of trees blocking the trail, and together with partners and clubs advocated for $22 million in federal funding.

Still, the work was nearly overwhelming. 

"I would say November, December, January, February, and into March the clubs were out there multiple days a week, running chainsaws, cutting into these clusters of blowdowns," said Franklin Tate, southern associate regional director for the conservancy.

Tate and Morris both talked to the Traveler for a podcast episode released Sunday. 

Massive root balls and deep holes remained where trees toppled over. That in turn destroyed portions of the treadway, which is the main walking path. 

"It's a very difficult repair scenario," Tate said.

"What you're left with is a crater of varying depths. Sometimes a maintainer can go into that crater, and you can only see the top of their helmet. And the root wad itself might be 15 feet tall."

'A Labor of Love'

Tennessee Eastman oversees 134 miles of the A.T. from Spivey Gap, North Carolina, to the Tennessee/Virginia border. The club, one of 13 directly involved in Helene recovery, punched through 2,500 fallen trees and gained more than 100 new volunteers. They came from Texas and Ohio and Massachusetts and Vermont. Some were thru-hikers. Some were on vacation. Some just showed up to help. 

Morris, who has been a trail volunteer for 13 years, said the allure of the A.T. has always attracted people who want to give back to the land.

"It's basically a labor of love," he said. 

Iron Mountain Gap, a 5-mile section of the trail that falls under Tennessee Eastman's maintenance duties, was so badly damaged that it remained the only section of the A.T. still closed on Helene's one-year anniversary. 

What's Next For The Appalachian Trail

Detours still remain along the A.T., but Tate said the trail's caretakers want to restore as much of its original treadway as possible. A ferry is still being used to transport hikers where a bridge was washed out on the Nolichucky River, and the massive root balls remain a major challenge along portions of the trail in North Carolina and Tennessee, especially in areas far from roadways.

"There's only so much machinery and only so much technical assistance you can get for a root wad that's 5 miles from the pavement," Tate said. "So that's kind of our next phase of work."

Tate and Morris were recently out on the trail with a crew and some of the conservancy's staff.

"We winched one of those root wads down the hill, and I've got to tell you, that felt so good, you know, just to see that thing move out of the trail, and within an hour, we had the tread back where it had been. So it's very satisfying work, but it can be very slow."

The storm also left areas along the trail more exposed to flooding and landslides, and the impacts of climate change. The damaged landscape is also more susceptible to non-native plants and invasive species. The conservancy's report notes that challenges face the trail for decades to come.

'Please Come Back'

Volunteer crews conduct regular maintenance and repairs on all sections of the Appalachian Trail. The conservancy keeps a list of clubs and contact information for anyone who wants to volunteer or offer help.

The conservancy, celebrating its 100th year, has several ways people can help fund its efforts for both Helene recovery and long-term sustainability of the trail.

The people and communities along the trail are still in need, too. Morris estimated trail use is down about 30% in Tennessee Eastman's area. In turn that means the shuttle drivers, hostels, coffee shops, gear stores and other services in the region's small towns are losing money. But both Morris and Tate said there's no reason for people to stay away.

"We've done that much incredible work to where you're not going to be hampered trying to navigate this section," Morris said. "Please come back, because these people need your business, and they also need that energy from that community."