Originally Posted by
tandempower
If you like hiking and camping, which could be arguably considered the ultimate car-free holiday for nature-lovers, it is not that easy to do car-free. The Florida Trail, for example, is a hiking trail that runs through Florida, but it can be quite difficult to find bus stops near trailheads. Hiking the Appalachian Trail is a dream of mine, but I don't think it's possible to get to the Springer Mountain trailhead without driving or taking an expensive private shuttle from a distant bus station or airport. Are there other good spots in the Southeast or further north on the east coast where you can arrive at a Greyhound station and spend a few days hiking and camping on a trail?
Knoxville to Harrisburg, PA stretch of AT is not too bad access wise. It will take some urban/exurban hiking not on the trail, but you can probably catch city busses to cut your hikes from the Greyhound stations to trail heads.
The shuttles can be worth it if you HAVE to do end to end, or just want to cut our a day or two of to/from trailhead hiking.