This September, Jessica "Stitches" Guo finished thru-hiking the Continental Divide and Great Divide Trails in one five-month push, a deep-backcountry journey that saw her spend weeks without seeing a single other person. But with tens of thousands of people following her daily videos, it was a shared experience.

Harrod hiked an average of 41 miles per day for nearly two months to break the 10-year-old record.

These three hikers achieved their long-trail dreams later in life. Here's how you can, too.

On a journey up the Appalachian Trail, Maggie Slepian learned just how hard it can be to weather other people's judgement—and how difficult it is to stop worrying about it.

Since a massive storm ravaged the AT in September 2024, hikers have worried the iconic trail may be unusable in 2025. To find out, we sent a veteran thru-hiker to do its worst-hit miles.

From bold new long trails to incredible physical feats to the people who make our hikes possible, these are some of the best stories ever to come out of the world's longest trails.

"From this trip, I thought, self-reliance might grow. If it did, exploring would not be far behind."

Whether you’re about to begin your first thru-hike or finish your tenth, these are the questions strangers will ask you. And these are some of the ways we’ve fantasized about answering them.

Most thru-hike attempts end short of the finish line. If that’s you, deciding what to do next is a tough question.

When Vanderloop set out to thru-hike the AT, she had no idea she was on her way to becoming the oldest woman on record to complete the feat.

From showering less to sleeping on the floor, thru-hikers confess to the unusual habits they brought home from the trail.

Kindly trail angels often provide free food for thru-hikers. Who’s allowed to indulge?

For a handful of lucky students in Emory and Henry College's Semester-a-Trail program, the Appalachian Trail is the ultimate teacher.

At 6,800 miles counting both its northern and southern branches, the coast-to-coast American Discovery Trail is one of the longest paths in the United States, and thru-hikes of it are rare. With less than 50 miles to go, Briana “Rocky Mountain High” DeSanctis is poised to become the fourth person—and first woman—to complete both routes.

In 2023, Sam “Shade” Carter tried to hike the Calendar Year Triple Crown with a $19 Amazon daypack, an emergency bivvy, and no tent, sleeping bag, or sleeping pad. Is that too ultralight?

Billy "Wahoo" Meredith had one thru-hike and exactly zero FKTs under his belt when he decided to try to finish the Appalachian, Pacific Crest, and Continental Divide Trails in record time. The next 234 days and 7,500 miles would test him in more ways than one.

From a globetrotting adventure on the International Appalachian Trail to a family hike of the Triple Crown, our most popular long trail stories of the year were a look at just how big a backpacking trip can be.

Doyle set a speed record on the AT 50 years ago, long before YouTubers and partying twentysomethings had flooded the iconic trail. Through his Appalachian Trail Institute, which he's run since 1989, he’s still trying to convert a new generation of thru-hikers to his personal philosophy of what the trail should be.

FKTs are dropping like flies. But the strategy for making miles might be impacting hikers' health.

Kristian Morgan set a new southbound FKT on the Appalachian Trail, but he’s not done yet

For most AT thru-hikers, Katahdin is the finish line. For Will French, it was the halfway point on a 25-year, 4,320-mile journey along the prehistoric spine of the Appalachians.

The rise of social media has created a new breed of influencers who tackle the world's longest trails with their audiences in tow. But success isn't guaranteed on a thru-hike—and bailing with thousands of eyes on you is more complicated than it looks.

Our Pacific Crest Trail correspondent has finally reached the northern terminus. Here are his final thoughts from his time on the trail.

A deep snowpack in the Sierra disrupted normal trail dynamics for groups of hikers, but flip-floppers are reuniting as their paths converge.

Chips, candy bars, ramen bombs: A lot of what thru-hikers eat on the trail is far from good for you. But some nutrition-minded backpackers are trying to buck the trend.

So you want to help thru-hikers? There are a lot of great ways to do it. Veteran hiker Liz "Snorkel" Thomas talks you through them.

“The world and how it interacts with me changed the day I came out as trans”

What happens when you feed 2,000 actual hikers' trail names into a neural network? We'll let you see for yourself.

Benton MacKaye's original proposal for the Appalachian Trail came out 100 years ago. While the trail may have changed, the appeal hasn't.

I tallied the waste I created for a month of my thru-hike. It was embarrassing. Now I know how to begin fixing it.

Electronics can make our hikes easier and more safe. But we may have gone too far.

Plot out a long hike too much, and it starts to feel like work. But there’s a better way.

Patricia Cameron set out to hike the 486-mile Colorado Trail to raise awareness for her nonprofit. She ended up finding out even more about her personal strengths.

Some hikers prepare for years to thru-hike the AT. Others do it on a whim.

What does hiking 800 miles in less than two weeks do to your body? Ultrarunner and FKT holder Joe McConaughy hit the Arizona Trail to find out.

Thomas has thru-hiked more than 20 long trails, including the Pacific Crest, Continental Divide and Appalachian Trails (the Triple Crown). On top of that, she set a fastest known time on the AT for an unsupported woman and has completed dozens of urban thru-hikes as well. Now, she's joining Backpacker as a contributing editor. Here’s some of Thomas’s best advice and insight fed by more than 20,000 trail miles.

Nearly a year into the Covid-19 pandemic, many of us are ready to say goodbye to stay-at-home orders, shoulder our packs, and head out on a multi-month hiking adventure. But with transmission rates still high and vaccination efforts stretching into late summer, should we hold off?

Rue McKenrick would hike the perimeter of the country to demonstrate our nation’s unity—if only he and the country could hold together long enough for him finish.

Thousands of people hike the Colorado Trail every year, but India Wood had a bolder idea: Hike a 732-mile diagonal, from corner to corner, straight across the state. It would take dozens of maps to do it—and help from a few new friends.

Hiking the Appalachian Trail with four kids is tough; figuring out how to do it safely and legally in a pandemic year might seem insurmountably so. But for Olen and Danae Netteburg, two physicians who have spent the last decade working in Chad, it was just another challenge.

When they wake up broke, broken, and far from home, how do thru-hikers find the will to go another mile?

Getting back to "real life" after a long hike can be rough. But if you feel low after coming home, you're not alone.

With travel plans cancelled due to COVID, one hiker makes the most of staying close to home.

With races around the country canceled, an unprecedented number of ultrarunners are testing themselves on the trail.

When you’ve stepped onto a long trail, you never really leave it.

As she nears the end of her journey on the Colorado Trail, our writer reflects on some of the people she’s met along the way.

A chance encounter with a group of friends on an annual, women-only backpacking trip leaves our Colorado Trail correspondent reflecting on how her own life changed her attitude towards the trail.

What do hiking the Colorado Trail and childbirth have in common? Sometimes, you just need to trust your body to get you through it.

After a series of mistakes left her dehydrated on the Colorado Trail, our writer learned that making it on a long trail is about more than guts or skill.

Hiking a long path is hard. As Patricia Cameron discovered while getting ready for the Colorado Trail, doing it in the era of COVID-19 adds a whole new level of difficulty to the process.

When the COVID-19 pandemic hit the United States, hundreds of long-distance hikers paused their trips on the Appalachian Trail and headed home. Now, as states begin the process of reopening, the wisdom of getting back on the path is up for debate.

A would-be thru-hiker hit the trail to change her life. She knew about the natural hazards. It was the human threat she never saw coming.

When a father-daughter team tackles the Pacific Crest Trail over the course of seven summers, they learn something about long-distance hiking—and each other.

I wasn't ready for an emergency—but my gear was.

For early thru-hikers, steep hills and long distances were only part of the challenge.

In 2018, Anish became the first woman—and sixth person overall—to hike the Triple Crown in a single calendar year. Doing it would take a lot of sweat, and 8,000 miles on the the trail.

From big fish caught to big mountains summited, kids can do the darndest things.

Are hiking dresses, skirts, and kilts more than a novelty? I freed my legs to find out.

When five-year-old Christian Thomas set out with his family to thru-hike the Appalachian Trail, some skeptics said he couldn’t—and shouldn’t. But like a lot of kids, he wasn’t listening.

Has the AT’s party culture gone too far? Bill Donahue joins the trail’s biggest blowout to find out.

Fifty miles a day for 45 days. No crew. Joe McConaughy’s AT thru-hike was one for the record (and history) books.