If you’re looking for a quick number to win a pub quiz, here it is: 2,198.4 miles. But honestly, if you ask a thru-hiker at a trail shelter in Georgia, they’ll probably just laugh at you. That’s because the distance changes every single year. It’s a living, breathing thing. You can’t just pin it down like a fixed highway mileage marker because the mountains don't work that way.
The Appalachian Trail (AT) is a beast of a footpath that stretches from Springer Mountain in Georgia all the way to Mount Katahdin in Maine. It crosses 14 states. It tests your knees, your sanity, and your gear. But the question of how long is the Appalachian Trail is actually one of the most debated topics in the hiking community. Why? Because the Appalachian Trail Conference (ATC) and the various local trail clubs are constantly rerouting sections to prevent erosion, protect endangered plants, or move the path off of paved roads and back into the woods.
It’s roughly 2,190 miles on average, but that number is a bit of a lie.
The Mathematical Headache of Measuring a Mountain
Let’s talk about the 2024–2025 data. According to the official Appalachian Trail Conservancy numbers, the trail is currently hovering around 2,198.4 miles. Just a few years ago, it was 2,193 miles. Before that, it was 2,189. It’s growing.
Think about that for a second.
You’re walking a distance that is technically getting longer while you’re planning your trip. The reason is usually "relocations," or "relos" as hikers call them. If a section of the trail is getting hammered by too much foot traffic and the soil is washing away, the trail crews will build a new, longer, switchbacked section to replace a steep, straight "fall-line" trail. Switchbacks add distance but save the mountain.
Then you have the "FarOut" factor. FarOut is the GPS-based app that almost every thru-hiker uses nowadays. Sometimes the mileage on the app doesn't perfectly match the white blazes on the trees. This leads to what we call "trail math." You might think you did a 20-mile day, but your GPS says 21.2, and the official guidebook says 19.8.
Who do you trust? Usually, your feet. They know the truth.
The Fourteen States of Pain and Glory
The trail isn't distributed evenly. You’ll spend weeks in some states and just a single afternoon in others. It's a weirdly lopsided journey.
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- Virginia is the Big Kahuna. It contains about 550 miles of the trail. That’s roughly a quarter of the entire journey. This is where "The Virginia Blues" happen. You feel like you’ve been in the same state for an eternity because, well, you have.
- West Virginia is the Tease. You’re only there for about 4 miles, though the trail does weave along the border for a while. The "Psychological Halfway Point" is Harpers Ferry, West Virginia, which is the headquarters of the ATC.
- Maryland is a Sprint. You can knock out the 40 miles of Maryland in two or three days if you’ve got your trail legs under you.
- Pennsylvania is Rocktober. It’s not the length that gets you here; it’s the terrain. The "Rocksylvania" section is famous for destroying boots. The mileage might look easy on paper, but the sharp, jagged limestone makes every mile feel like three.
Why the Elevation Gain Matters More Than the Mileage
If you want to know how long is the Appalachian Trail, you’re asking the wrong question. You should be asking how much it goes up and down.
The total elevation gain and loss for a full thru-hike is equivalent to climbing Mount Everest 16 times. Let that sink in. You aren't walking a flat path from Georgia to Maine. You are essentially climbing a staircase that never ends.
In the White Mountains of New Hampshire and the rugged wilderness of Maine, your "miles per hour" will plummet. In the flat stretches of the mid-Atlantic, a fit hiker might pull 3 miles per hour. In the "Whites," you might be lucky to average 1 mile per hour. You’re using your hands to scramble over boulders. You’re descending "The Lemon Squeezer" in New York. The horizontal distance becomes secondary to the vertical struggle.
The "Halfway" Myth
Every year, the ATC marks the halfway point. In 2023, it was near Pine Grove Furnace State Park in Pennsylvania. They actually have a "Half Gallon Challenge" there where hikers try to eat an entire tub of ice cream to celebrate. But because of the reroutes we talked about, the physical midpoint shifts by a few miles or even dozens of yards every season.
There is a permanent marker, but it's rarely actually at the mathematical center. It’s more of a symbolic victory. By the time you reach it, you’ve usually lost 20 pounds, ruined one pair of shoes, and developed a very specific obsession with cheeseburgers.
The Time Factor: How Long Does It Actually Take to Walk?
Distance is one thing. Time is another. Most humans take between five and seven months to finish.
If you start in April at Springer Mountain, you’re aiming to finish by September or early October before the snow hits Katahdin. If you go too slow, Maine will freeze you out. If you go too fast, you’ll burn out your joints before you even hit the Mason-Dixon line.
- The "Purists": These folks walk every single inch. They don't skip a mile. For them, the 2,198.4 miles is a sacred number.
- The "Blue Blazers": They take side trails to see waterfalls or better views. Their "Appalachian Trail" might actually be 2,250 miles long.
- The "Yellow Blazers": These are the cheaters. They hitchhike around the hard parts. Their trail is much shorter, but they don't get the patch at the end.
There are also the "Fastest Known Time" (FKT) runners. Karel Sabbe, a Belgian dentist, currently holds the record for the supported northbound trek. He did the whole thing in 41 days, 7 hours, and 39 minutes back in 2018. That’s averaging over 50 miles a day. It’s superhuman. It’s also probably not very fun.
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The Realities of Modern Trail Growth
We have to acknowledge the human element. The trail is managed by 31 different trail clubs. These are volunteers. When a landowner decides they no longer want the trail crossing their property, the club has to find a way around.
Sometimes these "road walks" are boring and paved. The goal of the ATC is to move the trail into "protected corridor" lands. This usually means moving the trail from a straight road onto a winding path through the woods. Every time they do this, the trail gets a little bit longer.
The Appalachian Trail of the 1930s, when Myron Avery and Benton MacKaye were squaring off over its vision, was significantly shorter and much more rugged. It used to be around 2,050 miles. We’ve added nearly 150 miles of trail just by making it "better" and more sustainable.
Is the Distance Harder Than It Used to Be?
In some ways, yes. More miles means more steps. But in other ways, no.
Modern gear is incredibly light. A "base weight" (your pack minus food and water) used to be 40 pounds in the 70s. Now, "ultralight" hikers carry 10 pounds or less. This allows people to hike longer days. So, while the length of the Appalachian Trail has increased, the ease of traversing it has technically improved thanks to Dyneema fabrics and carbon fiber trekking poles.
However, the "bubble"—the massive group of hikers all starting at the same time—creates its own challenges. You might have to hike an extra half-mile off-trail just to find a campsite that isn't full. Those "bonus miles" add up. Over a six-month trip, you probably walk 100 miles that aren't even on the official map just going to privies, water sources, and hostels.
Planning for the Miles
If you are actually planning to hike this thing, don't obsess over the 2,198.4 number. It’s a vanity metric.
Instead, focus on your "daily average." Most successful thru-hikers aim for a "15-mile average." This accounts for "Zero Days" (days where you hike zero miles to rest in town) and "Nero Days" (nearly zero miles).
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- Georgia/North Carolina: You’re fresh. You’ll do 8–12 miles.
- Virginia: You’ve got "trail legs." You’ll do 18–22 miles.
- New England: The terrain gets brutal. You’ll drop back down to 10–15 miles.
The math of the trail is a game of attrition. It’s about whether your body can handle the repetitive stress of five million steps.
Why the Length Changes in Your Head
Ask a hiker in the 100-Mile Wilderness of Maine how long the trail is. They won't give you a number in miles. They’ll give you a number in days. "I’ve got four days of food left until I hit the Monson."
The Appalachian Trail eventually stops being a map and starts being a timeline. You stop measuring progress by state lines and start measuring it by the changing seasons. You start in the leafless "green tunnel" of spring, sweat through the humid mid-Atlantic summer, and finish in the crisp, turning leaves of a New England autumn.
The physical length is 2,198.4 miles. The spiritual length? That depends on how many times you get lost, how many times you take a wrong turn looking for a spring, and how many times you walk back to a trailhead because you forgot your trekking poles at a lunch spot.
Practical Steps for Your Journey
If you’re serious about tackling the distance, start by downloading the official 2025 interactive map from the Appalachian Trail Conservancy website. It’s the only way to see the current reroutes in real-time.
Next, don’t buy your gear based on the total mileage. Buy it based on the first 30 miles. If you can’t make it through the approach trail at Amicalola Falls, the other 2,100+ miles don’t matter. Get a pack fitting at a professional outfitter like REI or a local specialized shop.
Finally, understand that the "completion rate" for a thru-hike is only about 25%. Most people don't quit because the trail is too long. They quit because it's too wet, too lonely, or too expensive. Manage your expectations, not just your mileage.
Actionable Takeaways for Future Hikers
- Check the ATC updates page monthly if you are in your planning phase; relocations are announced there first.
- Factor in "Trail Creep": Always budget for an extra 50 miles of walking for town detours and water resupplies.
- Focus on "Time on Feet" during training rather than miles. Standing and moving for 8 hours is better prep than running a fast 5k.
- Invest in the FarOut app (formerly Guthook) for the most accurate, crowd-sourced mileage data available during the actual hike.