A booking made through these earns us a commission from Viator. The price is the same, and the commission had no bearing on what is recommended.
Trails & Rivers Editor
Beat: Hiking & Trails, Scenic Views, Appalachian Trail
Emmett section-hiked the Appalachian Trail through four states before he wrote about it and has guided on the lower Shenandoah. He covers Maryland Heights and the towpath, the footbridge corridor, and the rafting and tubing season. He reads a river gauge before a forecast, and he will tell you when a climb is beyond what a group can manage.
3 guides · 3 news posts
Last updatedEmmett's most recent update to this site was .
Long-form
Reported guides to Harpers Ferry, each with its own publication and last-updated date.
Guide
The colour reaches the ridge tops before it reaches the streets, the crowd arrives at eleven, and on the first weekend of November the last bus back moves ninety minutes earlier overnight.
9 min read
Guide
The town sits in a bowl with high ground on three sides. You are either on a level towpath or climbing a thousand feet, and there is very little in between. Choose accordingly.
9 min read
Guide
The overlook everyone photographs is a thousand feet above the town, with no water on the way up and a descent that is harder than the ascent. Know the numbers before you start.
9 min read
News desk
Shorter, dated pieces about what is changing in Harpers Ferry.
How this was written. News published under Emmett Coyle's byline was drafted by machine from primary sources — operator notices, government and municipal releases, published schedules — and every factual claim in it was matched to one of those sources before it published. A Harpers Ferry Guide editor can change or pull any of it. Our editorial standards.
Seasonal
A bright, warm day after heavy rain upstream is exactly when trips come off. The river here is fed by a long valley and it rises well after the sky has cleared.
Travel alert
People decide on this hill over lunch. The published numbers are 4.5 to 6.5 miles and up to 1,788 feet of gain, with nothing to drink anywhere on the route.
Seasonal
Northbound walkers reach the Conservancy headquarters through spring and early summer, are photographed, and have the picture numbered in the order they arrived.