">
The 2021 AT Thru-Hiker Survey is Here!
If you, or someone you know, attempted an Appalachian Trail thru-hike this year, you’ve come to the right place!
Each year, we poll the masses of AT hikers to learn the ins and outs of their on-trail experiences. We strive to better understand what worked and what didn’t to better educate future hikers in hopes of enabling as many people to fulfill their thru-hiking dreams as possible.
In the below survey, we are hoping to learn more about hiker demographics, when people started and where to expect crowds, LNT habits, hikers’ favorite and least favorite sections, individual hiking styles, their budgets, which resources were most (and least) helpful, favorite hostels, gear recommendations, water treatment practices, and more. This year, additionally, we are attempting to learn a bit about how COVID impacted people’s perception of the hiking experience.
Take the 2021 AT Thru-Hiker Survey Here
The survey will take approximately 20 minutes to complete. Results will be published right here on The Trek later this winter. If you’d like to be the first in line for when these posts drop, we encourage you to sign up for The Trek’s newsletter.
This website contains affiliate links, which means The Trek may receive a percentage of any product or service you purchase using the links in the articles or advertisements. The buyer pays the same price as they would otherwise, and your purchase helps to support The Trek's ongoing goal to serve you quality backpacking advice and information. Thanks for your support!
To learn more, please visit the About This Site page.
Comments 5
This survey is not very inclusive. Biological sex is more complicated than just someone’s chromosomes. A trans woman who has medically transitioned is biologically a female. Regardless, intersex people also exist and do not necessarily fall into either male or female.
I’m curious if you are required to be HIPAA compliant, due to the requesting and storing private health information. Seems you’re playing the role of a clearinghouse, and you don’t meet the HHS’s definition of an entity who is not required to follow HIPAA regulations. I think the penalty is $10,000 per incident. You may want to check into the legalities of what you are asking.
How do we get our hostel listed on the Survey? We have a great season and are looking forward to many more!