Janelle Wetzberger, of Gettysburg, takes in the new Appalachian Trail signs exhibit at the Appalachian Trail Museum in Pine Grove Furnace State Park, near Gardners.
More than 8,300 visitors, from 47 states and 18 other countries, toured the Appalachian Trail Museum at Pine Grove Furnace State Park, near Gardners, in its first year.
“We’ve had much bigger crowds than we expected,” said Larry Luxenberg, president of the all-volunteer Appalachian Trail Museum Society and founder of the museum.
“Our first year exceeded all expectations. It was open from June to September last year, and we are very pleased that it has become one of the top attractions in Cumberland County.”
Shireen Farr, director of tourism for the Cumberland Valley Visitors’ Bureau, agreed, “It’s huge. We’ve always been at the mid-point of the Appalachian Trail. Now the museum gives us an anchor.
“We’re getting international press coverage. For a brand new facility, based on volunteer sweat and labor, to get over 8,000 visitors in one year, that’s incredible.”
Cindy Adams Dunn, deputy secretary at the state Department of Conservation and Natural Resources, which operates the state parks, commented, “We are reaching more people because of this museum, because of the hearts, souls, hands, feet, blood, sweat and tears of the volunteers that are embodied by this museum.
“It helps us meet our goal of getting more people into the parks. More and more we’re doing our work through partnerships like this.”
She noted, “We’ve been seeing some really high visitation numbers in some of our parks. Some of that has been the economy, but some of it also has been special programs” like those sponsored by the museum.
Barb Delgado, manager of the Pine Grove Furnace General Store in the park, has seen those increasing numbers first-hand.
She credits the museum, the recently reopened Ironmasters Mansion hostel in the park and the many new events that park manager Jason Zimmerman has instituted at the park.
“The whole park is in a lot better shape,” she explained. “We’re seeing more campers, more trail people and more visitors. That really helps.”
Zimmerman noted that the museum has brought additional attention and attraction to the park, “bringing us more people who then find other things to enjoy in the park.”
The society is celebrating that successful first year this weekend with a three-day festival that began Friday evening with the first inductions into a new Appalachian Trail Hall of Fame.
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