Before 1960, when MRATC was formed, the Roanoke AT Club had been trying to maintain the AT from their region south to Damascus, and the amount of trail to maintain was huge. In 1959, Dave Thomas approached the Appalachian Trail Conference to ask that a new trail club in Southwest VA be assigned a section of the AT to maintain. The new Mount Rogers Appalachian Trail Club, established in Damascus, was then given responsibility for 32 miles between Rte. 16 on the Iron Mtn. to Damascus, cutting the Roanoke Club’s trail responsibility down a bit. Currently, the club maintains 59.4 miles from the TN/VA state line north to the South Fork of the Holston River (Rte. 670, in Teas, near Sugar Grove, VA). 
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The most significant relocation to take place within the section of Trail maintained by the Mount Rogers Appalachian Trail Club since 1960, and involving club members in planning and carrying out the 30 mile relocation, occurred in 1972 when the trail was moved from the Iron Mountain to Mount Rogers and Whitetop to take advantage of high mountain views before turning north to cross the Iron Mountain ridge on the way to VA 16. Another shorter relocation in the 1990s then took the trail through Grayson Highlands State Park, leaving the first relocation at Rhododendron Gap and reconnecting on Pine Mountain.