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Trail terms

Trailhead

Also called trail head

What is a trailhead?

A trailhead is the designated access point where a trail begins, and usually where you park and start walking. Many have a map board, signs or a toilet. The US Forest Service draws a firm line: a plain junction of two trails, or of a trail and a road, is not a trailhead.

Trailhead at a glance

Forest Service definition
A designated primary access point
Not a trailhead
A bare junction of trails, or of a trail and a road
Before you leave it
Trip plan left, turnaround time set

What makes a place a trailhead?

Designation. In its trail accessibility guidelines, the Forest Service defines a trailhead as an outdoor space designated by whoever manages the trail to serve as a primary access point to it. It adds that the simple junction of two or more trails, or the undeveloped junction of a trail and a road, does not count.

In practice that means the named spot on the map with a sign, usually a parking area and often a map board. Where a trailhead has built features such as parking spaces, toilets or campsites, the same guidelines set accessibility standards for them.

Why does the trailhead matter to a hike?

It is the last easy place to change your plan. Once you walk past the sign, fixing a missed permit, a forgotten layer or a closed trail gets much harder. The National Park Service's Hike Smart advice is to check park alerts for trail closures and other hazards before you head out.

It is also where rules get checked. In parks that require an approved bear canister, a ranger can turn you around at the trailhead for carrying one that is not on the list.

What should you do before leaving the trailhead?

Leave a trip plan with someone who is not coming. The Park Service asks for where you will be hiking, when you plan to start and return, and who is with you, left with a trusted friend or family member. Then set a turnaround time and keep to it, so the walk back does not end in the dark.

Save the trailhead as a point on your watch or phone before you walk away. Some GPS watches can route you back to it from wherever you are, which is worth checking before you rely on it.

What this means when you're choosing

  • Closures, fire restrictions or wildlife notices posted on the trailhead board
  • Whether the area needs a permit, a parking pass or a specific food container
  • A trip plan left with someone at home, including when you expect to be back
  • The trailhead saved as a waypoint before you walk away

The common mistake

Treating the trailhead as the start of the planning

The trailhead is the last easy place to change a plan, not the place to make one. Check alerts, weather and permit rules before you drive, and leave your trip plan with someone at home, because cell coverage at the end of a forest road is never guaranteed.

Common questions

Is every place a trail meets a road a trailhead?

No. The Forest Service's definition excludes the undeveloped junction of a trail and a road, and the simple junction of two trails. A trailhead is a spot the trail's managers have designated as a primary access point.

Do you need a pass to park at a trailhead?

Sometimes. It depends entirely on who manages the land, so check the park, forest or state agency's page for that trailhead before you go rather than assuming parking is free or that the lot will have space.

Where this is defined

Where this comes up

Guides on Tom's Hiking where trailhead changes which product is right for you.

Going deeper

More in trail terms

Base weight

Base weight is everything in your pack except food, water and fuel: the gear that doesn't get used up. It's the number backpackers compare, because consumables vary with trip length while base weight is a property of your kit.

Ultralight

Ultralight is a style of backpacking built around a base weight under 10 lb. It gets there by making the big three lighter and by carrying fewer things, which trades comfort in camp and margin in bad conditions for comfort while walking.

Fastpacking

Fastpacking is covering a multi-day route with a pack light enough to run in, somewhere between trail running and ultralight backpacking. Typical loads run 8 to 20 liters, and the trip is usually run downhill and on the flat and hiked uphill.

Thru-hiking

Thru-hiking is walking a long trail end to end in one continuous trip, usually within a single season. The Appalachian Trail, Pacific Crest Trail and Continental Divide Trail are the best-known examples in the US, each taking several months.

Shoulder season

The shoulder seasons are spring and autumn, the months either side of settled summer conditions. Days can be warm and nights near freezing, weather changes faster, and gear that works in July is often not enough in late September.

Three-season

Three-season gear is built for spring, summer and autumn but not sustained winter conditions. It's the default rating for most backpacking equipment, and in practice it means handling rain, wind and light frost but not deep snow.

Layering system

A layering system is the practice of combining a moisture-moving base layer, an insulating mid layer and a protective shell, so you can regulate temperature by adding and removing pieces rather than relying on one heavy garment.

Zero day

A zero day is a day on a long trail where you walk no trail miles at all, usually taken in a town to rest, resupply and deal with logistics. A nero is a near-zero: a handful of miles into or out of town with the rest of the day off.

Cowboy camping

Cowboy camping is sleeping outside with no shelter over you: a pad, a bag or quilt, and the sky. It saves the weight and the time of pitching a tent, and it trades away protection from rain, wind, dew, insects and anything that walks past in the night.

Postholing

Postholing is breaking through soft snow with each step and sinking to your shin, knee or thigh, leaving a line of holes behind you. It is exhausting, it can drop your pace to under a mile an hour, and it damages the trail for everyone following.

Slickrock

Slickrock is bare, exposed sandstone with no soil on it and no tread cut into it. You walk on the rock itself and follow cairns rather than a path. Dry sandstone gives excellent grip; wet or dusty sandstone gives very little, which is where the name misleads people.

Treeline

Treeline is the elevation, or latitude, above which trees can no longer grow. It is less a line than a zone where trees shrink into stunted, wind-shaped growth, and it sits at very different heights: between 5,000 and 6,000 feet in Washington's Olympics, and above 10,000 in the Sierra.

Backcountry

Backcountry is undeveloped land away from roads and drive-in campgrounds, reached on foot or by water. In US parks it is the opposite of frontcountry, where you drive to a campground, and camping there often needs a permit. It is not the same as legally designated Wilderness.

Big three

The big three are a backpacker's shelter, sleep system and pack: the three items where most of a kit's weight sits and, as REI puts it, where you can cut the most. The usual advice is to lighten the shelter and sleep system first and choose the pack last.

Section hiking

Section hiking is completing a long trail in pieces, one stretch at a time over separate trips, rather than in one continuous push. The Appalachian Trail Conservancy counts anyone who finishes the whole trail in more than 12 months as a section hiker, and recognizes them as 2,000-milers alongside thru-hikers.

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