backpacking and thru-hiking gear lists & packing lists
A gear list is essential for backpacking and thru-hiking to make sure you’ve packed everything you need (and don’t overpack!). These are trail-tested gear lists worked for us.
The right gear is not enough for a safe and successful backpacking trip. We explain gear strategy, when and where to trade out gear on a thru-hike, and what to pack for different seasons.
Thru-hiking Gear lists
One of few people to thru-hike the PCT northbound and southbound weighs in on the differences in gear and strategy. Here’s the gear, strategy, and plan for PCT NOBO vs. SOBO.
More than just a gear list, read our comprehensive gear strategy for the Pacific Crest Trail. As weather and ecosystems change, so should your gear. Here’s what we’ve learned in 20,000 PCT miles of trial-and-error.
Updated for 2025, our gear list and strategy for the Appalachian Trail prepares you for a thru-hike or long distance section of the AT. As weather and ecosystems change, so should your gear. Here’s what we’ve learned from 5 thru-hikes and 11,000 AT miles of trial-and-error.
Backpacking lists
What to wear and bring for backpacking and thru-hiking in fall. Gear essentials to keep you warm and dry, extending your hiking trips into the shoulder season.
We polled backpackers with 100,000 miles of combined backpacking experience to develop our list of essential backpacking accessories. From blister care to gear repair, here are the small items that make a big difference.
Stay safe on your summer hikes with the proper clothing, route planning, and summer hiking tips.
A Yosemite mountain guide shares what to wear in Yosemite National Park including when hiking and camping. The weather in Yosemite changes. Here’s our packing list and clothing guide to stay comfortable no matter what.
How to build an emergency preparedness and disaster survival kit from outdoor gear items you already have. Plan and prepare with this supply list from the Red Cross and FEMA
Stay safe, stay happy, and stay prepared with our comprehensive list of dog hiking gear--including dog gear and human gear.
Treeline cofounder Liz Thomas urban hiked 220 miles in NYC through Manhattan, the Bronx, Brooklyn, Queens and Staten Island over 9 days. Her trip highlighted the parks-playgrounds created by the nonprofit Trust for Public Land. This gear list shows what to carry for urban adventures through NYC..
Backpacking gear lists
The ~155-mile San Diego Trans County Trail (aka Sea to Sea Trail) is a winter thru-hike. This guide has a route, water, and resupply plan, and a gear list.
The Northville-Placid Trail (NPT) is an approximately 135-mile (218 km) route highlighting a less-traveled region of New York’s Adirondack Park. This north-south footpath links rivers, valleys, and remote lakes through the valleys and high plateaus of the Adirondack Wilderness.
Trip guide to Vermont’s Long Trail, 272-mile thru-hiking path in Green Mountain National Forest. We cover camping, shelters, resupply, gear lists, planning, transportation, logistics and more
Our guide to the scenic Via Dinarica White Trail, which traverses Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, and Albania, with karst plateaus and small mountain villages
Cottonwood Lakes is a 23.3 mile loop surrounding High Sierra Landscapes. Hike by alpine lakes, vistas, wildflower-lined streams, and twisted ancient foxtail pine forest straight out of Ansel Adams— under the shadow of 14,000-foot tall Mt. Langley.
A trip guide for the 160-mile loop along the Colorado Trail and Continental Divide Trail with trailheads, gear list, resupply trail towns and suggested itinerary
The Superior Hiking Trail (SHT) is a 310-mile backpacking trail in Minnesota along the North Shore of Lake Superior. We explain campsites, logistics, resupply and how to hike the SHT
Here’s everything I learned that you should know about backpacking, running, or hiking the Maroon Bells Four Pass Loop.
Mount Rainier’s premier trail, the 93-mile Wonderland Trail, is a backpacker’s dream. On this 5- to 10-day backpacking trip, you will circumnavigate Washington’s Mt. Rainier, the most topographically prominent mountain in the lower 48.
The definitive guide from a 2-time thru-hiker to backpacking the High Sierra Trail. To call the HST an alternative to the John Muir Trail would be to minimize its standing as a world-class trail in its own right.