Appalachian Trail

The Appalachian Trail runs through 14 states from Springer Mountain in Georgia to Katahdin in Maine. It is just under 2,200 miles, and the Appalachian Trail Conservancy updates the exact length every year as sections are rerouted. A thru-hike means the whole trail inside 12 months. Most take five to seven months, and about one in three hikers who try it finish. You can go northbound, southbound, or flip-flop. Most northbounders start at Springer in March or early April. The Conservancy suggests starting between April 15 and the first week of May, which avoids crowds and winter weather. ATCamp registration is voluntary, but its charts of earlier registrations help you spread out your start date. Snow can fall on any part of the trail through early April. Carry good winter gear beyond Mount Rogers in Virginia, a little over 500 miles from the start. Northbound hikers must reach Katahdin before Baxter State Park closes the trail to the summit in mid-October. Southbound starts with Katahdin and rugged Maine terrain, and Baxter opens it only when the alpine zone can take hikers, a date that varies from the end of May to the beginning of June. Starting in Maine in June means black flies, mud and hard stream crossings, so carry a headnet. The Conservancy does not register southbound thru-hikes before June 1, and the good-weather window for a southbound hike is only four to five months. If you want to start in May, the Conservancy suggests Harpers Ferry heading north instead. There is no trail-wide permit. You need one in three places. In Great Smoky Mountains National Park, hikers who start and finish at least 50 miles outside the park and walk only the A.T. inside it can get a thru-hiker permit on Recreation.gov, up to 30 days ahead. Each hiker needs their own permit, and you must carry a paper copy. You have 8 days and 7 nights to cross, and a town stop to rest or resupply does not end your thru-hiker standing. You must stay in shelters when there is room, tent beside a shelter only when it is full, give up your bunk to hikers with shelter reservations, and never stay two nights in a row at the same shelter. Shenandoah National Park requires a backcountry permit, bought in advance on Recreation.gov and not sold in the park. Mark yourself as an A.T. thru-hiker on it and you skip the nightly camping zones and get a 14-day window. Baxter State Park requires a free Long-Distance Hiker Permit, picked up in person at the Katahdin Stream Campground ranger station before you climb. Every A.T. hiker needs it, in either direction. Bring your real name, trail name and an emergency contact number. The permit is good for seven days. Baxter caps the permits it issues each year. Past the cap, you enter through the Togue Pond Gate like other visitors. Dogs are allowed on most of the trail, but not in the Smokies, not at the Trailside Museum and Wildlife Center in New York's Bear Mountain State Park, and not in Baxter. Millinocket has kennels that can board them. The terrain is mountainous the whole way. The Conservancy says the climbing and descending add up to Everest from sea level and back 16 times. Pennsylvania is rockiest on the long, flat ridges north of the Susquehanna. Above treeline in New Hampshire and Maine, cairns can replace blazes. In that rugged terrain, northbound daily miles can drop by as much as 30 percent. The Conservancy calls Mahoosuc Notch in Maine, a mile-long boulder canyon, the hardest mile of the trail. Katahdin's Hunt Trail is 5.2 miles from Katahdin Stream Campground to the summit, with over 4,000 feet of climbing, over 2 miles of it above treeline, with rock scrambles and rebar ladders. You can leave your pack with the rangers and borrow a day pack, and the Conservancy suggests two nights nearby, before and after the climb. Cold rain can cause hypothermia even above freezing. Lightning is dangerous on bald summits and open ridges. Maine has 21 unbridged stream crossings on the A.T., and crossings in New Hampshire and Maine can become impassable after storms, so wait or turn around. Do not wade the Kennebec River: dam releases change its depth suddenly, and two hikers have died fording it. The ferry is the official route. It runs from late May until the end of September, and you sign a release and wear a life jacket. Hunting is allowed on about 1,250 miles of the trail, and the season starts in September, so wear fluorescent orange that shows from every side. Ticks carry Lyme disease. Norovirus spreads fast in crowded shelters and hostels, and the Smokies see cases almost every year as the northbound crowd arrives. Wash with soap, because alcohol sanitizer may not stop it and filters do not remove viruses. Do not feed or pet the wild ponies in Grayson Highlands. Most shelters are near reliable water, but not all. Seasonal springs and creeks tend to dry up from late June through September, so carry extra if the next source is over 5 miles away. Do not rely on water caches, which may be empty. Baxter has no potable water, so treat everything there too. In cold weather, keep your filter close to your body so it does not freeze. Shelters and campsites are first come, first served everywhere except the Smokies. The Conservancy recommends a bear canister for the whole hike, because bears are defeating hangs. In Georgia, from March 1 to June 1, you must carry a bear canister to camp on the five miles between Jarrard Gap and Neel Gap in the Blood Mountain Wilderness. In the Smokies, food and other odorous items, canisters included, go on the bear cables at each shelter and campsite. In New Hampshire's Pemigewasset Wilderness, overnight campers must use an IGBC-certified hard-sided canister. The A.T. is on the wilderness boundary. Heading northbound, the south or east side of the trail is inside the wilderness and the north or west side is not. White Mountain National Forest lends canisters free at its ranger stations and visitor centers. It also bans camping and fires in the alpine zone, where trees are 8 feet or shorter, unless there are two feet of snow. On Pennsylvania's State Game Lands, thru-hikers must camp within 200 feet of the trail, at least 500 feet from springs, streams and access points, and only one night in a spot. In Vermont, where the A.T. shares the Long Trail's southern 100 miles, hikers stay off high trails in spring mud season, typically until Memorial Day. Resupply is by grocery stores, mailed boxes, or both. Almost every trail town has at least a small general store. Hikers usually mail a box to Fontana Dam, Harpers Ferry and Monson, Maine. The 100 Mile Wilderness between Monson and Abol Bridge has no public road crossings. Plan on 7 to 10 days, and novice southbounders should carry 10 days of food. Baxter has no stores, and you must pack out all your trash there. Neither end has amenities. Atlanta is 99 miles from Springer Mountain. The Gainesville station is 36 miles from Amicalola Falls State Park, with taxis but fewer shuttles. Book a private shuttle ahead. Taxis are not recommended on the rough Forest Service roads to Springer, which can be impassable to passenger cars in winter and spring. The Conservancy suggests starting at Amicalola Falls State Park instead. Metro-North stops at the trail near Pawling, New York, on weekends and holidays. To reach Katahdin, fly or bus to Bangor, then take Cyr Bus Lines to Medway. Millinocket is the closest town to the park, and its hiker lodgings often bundle rides. Carry a paper map: phones die, apps glitch, and getting a satellite signal out is hard in parts of the Smokies and Maine. The Conservancy does not recommend solar chargers. Closures and detours change often. Check the Conservancy's Trail Updates page before you go, and register on ATCamp for urgent alerts. Baxter advises finishing Katahdin before October 15. When you finish, you can report your hike to the Conservancy as a 2,000-miler.