Thru Hiking for Beginners: How to Get Started

Updated July 18, 2026•4 min read•RidgeSync team

Thru-hiking means hiking a long-distance trail end to end in one continuous trip, from a multi-week section of a few hundred miles up to the Appalachian Trail's roughly 2,190 miles or the Pacific Crest Trail's roughly 2,650 miles. Most beginners get there by starting smaller: a 3-7 day shakedown hike first, then a mileage progression, before committing months and $1,000-2,000 a month to a full trail.

You don't need to have backpacked for years to plan a thru-hike, but you do need a realistic on-ramp. Here's how to build one.

What thru-hiking actually is

A thru-hike is a single, continuous end-to-end hike of a long trail, as opposed to a section hike (one piece of a trail, done over one or multiple trips) or a series of shorter trips. The Appalachian Trail (about 2,190 miles, Georgia to Maine) and Pacific Crest Trail (about 2,650 miles, Mexico to Canada) are the two most attempted full thru-hikes in the US, typically taking 4-6 months to complete.

Long section hikes, doing a few hundred miles of a major trail over a few weeks, are a legitimate and popular way to experience thru-hiking culture and logistics (resupply, trail towns, daily mileage rhythm) without committing to a multi-month trip. Many first-time thru-hikers start here rather than jumping straight to a full trail.

Start with a shakedown hike

Before committing to weeks or months on trail, do a 3-7 day trip with the exact gear, pack weight, and daily mileage you're planning to use for real. This surfaces problems (gear that doesn't work, a pack that isn't comfortable, a base weight that's too heavy) while you can still fix them, instead of discovering them 200 miles in.

Treat it as a real test, not a fun weekend with different rules: sleep in your actual shelter, eat your actual planned food, and hike back-to-back days to see how your body holds up on day 2 and 3, not just day 1.

Build a mileage progression

Most successful thru-hikers don't start at their eventual cruising pace. A common progression looks like 8-12 miles a day for the first week or two, working up to 15-20+ mile days by weeks 3-4 as trail legs develop. Trying to hit big-mile days from day one is one of the most common causes of overuse injuries early on trail.

Elevation gain matters as much as raw mileage: a 15-mile day with 4,000 ft of climbing takes far longer and costs far more energy than 15 flat miles. Use a pace estimate like Naismith's rule (1 hour per 3 miles, plus 1 hour per 2,000 ft of gain) when planning early-trail days so your mileage targets match the terrain, not just a number on a map.

Understand resupply before you start

Resupply means restocking food at towns or mail drops along the trail, since you can't carry months of food at once. Most thru-hikers resupply every 3-5 days, either buying food in trail towns as they go or mailing themselves boxes ahead to remote stops.

Buying as you go is simpler and flexible if your pace changes; mail drops help in remote areas with limited stores or for specific dietary needs. Many hikers use a mix, buying in town when options are good and mailing boxes only where they aren't.

Budget and permits

A commonly cited budget for a full thru-hike is $1,000-2,000 per month, covering food, town stops, lodging breaks, gear replacement, and transportation, though it varies widely with hiking style and how often you take zero days in town. Add in upfront gear costs before you even start hiking if you're building a kit from scratch.

Major trails increasingly require permits: thru-hike-specific permits for entire trails, plus separate wilderness permits for national parks the trail passes through (several stretches on the PCT and AT cross park land with their own permit systems). Research permit requirements for your specific trail and year well before your start date, since some are lottery-based and fill months in advance.

Frequently asked questions