Section hiking at a glance
- ATC definition
- Whole A.T. in more than 12 months
- Section completions, 2025
- 116 on the A.T.
- Appalachian Trail Conservancy counts
- Median section hiker age
- 40
- Appalachian Trail Conservancy
- PCT long-distance permit
- More than 500 continuous miles
How is section hiking different from thru-hiking?
It is the same trail on a different clock. The Appalachian Trail Conservancy defines a thru-hike as the entire trail in 12 months or less, whether northbound, southbound or as a flip-flop, and a section hike as the entire trail in more than 12 months. Both finish as 2,000-milers.
The Conservancy notes that some section hikers finish in two or three summers and others over a decade or more. For 2025 it reported 116 section-hike completions of the whole trail.
Does a section hike need a different permit?
Sometimes, and the Pacific Crest Trail is the example to know. Its long-distance permit is for people traveling more than 500 continuous miles in a single trip. North Cascades National Park counts anyone doing less than that, or more than one PCT trip in a year, as a section hiker who needs a park-issued backcountry permit to camp inside the park.
So a section hiker usually builds a trip from the local permits for whichever parks and forests that stretch crosses, the same way any backpacker planning that route would. Check each land manager's rules for the specific section and year.
Why do people section hike?
Time, mostly. A thru-hike of a long trail takes months, and few people can step away from work and family for that long. Section hiking turns the same goal into a series of weekends, weeks or summers.
It changes the planning more than the gear. Each trip starts and ends at a trailhead you have to reach and leave, so transport and permits take up much of the planning, and the length of each section, rather than a resupply schedule, sets how much food the pack carries.
What this means when you're choosing
- Transport to and from each trailhead, planned before the permits
- Permits for every park and forest the section crosses, since a long-distance permit may not apply
- Section length matched to the food you can carry between trailheads
- A record of the miles you complete, if you intend to report the whole trail at the end
Section hiking vs Thru-hiking
| Section hiking | Thru-hiking | |
|---|---|---|
| Time to finish the whole A.T. | More than 12 months | 12 months or less |
| Shape of the trip | Separate trips over seasons or years | One continuous journey |
| PCT long-distance permit | Not for trips under 500 continuous miles | Built for trips over 500 continuous miles |
| Recognition on the A.T. | 2,000-miler | 2,000-miler |
Which to pick: Same trail and the same finish: a section hike trades one long journey for trips that fit around the rest of your life.
The common mistake
Assuming a thru-hiker's permit rules apply to your section
Long-distance permits are built for long, continuous trips. On the PCT, a section under 500 miles means arranging the permits each park and forest along it requires, and North Cascades National Park, for one, asks section hikers for a park backcountry permit obtained in advance.
Common questions
Does a section hike count as completing the Appalachian Trail?
Yes. The Appalachian Trail Conservancy recognizes section hikers who complete the entire trail as 2,000-milers, the same as thru-hikers. The two are told apart only by whether the whole trail took more or less than 12 months.
How long does it take to section hike a long trail?
As long as you like. The Conservancy notes that some section hikers finish the A.T. in two or three summers and others take a decade or more.
Where this is defined
- 2,000-Milers, Appalachian Trail Conservancy
- The Pacific Crest Trail, National Park Service, North Cascades National Park