The Brink Road Shelter in New Jersey, pictured here in 1937 during a weekend hike of the Philadelphia Trail Club and the New York section of the Green Mountain Club. The old shelter in this photograph has been replaced by a modern structure since 2010. The shelter is just north of the Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area.

Smith Gap Shelter (Pennsylvania) under construction in 1948. The was built by members of the Philadelphia Trail Club and was opened to hikers on June 12, 1949. The shelter was built on private land, but in the late 1960s the landowner decided to build a vacation home on the site and turned the shelter into a storage shed. At this time, the Delaware Valley Chapter of the AMC had taken over supervision of the Appalachian Trail in the area from the Philadelphia Trail Club, and Chapter members built a new shelter closer to the Trail in 1973. They dedicated the shelter to their long serving volunteer LeRoy Smith, who passed away shortly after the completion of the current structure.

The Applebee Cabin in Pennsylvania during a weekend hike by members of the Philadelphia Trail Club. The cabin was located on the Appalachian Trail north of what is now the Hertlein Campsite (formerly the Hertlein Cabin), but was removed in 1971 due to excessive vandalism of the structure. The cabin was built in 1930 by the Blue Mountain Eagle Climbing Club and was maintained by the club until its removal from the Trail.

The Crampton Gap Shelter is located near Frederick, Maryland and is one of the original log lean-tos built by the Civilian Conservation Corps in the 1939. It is maintained by the Potomac Appalachian Trail Club.

The Antietam Shelter, located in the Mont Alto (now MIchaux) State Forest (PA), was built by the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) in 1936. It is located on the banks of Little Antietam Creek. Maintained by the Potomac Appalachian Trail Club, this shelter is slated to be moved to a new location, possibly on the Tuscarora Trail, in the near future, due to its proximity to the popular Old Forge Picnic Grounds.

The privy at the Manassas Gap Shelter is built according to the original recommendations of the Appalachian Trail Conference in 1940. The shelter and its privy are maintained by the Potomac Appalachian Trail Club.

Official design specifications for an AT shelter privy, published by the Appalachian Trail Conference in 1940. This design remains the most common version of the shelter privy along the Trail.

Old Orchard Shelter, Appalachian Trail, Grayson Highlands State Park, August 17, 2014.

The Lula Tye Shelter, 1966. This shelter was built by the U.S. Forest Service in 1962 near the southern shore of Rock Pond in the Green Mountain National Forest. It is named for Lula Tye, who was the Corresponding Secretary of the Green Mountain Club from 1926-1955.

Bobblet's Gap Shelter, July 21, 2016. A typical light wood frame shelter was built by the U.S. Forest Service in 1961 and is named for a local farmer (Will Bobblet) who used to live nearby.

In 1938, the National Park Service published guidelines on the proper types of structures that should be built in the national parks. This booklet, authored by the architect Albert Good, was used by leaders of the Civilian Conservation Corps as guidance for the trail shelters they built along the Appalachian Trail during the 1930s. The description of the lean-to design reads, in part:

In New York State the Adirondack shelter is a tradition, a survival of the primitive shelter of the earliest woodsmen and hunters of this region. The end and rear walls are tightly built of logs, the front is open to the friendly warmth and light of the campfire. The roof slopes gently to the rear and sharply to the front to give a protective overhang.

The Adirondack shelter design was also used by the Appalachian Trail Conference in its guidance to member clubs in 1939 about the shelters they were building in the stretches of of the Trail they were responsible for.

Pit privy at Bobblet's Gap Shelter, July 21, 2016. This privy is one of the newer versions of the classic pit privy. It is larger, has a concrete floor, and is better ventilated.