Guide

PCT thru-hike statistics: what hikers actually reported

Everything on this page comes from published surveys of thru-hikers and from the organisations that manage the trails. None of it is our own trail experience, and none of it is generated. Each figure is listed with its year, its sample size and a link to the source so you can check it yourself. These are hikers' self-reported numbers from a self-selected sample — the survey author notes that respondents likely skew towards people who finished — so read them as a rough picture of one year's class, not as a benchmark.

Miles per day and days on trail

18.4 mi / 29.6 km

Average daily mileage, including days off

20.8 mi / 33.5 km

Average daily mileage on days spent hiking

39.1 mi / 62.9 km

Average longest single day

148

Average length of an entire thru-hike (median 146)

130

Average number of days actually hiking

17 zeros, 14 nearos

Average full days off and low-mileage days

Source: Halfway Anywhere, PCT Hiker Survey 2025 — 790 respondents, self-reported.

The gap between the two mileage figures is the part most plans miss: an 18.4-mile average across the whole hike came from hikers walking closer to 21 miles on the days they walked, with roughly a month of days off spread through the trip.

Pack base weight

17.76 lb / 8.06 kg

Average base weight before the hike (median 16 lb)

15.04 lb / 6.82 kg

Average base weight after the hike (median 15 lb)

37.2%

Of hikers who would change something pre-hike, share who would go lighter

Source: Halfway Anywhere, PCT Hiker Survey 2025 — 790 respondents, self-reported.

Resupply

Average number of resupplies over the whole trail

5 days

Average gap between resupplies

90.5 mi / 145.6 km

Average distance between resupplies

Source: Halfway Anywhere, PCT Hiker Survey 2025 — 790 respondents, self-reported.

Why hikes ended early

Among surveyed hikers who did not finish, the reported reasons were:

Injury — 39.6%
Personal — 16.0%
Boredom — 7.5%
Illness — 7.5%
Family — 6.6%
School — 5.7%
Snow — 5.7%

Source: Halfway Anywhere, PCT Hiker Survey 2025 — 790 respondents, self-reported.

What hikers found hardest

Finishers rated each issue from 1 to 10. Averages: heat 4.58, mosquitoes 4.58, smoke and fires 3.59, snow 3.18, cold 2.84, stream crossings 2.68, wind 2.51, elevation 2.43, rain/hail 2.25, storms and lightning 2.08. Asked which section was most difficult, 42.9% said the Sierra; 41.1% named Oregon as the easiest.

Source: Halfway Anywhere, PCT Hiker Survey 2025 — 790 respondents, self-reported.

Official trail figures

Trail lengths and permit numbers come from the organisations that manage each trail:

Note that permits issued are not the same as attempts, and reported completions are self-reported.

Your own numbers

Averages from someone else's class only tell you so much. You can run your own pace and finish date from any distance and daily average, and look at an example hike report to see what HikerStats records day by day. The example uses generated sample data — it shows the format, it is not a real hike.