Best-Of Surveys
Best Restaurants on the Pacific Crest Trail
Anyone who thru-hikes can probably regurgitate information about their favorite food locations along the trail. Thru-hikes are, in their purest essence, jaunts from town to town to eat food.
Top Backpacks of 2017: Results from the Annual Hiker Survey
In this installment of The Trek’s 2017 Hiker Survey, we cover backpacks and shake downs. We asked hikers about the frame type, capacity, brand, and model of their backpacks. In...
Top Tents and Hammocks of 2017: Results from the Annual Hiker Survey
For the fourth year, The Trek has surveyed long-distance hikers on the Appalachian Trail (AT) regarding the shelter systems they use - tents, hammocks, and more. Each year, we ask...
The Top Sleeping Bags and Quilts of 2017: Results from the Annual Hiker Survey
We surveyed 253 section and thru-hikers who were on the Appalachian Trail (AT) in 2017. We asked about the temperature, fill, brands, and models of the sleeping bags and hammock...
The 2017 Appalachian Trail Thru-Hiker Survey: General Hiker Stats
Each fall, The Trek conducts an in-depth survey of long-distance hikers on the Appalachian Trail (AT), this time surveying the class of 2017. We have several posts to come on...
Thru-Hiker’s Favorite Appalachian Trail Towns
Trail towns are a real richness for this particular trail. -Brian (Gadget) Lewis, NOBO 2010 Seeing a town coming up in the guidebook can make even the lousiest day on...
Favorite Sections on the Appalachian Trail
Hello again! It's time for our fourth and final installment of our series from the Most Difficult sections overlapped with these ones, and there were many more votes for favorite sections...
Best Restaurants on the Appalachian Trail
Thru-hikers will use trekking poles to smash open discarded cans of fruit cocktail without a second thought, so it goes without saying that one of the greatest joys a hiker experiences...
Thru-Hiker Favorites: The Essential Non-Essentials
Aside from the Big Three (and important things like shoes and socks), there are some items that just make a thru-hike more comfortable. We polled thru-hikers on the non-essential items that...
Least Favorite Sections on the Appalachian Trail
We were going to call this Worst Sections on the Appalachian Trail, but that didn't seem fair. These sections have their merits... those merits might just be harder to find...