Maryland on Stamps
Richard D. L. Fulton
Maryland’s Appalachian Trail: 2025
The United States Postal Service (USPS) issued a sheet of 15 “Forever” stamps, commemorating the Appalachian Trail, 14 of which represented the 14 states that the trail passes through, and a fifteenth stamp commemorating the “Green Tunnel” on February 28, 2025.
The 14 that are stated represent Maryland. Georgia, North Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia, West Virginia, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New York, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Vermont, New Hampshire, and Maine
. The “Green Tunnel” stamps had commemorated portions of the trail which traverse within dense forests.
The Maryland stamp features a view from Annapolis Rock, a popular hiking destination along the Appalachian Trail in southern Washington County. All the First Day of Issue covers were canceled on February 28, 2025, at the Dawsonville, Georgia, Post Office.
The first day of issue date was preceded by an “unveiling” (on the set of stamps), and dedication ceremony held by the Boonsboro Appalachian Trail Community Advisory Committee and Boonsboro Economic Development Commission on April 25 at the Washington Monument State Park, in Middletown, Maryland.
The Appalachian Trail
The Appalachian Trail extends nearly 2,200 miles, traversing through the Appalachian Mountains from Mount Katahdin, Maine, to Springer Mountain, Georgia.
The concept of creating an Appalachian Mountain trail system has been credited to Benton MacKaye, a well-known re-forester, planner and conservationist, who published an essay entitled, “An Appalachian Trail: A Project in Regional Planning” in the October 1921 edition of the Journal of the American Institute of Architects.
What MacKaye had initially envisioned was, according to The Trek (thetrek.com) “much more than a simple hiking trail.” He dreamed of a utopian ideal with small, self-owning community camps set up near the trail and supported by food and farm camps where people could come to reap the numerous benefits of mountain living.
In 1925, MacKaye’s vision began to become reality with the establishment of the Appalachian Trail Conference (which also led to the creation of the Appalachian Trail Conservancy [ATC]).
Little progress was made towards the development of the Appalachian Trail throughout the 1920s, but under the auspices of Washington lawyer, Myron Avery, who succeeded MacKaye as the leader of the ATC, the trail was completed from Maine to Georgia in 1937, according to The Trek.
The Maryland Section
Maryland’s portion of the Appalachian Trail consists of the circa 40 miles of the trail, and generally follows the ridgeline of South Mountain, in which itself is a northern extension of the Blue Ridge Mountains.
Proceeding north from the Blue Ridge Mountains, South Mountain merges with the Catoctin Mountain before continuing independently of the Catoctin Mountain into Pennsylvania.
Basically, the Maryland Appalachian Trail stretches from Pen Mar Park to (Harpers Ferry, Virginia) according to virginiatrailguide.com.
According to the Maryland Department of Natural Resources (DNR), the trek through Maryland along the Appalachian Trail is described as “fairly easy,” with only a “1,650-foot change in elevation” over its course (from the Potomac to High Point).
For those interested in “backpacking” the full length of the trail through Maryland, the DNR states that the trek of the entire length could take anywhere from four to five days, and that “trail shelters and backpackers’ campgrounds are spaced approximately a day’s hike apart.” MDNR also recommends a couple of one-day treks on their website (dnr.maryland.gov) for those who do not wish to walk the entire Maryland Appalachian Trail system:
Annapolis Rock Trail: The trail takes its access point off a parking lot located on Route 40, one quarter mile east of Greenbrier. From there, follow a blue-blazed trail to the white-blazed trail of the Appalachian Trail system and travel north on that trail. The DNR rates the 2.2-mile-long Annapolis Rock Trail as being moderately difficult.
Washington Monument Trail: The trail takes its access point off a parking lot located on Route 40, one-quarter mile east of Greenbrier. From there, follow a blue-blazed trail to the white-blazed trail of the Appalachian Trail system, and travel south on that trail. The DNR rates the three-mile-long Washington Monument Trail as being moderately difficult.
Maryland Appalachian Trail First Day of Issue Cover.
