The Big Springs Shelter was located between Mooney Gap and Wallace Gap in the Nantahala National Forest in North Carolina. A plank sided lean-to of the type favored by the U.S. Forest Service, the Big Springs Shelter was removed in 2013 and replaced by the Long Branch Shelter. The new shelter was built and is maintained by the Nantahala Hiking Club. (Location data on the Big Springs Shelter is approximate.)

In 1930, the Carolina Appalachian Trail Club  was organized for the purpose of completing the western North Carolina segment of the Appalachian Trail. Its home was in Asheville. In 1931, the group merged with the Carolina Mountain Club, an organization founded in 1923 and still active today. This map of the Appalachian Trail and the North Carolina section of the Great Smoky Mountains was created that same year. The map was one of many collected by Horace Kephart (1862-1931).

The Silers Bald Shelter, April 27, 1941. A master list of AT shelters published in the July 1939 edition of the Appalachian Trailway News describes this shelter as "authorized: plans or work being proceeded with." Thus, it was built between the summer of 1939 and the spring of 1941 when this image was taken by Albert Roth. Silers Bald Shelter is located on the North Carolina side of the Trail in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, just south of Clingman's Dome, and is maintained by the Smoky Mountains Hiking Club.

A group of hikers on the summit of Roan Mountain in North Carolina, May 6, 1934. The group includes, from left to right in front, Sonny Morris, Harvey Broome, and Albert Gordon "Dutch" Roth. From left to right in back, Benton MacKaye, Guy Frizzell, Mack, Fred Shelly, and Marshall Wilson. Roan Mountain is the high point of the Roan-Unaka Range of the Southern Appalachian Mountains and is the last point above 6,000 feet for northbound thru hikers.

Spence Field Trail Shelter; Appalachian Trail, North Carolina. Date unknown. Image taken by National Park Service, "Showing condition some people leave things in."

Icewater Spring shelter in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, crowded with sleeping bags and other hiker gear. Shelters, especially those in high traffic areas like the Smoky Mountains, Shenandoah National Park, and any location close to a road, often see substantial use by short and long distance hikers.