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How Much Does It Cost To Hike the Appalachian Trail?
Living in the woods for five to seven months might sound inexpensive, but gear replacements, resupply, permits, and town days can add up fast. Saving up and budgeting (even if it’s a rough budget) is as much a part of preparing for the trail as physical and mental preparation. How much does it actually cost to thru-hike the Appalachian Trail?
As you prepare to thru-hike the Appalachian Trail, it is helpful to look at what previous years’ thru-hikers spent to get an idea of what you’re likely to spend. Thru-hikers have historically been advised to save $1,000 per month they expect to be on the trail, but does that advice hold water today?
Appalachian Trail Thru-Hike Cost: Historic Trends
In 2023 the average amount that thru-hikers who responded to our survey spent while hiking was $7,482, including an average of between $1,000 and $3,000 spent on gear. That’s just an average; plenty of respondents spent more (or less) than that, with $10,000 being the single most commonly reported total spend.
Thru-hikers in our survey took an average of 162 days (between 5 and 6 months) to complete the AT, suggesting that these days the rule of thumb should be closer to $1,400 per month.
Data from the 2023 Appalachian Trail Thru-Hiker Survey showing how much hikers spent.
In 2022 the median amount spent was $7,212 and the most common amount was $10,000.
2021 saw about half of the hikers who responded to the survey spending between $5,000 and $8,000. A notable nine respondents that year spent over $15,000.
Back in 2016, the first year we collected budget data as part of the survey, thru-hikers were spending on average between $4,000 and $6,000 total, so it does appear that the cost of thru-hiking has increased.
It’s good to remember that these dollar amounts are likely based on imprecise estimates, as most hikers do not keep meticulous track of their finances on the trail.
READ NEXT – Appalachian Trail Thru-Hiker Survey: All Years
How To Reduce the Cost of an Appalachian Trail Thru-Hike
Knowing and being aware of your budget is the key to not going over it on trail. Do you have the money to platinum blaze and get your own hotel room in every town? Or are you balling on a shoestring budget and doing every resupply at Dollar General? Regardless of what you can afford, there are a few obvious areas to target if you want to reduce your overall Appalachian Trail thru-hike cost.
Lodging
Lodging costs add up quickly: $45 for a bunk, $10 for a frozen pizza, and if everyone else is going to get Mexican food you are too. Suddenly your quick town trip ends up costing well over $100.
Hostels can be a low cost lodging option on an Appalachian Trail thru-hike. The bunk room at Boots Off Hostel in Hampton, TN (mm 428.7) offers privacy curtains, charging stations in the bunks, and reading lights.
One option is to simply spend less time in town. Take hero days (hike in, do all your town chores, hike out) or nero days (stay in town just one night and hike a few miles in or out the same day) instead of zero days. Paying for only one night in town for nero days or zero nights in town for hero days can be a big money saver.
When you do stay in town, consider booking the bunk room at a hostel as opposed to a private room. If you’re concerned about people snoring, most hostels offer earplugs. Hopefully though, you’re tired enough after hiking to sleep through just about anything. Sometimes you can camp outside hostels for a small fee, and some trail towns even offer thru-hikers free camping in designated areas.
If you’re getting a motel room, opt to share with other hikers but do not put them over capacity by sneaking hikers in. Many of the hotels along the trail offer hiker rates. This is a privilege and if they find that hikers are abusing that, they may remove the hiker rate. Don’t cost the hikers behind you so that you can save a few bucks.
Hotel gear explosions are inevitable, don’t make them worse by packing too many hikers in a room!
Some hostels offer the option to do a work-for-stay. For a few hours of (usually) manual labor, you get a bed for the night. The hostels that offer this will usually advertise it, but if you’re unsure, ask. The worst they can say is no, in which case it’s our job as hikers to then respect that answer.
Skip the Freeze Dried / Dehydrated Meals
Pre-made freeze dried meals are delicious and make cooking dinner at camp all that much easier, but they add up quickly. Mountain House meals start at $9.35 for their scrambled eggs with uncured bacon (350 cal) and go up to $11.50 for meals like their beef stew (420 cal).
Compare that to a packet of Maruchan ramen, which comes to 370 calories and costs $0.69 at Walgreens. Add in a chicken packet (Walmart brand is $1.58) and a scoop of peanut butter (190 calories and about $0.32 per serving) and you not only have a cheaper meal but a heartier one too.
Pre-made freeze dried meals are delicious but expensive getting creative with what you can make yourself is a great way to spend money.
Hitchhike
The trail walks through some towns directly, but most of them are off-trail, sometimes by several miles. This necessitates a ride into town of some sort. Shuttles are wonderful and often feel safer. You know who you’re contacting and can crowdsource information from other hikers in FarOut. But the cost of paid shuttles can add up quickly. When using shuttles, look for ones that charge by the car-load and split the cost with other hikers to save some money.
If shuttles are out of your budget, hitchhiking is an excellent money-saving option. Simply stick your thumb out, smile, and hope that someone takes pity on your stinky hiker self. Near many long trails, locals know that hikers need rides into town and will pick up hitchikers. If you’re getting a long ride into town, it’s polite to still offer your driver some gas money.
If the concept of hitchhiking terrifies you, try it in a group and read through Trek contributor Peg Leg’s hitchhiking advice for women for things you can do to make it safer for yourself.
Thumbs out and up! Hitchhiking near the trail is easier when you have a pack on.
Buy Used Gear
Multiple companies offer the ability to purchase used gear sold by them: REI Resupply, Patagonia Worn Wear, and Zpacks Bargain Bin all sell lightly used or damaged gear at a discount. These are great ways to score deals on gear that might not normally go on sale. Other resources include eBay, Facebook Marketplace, and your local thrift store.
Make sure to check the condition of what you’re buying closely and pay attention to the return policy. What’s worse than spending too much on gear is spending too much on gear only to discover that it is unusable or fits you wrong.
Ditch the Booze!
Even cheap alcohol isn’t cheap! Nights at the local bar on trail add up and cutting them out is a great way to save money. Drinking culture is prevalent on the AT and are often the go-to places to hang out in town. By limiting the number of drinks you have or skipping altogether, you’ll be saving money. As a bonus, you’ll save yourself from a hangover the next morning, making the hike out that much more enjoyable.
If you’re passionate about brews, six-packs from the grocery store will cost less than drinking at a bar or restaurant.
Four beers aren’t cheap, sticking to water or soft drinks while you’re out in town can be a big money saver.
Conclusion
A thru-hike isn’t necessarily a cheap vacation into the woods. Expenses from day-to-day life persist as new ones on trail pop up. Just as in day-to-day life, keeping track of your expenses will make it easier to stay on budget and have fun on the trail. Save where you can, spend where you want to, and have a little bit extra tucked away in the event of an emergency.
Featured image: Graphic design by Chris Helm.
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Comments 5
When looking at budgets for thru-hiking, equipment is a fixed cost spent before you ever start. The real cost of being on trail for 4-6 months is your burn rate of cash. How much donyou need in the bank on day 1 to make sure you have enough to finish.
From the vids and articles I have seen, many more hikers are taking many zeros and paying for rides to slackpack than in years before. Furthermore many new places of lodging have sprung up further driving up the cost of a thru hike. Back in the day, a visit to a town was a rarity. Now, being a thru hiker involves glamping.
You’re not paying rent or housing cost on the trail, so it can be cheaper than staying home if not working
One of big things that I didn’t budget for on my hike was all the regular life expenses. Like car insurance, health insurance, dental insurance, cell phone bill, Garmin bill, gym memberships, Netflix, etc. Those monthly expenses keep accumulating and can really add up over 6 months.
Total spend is a deceiving statistic in this context. What is actually needed is marginal cost, that is what you spend over and above your expenses if you stayed home. That will tell you what is really “costs” to hike the AT.
Food, for example, you’d eat that at home anyway and probably more of it. Working a M-F job, I’m probably spending $80 a week just picking up breakfast and lunch four times a week. Add in the cost of eating out 2-3 nights (maybe more), plus ordinary groceries and a low estimate of my monthly food bill is over $800. On trail, my food cost was actually much less, two resupplies per week at $40 each, plus 2-3 off trail meals, usually inexpensive fast food. So trail food expense is about half of what I’d spend at home and a pretty significant negative cost of $100 per week. So go ahead and eat out when you like and have a couple of beers, too.
Assuming you maintain your house or apartment, costs there are about the same on or off trail. I had family at home, so I wasn’t paying for lawn or pool maintenance and my utility costs were about the same. I did cut the cable though, saving $25 a week. I usually spend $50 a week on gas for my car, that goes to zero on trail. so does vehicle maintenance ($25 per week).
I had to buy all the gear for my 2023 hike, that ran about $2000. I wasn’t funds-limited, so I bought pretty much what I wanted, mostly new. The good news is for my 2024 LASH, equipment expense was minimal, less than $300. By the time I finish the AT in 2025, my total cost counting replacement gear, new stuff, etc. should be around $3,000. Most of that stuff will be pretty worn out by then and not suitable for future trips, so no point in amortizing that cost over multiple journeys.
Cost for two hostel/hotel stays per week (my average) can vary wildly, from zero (thank you, Church of the Mountain) to $100 and up. Sharing costs and planning ahead helps significantly, my cost on trail probably averaged $125 per week, adding in occasional laundry and showering expense. But, if I’m at home, odds are pretty good I’m doing some summer leisure traveling anyway, maybe a fishing trip with Dad ($800) and a few days at the beach ($800), so we can subtract out $65 a week over a 25 week hike.
You have travel cost to and from your starting and end points, for me that’s about $800. My cost is higher since I’ll be making multiple trips, but this is a for a thru-hike so we can neglect that. Shuttle cost on trail can be kept minimal by using free services provided by hostels, friendly locals or sharing with other hikers. I probably averaged $40 per week here.
Permit cost is minimal, less than $100 for the whole hike.
As a semi-retired consultant, I was already paying my own health and dental insurance, but the difference between a personal plan and one sponsored by my employers would have been about $400 per month.
The big expense? Lost wages. If you are forgoing 60K a year in wages by hiking, a five-month AT thru-hike represents a 25K opportunity cost, or 15K excluding payroll and income taxes. That’s far and away your most significant marginal expense. My consulting income was about 100K a year, so 25 weeks on the AT represents an opportunity cost of nearly 30K, excluding taxes.
So, marginal weekly cost to for a thru-hike is (for me):
Food ($100)
Home expense ($25)
Gas and car repair ($75)
Gear $120
Hostel/hotel $60
Start/finish travel $32
Shuttles $40
Permits $2
Lost wages $1,200
Comes out to $1,254 per week, vast majority of which is lost wages. The rest of the cost is pretty balanced, your total marginal thru-hike expense is only $1,350 over 25 weeks exclusive of wages, or less than $225 per month. I suspect even that is high, as on trail you are apt to have far fewer of those small daily incidental expenses than you would at home (Starbucks, haircuts, new clothes, trips to the movies, etc.). As others have noted, exercising even a minimum of frugality on trail can make the cost of a thru-hike cheaper than staying home.
Lost wages, unfortunately, are very significant for us non-retired people. So, you’ll need savings to cover your normal monthly home bills, plus a little extra ($200 or so per month) and you should be good to go.