The Introduction to Ecotourism classes traveled to the Carolina Mountains and worked on one of this country's premier hiking destinations, the Appalachian Trail near the border of the Great Smokey Mountains National Park.

For the past five years, the Hocking College Ecotourism and Adventure Travel program has been working with the Smokey Mountain Hiking Club on maintaining part of the Appalachian Trail. This August, part of the work involved redirecting a portion of the trail away from an eroding edge of a mountain.

Each year, the class also learns first-hand about the amazing diversity in ecosystems of the Appalachian range, one of the world's oldest mountain chains. This area in southern North Carolina and extreme northern South Carolina and Georgia is one of the wettest in the Eastern United States, recording more than 100 inches of rain per year. This contributes to a wide variety of waterfalls, rugged terrain, and unique plant life. The area also has a plethora of national forests, state forests, America's most popular national park and many state parks and national wilderness areas.