'Historic' Appalachian Trail shelter comes to downtown Hot Springs

Johnny Casey, Asheville Citizen TimesTue, May 5, 2026 at 9:09 AM UTC

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HOT SPRINGS - The Appalachian Trail has long been a cultural touchstone of the town's identity, and that connection will only be strengthened as downtown now offers an Appalachian Trail shelter.

The Walnut Mountain Shelter, built in 1938 by the Civilian Conservation Corps, was transported from over the border in Del Rio, Tennessee, and sits less than 100 feet away from the trail at the Hot Springs Welcome Center on downtown's Bridge Street.

The shelter was disassembled in March 2025 and temporarily stored in Hot Springs until it was reassembled by a team of Carolina Mountain Club volunteers June 7, 2025.

According to the Appalachian Trail Conservancy, approximately 3 million people visit the A.T. every year, and more than 3,000 people attempt a thru-hike of the entire trail each year. The Appalachian Trail is a 2,190-mile marked hiking trail extending from Springer Mountain in Georgia to Mount Katahdin in Maine. Traversing 14 states and spanning scenic mountains, it is the world's longest hiking only footpath, according to the Appalachian Trail Conservancy, which has maintained the Trail since 1925.

Hot Springs, Carolina Mountain Club and Appalachian Trail Conservancy hosted a ribbon cutting ceremony May 1 to celebrate the town's receipt of the shelter in conjunction with Town and Trailfest.

Mayor Abby Norton said sleeping is not allowed in the shelter, and instead will serve as a "historic exhibit" for the town.

"We are excited to give visitors the opportunity to stand inside an authentic Appalachian Trail shelter and imagine what it may be like to spend a night out on the trail," said Stacey Geyer, the Hot Springs Welcome Center's administrator.

According to Tom Weaver, the trail facilities coordinator with Carolina Mountain Club, a nonprofit founded in 1923 that helps build and maintain the Appalachian Trail, the idea to bring a shelter to downtown Hot Springs goes back to 2017.

The transfer was funded in part by Appalachian Trail Conservancy grants for Tennessee and North Carolina, received through the specialty license plate program. While the idea started in 2017, it took some convincing of the U.S. Forest Service and the State Historic Preservation Offices in both states, Weaver said, but ultimately the team received permission in 2024 and began taking the shelter apart in March 2025.

Tom Weaver, trail facilities coordinator with Carolina Mountain Club, spoke to attendees at a May 1 ribbon cutting ceremony to celebrate the Walnut Mountain shelter moving to downtown Hot Springs on the Appalachian Trail.

Weaver also thanked Gentry Hardware for supplying all of the materials needed to take the shelter apart and put it back together.

The Carolina Mountain Club has committed to maintain the structure in perpetuity, so the town will not incur any costs for the upkeep.

The Walnut Mountain shelter sits at the Hot Springs Welcome Center at 106 Bridge St.

As far as Weaver knows, the Walnut Mountain shelter is likely the closest structure to a downtown area on the Appalachian Trail.

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Franklin Tate, Appalachian Trail Conservancy's Southern Region director, thanked the Carolina Mountain Club for its patience and "stalwart effort" it put into the vision of bringing the structure to Hot Springs.

"For a lot of people, this may be as close as they get to an AT shelter. They may be walking through town, and they may love the AT but for various reasons, they're not out there. They're never going to sleep in a structure," Tate said.

Pictured is Franklin Tate, the Appalachian Trail Conservancy's southern region director.

"To bring it to life for them here, with such a historic structure as this, is super important."

According to Weaver, the shelter is one of 129 built through 1939 by the Civilian Conservation Corps, and one of only 29 structures placed south of Pennsylvania. Along with nearby Deer Park in Madison County, and Spring Mountain in Greene County, Tennessee, they are three of the oldest shelters left standing. There are roughly 260 shelters along the Trail, according to the Appalachian Trail Conservancy. The Walnut Mountain shelter is one of just five structures that have been torn down and repurposed as permanent accessible displays.

From left, Appalachian Trail Conservancy's Franklin Tate, Hot Springs Mayor Abby Norton and Carolina Mountain Club's Tom Weaver gathered May 1 to celebrate a ribbon cutting ceremony for the town of Hot Springs' receipt of the Walnut Mountain shelter.

Tate said he spent some time May 1 at the former site of the Walnut Mountain shelter in Cocke County, Tennessee, and felt that the shelter being removed added to the tranquility and quiet remote feel along that portion of the Trail.

The new scenery is a win for Hot Springs, too, according to Mayor Abby Norton, who said her grandfather may have helped build the structure while working with the Civilian Conservation Corps in the 1930s.

Hot Springs Mayor Abby Norton speaks to attendees during a ribbon cutting ceremony May 1 to celebrate the town receiving the Walnut Mountain Appalachian Trail shelter as a "historic exhibit."

"This structure reflects the craftsmanship, resourcefulness and daily life of earlier generations, and represents an important chapter in the history of our mountain community," Norton said.

"The Walnut Mountain shelter will continue to serve the public as an educational and interpretive landmark, strengthening our connection to the past and preserving it for future generations."

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Johnny Casey is the Madison County communities reporter for The Citizen Times and The News-Record & Sentinel. He can be reached at 828-210-6074 or jcasey@citizentimes.com.

This article originally appeared on Asheville Citizen Times: Appalachian Trail shelter built by CCC moves to downtown Hot Springs

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