Grandma Gatewood's Walk Audiobook By Ben Montgomery cover art

Grandma Gatewood's Walk

The Inspiring Story of the Woman Who Saved the Appalachian Trail

 Preview
LIMITED TIME OFFER

3 months free
Try for $0.00
Offer ends July 31, 2025 at 11:59PM PT.
Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
Premium Plus auto-renews for $14.95/mo after 3 months. Cancel anytime.

Grandma Gatewood's Walk

By: Ben Montgomery
Narrated by: Patrick Lawlor
Try for $0.00

$0.00/mo. after 3 months. Offer ends July 31, 2025 at 11:59PM PT. Cancel anytime.

Buy for $14.61

Buy for $14.61

Confirm purchase
Pay using card ending in
Switch payment method
By confirming your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions of Use, License, and Amazon's Privacy Notice. Taxes where applicable.
Cancel

Emma Gatewood told her family she was going on a walk and left her small Ohio hometown with a change of clothes and less than $200. The next anybody heard from her, this genteel, farm-reared, 67-year-old great-grandmother had walked 800 miles along the 2,050-mile Appalachian Trail. And in September 1955, atop Maine's Mount Katahdin, she sang the first verse of "America, the Beautiful" and proclaimed, "I said I'll do it, and I've done it." Grandma Gatewood, as the reporters called her, became the first woman to hike the entire Appalachian Trail alone, as well as the first person - man or woman - to walk it twice and three times. The public attention she brought to the little-known footpath was unprecedented. Her vocal criticism of the lousy, difficult stretches led to bolstered maintenance, and very likely saved the trail from extinction.

©2014 Ben Montgomery (P)2014 Tantor Adventure Travel Americas Conservation Environment Nature & Ecology North America Outdoors & Nature Science Sports History State & Local United States Women Hiking Adventure Inspiring Nonfiction Heartfelt Funny Witty

Critic reviews

"A quiet delight of a book." ( Kirkus)

Featured Article: The Best Hiking Audiobooks


Hiking is a time-honored way to appreciate and learn about nature while improving your physical and mental health. But even if you can't get out on the trail yourself at the moment, these hiking audiobooks will give you a greater appreciation for the sport. Hiking's broad appeal and long history have formed the basis of many compelling works of nonfiction. They run the gamut from intense stories of survival and perseverance to gentle explorations of the healing power of nature. Each of these hiking audiobooks is perfect whether you are out on a hike or sitting behind the wheel of a car.

Featured Article The Best Hiking Audiobooks
Inspiring Journey • Remarkable Resilience • Pleasant Voice • Historical Context • Captivating Biography • Great Pacing
Highly rated for:
All stars
Most relevant  
I loved Grandma Gatewood. She's quirky and ornery and stronger than maybe any other character I've ever known. She suffers gracefully and graciously, which of course makes her perfect for the Appalachian trial. I was inspired by her strength on many levels.
The story only gets four stars because I felt like Montgomery didn't completely do her justice. I felt like this story just scratched the surface of her and what she experienced. There was too much "filler" in the story about the politics of the time, and other topics that didn't belong in this story. I wished there was a lot more detail about her.
The narrator was perfect. Lawlor gives a lightness to the story that highlights the quirkiness of Grandma Gatewood and of the situations she gets herself in.

I've already recommended this book to several of my friends.

Inspiring story about a strong amazing woman

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
I enjoyed this more than I expected to. Quite interesting. Quite a woman. Worth your time. Take a chance on it.

An interesting story.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Despite being interested in the AT for years, I'd only peripherally heard about Grandma Gatewood so it was great to hear more of her backstory. The details of her hike were necessarily scant - she's dead, so couldn't be interviewed directly, and her notebook didn't contain the kind of day-to-day minutia that some people were looking for. I thought the author did a good job of piecing together the details of her hike as well as he could. He obviously did a lot of research and interviewed a lot of people in preparation to write. The story does jump around in time a bit and while I think there could have been better roadmarks from time to time, I didn't really have trouble following. My only real complaint is that he seems to have put in everything he came across. It's not a terribly long book - maybe he was trying to flesh it out. I enjoyed hearing a poem she wrote, for instance, but by the time we were hearing the 3rd or 4th of her poems (unrelated to the AT), I was over them. Unlike many of the reviewers, I enjoyed hearing some of the history of the trail. I don't think that part was over-done. But I could have done without hearing the story of the author's re-tracing her last climb and how his wife twisted her ankle and had to change footwear - that seemed totally superfluous to the story. In sum, it was an enjoyable listen, but I listened at increased playback speed and won't be reading it again.

Inspiring woman, book could have used some editing

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Loved it. Didn't want it to end. Inspired and excited to walk her trail soon.

inspiring,intriguing and captavating.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Loved it. what a gentle giant
Inspiration for all
Brave and spiritual. Good for her

Gentle Giant

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
loved it! such an inspiring woman and exciting story. The narrator did a great job too

LOVE!

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
I am a walker. I am a hiker. I am a woman. I am 68 years old. So you can only imagine how this book took a hold of me and held my interest and leaves me longing to hike the Appalachian Trail myself! 💓

INSPIRATIONAL!

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
I ordered this book in the hopes it would be a motivator for walking, and it certainly filled the bill. As a recently retired 70 year old, I found my excuses and aches and pains pretty flimsy after hearing about Grandma Gatewood's 10 mile days with a painful knee. She was truly an inspiration!

I'm inspired!

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Simply and Beautifully written story of a woman who became an American hiking icon and advocate. A truly inspiring story of perseverance and making a difference despite society's expectations.

Simple story of a woman who wanted to go for a walk

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Lovely and fascinating subject mater, interesting account, at times the narrative writing style a bit awkward and stumbles on the journey. The reader was pleasant to listen to. Worth it -I came away inspired.

Overall worth the read

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
See more reviews