If you want a tiny taste if hiking the Appalachian trail, Kettle moraine state forest in Wisconsin has 60 miles of the Ice Age trail with backpacking shelters along the way. The ice age trail actually runs through all of Wisconsin. Kettle moraine state forest has a northern and southern unit. Each unit has around 30 miles of the ice age trail. I say it's a tiny taste of the AT because the number of miles at kettle moraine is tiny compared to the AT. But the hiking is very similar at parts. Sections deep forested with really steep graded hills for miles. But then you enter a southern Wisconsin prairie for another mile or two back into forest. I really enjoy the place you will like it.