AT Thru-Hike itinerary
Every mile marker on the AT Thru-Hike route, in order, with the distance and elevation change between each one, and which permit each stretch needs. To set alerts for your dates, go to the Appalachian Trail Thru-Hike permit page.
Which permit covers this route
The AT Thru-Hike. One reservation is a trailhead or zone plus an entry date; you roam after that, issued by walk-up.
The permit is issued for a named entry point. Springer Mountain (southern terminus) and Baxter Peak, Katahdin (northern terminus) are the ones on this list.
- Stops mapped
- 25
- Across the markers
- 2197.9 mi
- Published route length
- 2197.9 mi
- Ascent, at least
- 23,153 ft
How long it takes: 5-7 months (average just under 6 months). That is the figure the permit publishes. This page does not divide the route into days, because no source records which stop you sleep at.
The stops below are the route's published mile markers, in order, with the elevations recorded against each one.
Distance and elevation change on each leg are the difference between the two published figures either side of it, so the legs are arithmetic on the markers and nothing more.
The AT Thru-Hike route, stop by stop
Mile 0.0
3,782 ft
Springer Mountain (southern terminus)
Entry point: the permit is issued for this trailhead
The A.T.'s southern terminus, where thru-hikers sign the register at a bronze plaque before heading north.
29.4 miles · 679 ft up to Blood Mountain
Mile 29.4
4,461 ft
Blood Mountain
Georgia's highest point on the A.T., described by the ATC as taller than three and a half Empire State Buildings.
137.7 miles · 2,971 ft down to Fontana Dam
Mile 167.1
1,490 ft
Fontana Dam
The trail crosses the top of the tallest dam in the Eastern United States, almost 500 feet above the Little Tennessee River gorge, right at the entrance to Great Smoky Mountains National Park.
1.9 miles · 226 ft up to Fontana Hilton Shelter
Mile 169.0
1,716 ft
Fontana Hilton Shelter
One of the most accessible A.T. shelters, famous among long-distance hikers for its flush toilets and hot showers.
34.3 miles · 4,927 ft up to Kuwohi (Clingmans Dome)
Mile 203.3
6,643 ft
Kuwohi (Clingmans Dome)
The highest mountain on the entire Appalachian Trail at 6,643 feet, on the North Carolina-Tennessee state line inside Great Smoky Mountains National Park.
7.6 miles · 1,603 ft down to Newfound Gap
Mile 210.9
5,040 ft
Newfound Gap
The only place US 441 crosses the Smokies, and the road access point closest to the trail's high point at Kuwohi.
177.2 miles · 547 ft up to Roan Highlands (Hump Mountain)
Mile 388.1
5,587 ft
Roan Highlands (Hump Mountain)
Grassy balds on the Tennessee-North Carolina border giving unobstructed, treeless views rare on a mostly-forested trail.
91.5 miles · 3,660 ft down to Damascus, Virginia
Mile 479.6
1,927 ft
Damascus, Virginia
Nicknamed 'Trail Town USA' because the white blazes run straight through downtown; hosts Trail Days every May, drawing roughly 25,000 people.
249.9 miles · 1,259 ft up to McAfee Knob
Mile 729.5
3,186 ft
McAfee Knob
The most photographed spot on the entire A.T., a sandstone overhang with a 270-degree view of the Catawba Valley.
212.7 miles · 328 ft down to Shenandoah National Park / Skyline Drive crossing
Mile 942.2
2,858 ft
Shenandoah National Park / Skyline Drive crossing
About 100 miles of well-graded trail that repeatedly crosses Skyline Drive, with climbs the park itself calls rarely exceeding 500 to 1,000 feet.
107.8 miles · 2,486 ft down to Harpers Ferry, West Virginia
Mile 1050.0
372 ft
Harpers Ferry, West Virginia
Headquarters of the Appalachian Trail Conservancy, where thru-hikers traditionally have their photo taken on the front porch at what hikers call the trail's psychological midpoint.
25.1 miles · 1,296 ft up to Annapolis Rock, Maryland
Mile 1075.1
1,668 ft
Annapolis Rock, Maryland
A striking outcropping on the South Mountain ridgeline with views west over the Cumberland Valley.
250.0 miles · 1,332 ft down to Delaware Water Gap
Mile 1325.1
336 ft
Delaware Water Gap
The trail follows Kittatinny Ridge before crossing the Delaware River into New Jersey; 28 of the trail's miles sit inside the national recreation area.
61.0 miles · 57 ft up to Pochuck Boardwalk, New Jersey
Mile 1386.1
393 ft
Pochuck Boardwalk, New Jersey
The longest elevated boardwalk on the entire A.T., crossing a wetland thick with black bear habitat.
45.9 miles · 900 ft up to Bear Mountain, New York
Mile 1432.0
1,293 ft
Bear Mountain, New York
The trail's summit crossing of Bear Mountain; the AT's much-cited lowest point (124 feet, near the Trailside Museum and Zoo by the Hudson River) is a separate spot lower on the same descent.
92.9 miles · 652 ft down to Falls Village, Connecticut
Mile 1524.9
641 ft
Falls Village, Connecticut
A three-quarter-mile stretch along the Housatonic River here was the first section of the A.T. built to be universally accessible.
94.2 miles · 2,850 ft up to Mount Greylock, Massachusetts
Mile 1619.1
3,491 ft
Mount Greylock, Massachusetts
The tallest mountain in Massachusetts, topped by the Veterans War Memorial Tower and said to have inspired Herman Melville while he wrote Moby-Dick.
114.0 miles · 1,256 ft down to Monson, Maine (100-Mile Wilderness south end)
Mile 1733.1
2,235 ft
Monson, Maine (100-Mile Wilderness south end)
The last resupply town before the 100-Mile Wilderness, a stretch with no towns or stores between here and Abol Bridge.
1.4 miles · 500 ft down to Vermont / Long Trail split
Mile 1734.5
1,735 ft
Vermont / Long Trail split
The A.T. and Vermont's Long Trail, the older of the two long-distance trails, run together for 100 miles through southern Vermont before splitting.
43.7 miles · 1,194 ft down to Hanover, New Hampshire
Mile 1778.2
541 ft
Hanover, New Hampshire
Home to Dartmouth College, a well-known resupply and lodging stop where the trail enters New Hampshire.
72.2 miles · 4,696 ft up to Franconia Ridge
Mile 1850.4
5,237 ft
Franconia Ridge
The trail traverses just over two miles of this ridge, part of New Hampshire's 15.2 miles above treeline, more than any other trail state.
32.0 miles · 1,051 ft up to Mount Washington
Mile 1882.4
6,288 ft
Mount Washington
New Hampshire's tallest peak; the A.T. skirts below it along the Crawford Path, which the ATC calls the oldest maintained hiking path in the country.
52.9 miles · 3,790 ft down to Mahoosuc Notch
Mile 1935.3
2,498 ft
Mahoosuc Notch
Widely called the hardest mile of the entire Appalachian Trail, a boulder-choked chasm on the New Hampshire-Maine border that requires scrambling and squeezing through gaps rather than walking.
116.6 miles · 1,900 ft down to Kennebec River
Mile 2051.9
598 ft
Kennebec River
The widest unbridged crossing on the entire trail; the ATC runs a free canoe ferry across it during hiking season.
146.0 miles · 4,665 ft up to Baxter Peak, Katahdin (northern terminus)
Mile 2197.9
5,263 ft
Baxter Peak, Katahdin (northern terminus)
Entry point: the permit is issued for this trailhead
Maine's tallest mountain and the A.T.'s northern terminus, a sacred site to the Penobscot Tribe and many other Indigenous peoples.
Getting a AT Thru-Hike for the dates you want
Planning the route is the easy half. AT Thru-Hike dates go fast, and the ones that come back are cancellations. They return to the booking system without warning and are gone again quickly. PermitSnag checks AT Thru-Hike around the clock and alerts you the moment a date opens.