Hot Springs enjoys its location along the 'AT'

Walking down the main street of downtown Hot Springs, you can recognize an Appalachian Trail through-hiker in an instant.

In a town of only 639, the some 2,000 through-hikers who trudge through the picturesque downtown each year are as visible as the white trail blazes on the trail itself — a 2,175-mile route from Springer Mountain, Ga., to Mount Katahdin, Maine. ...

And this weekend, Hot Springs — the first and only trail town in North Carolina on the northbound route — will host Trailfest to celebrate their arrival and the trail that helps serves as the river of life for the small community.

For more on this article, visit the Asheville Citizen-Times.