That being said, here’s what you need to budget for when thru-hiking the Pacific Northwest Trail: Food While we do include a bit of money in our budget for some new pieces of gear, we don’t account for people who need to completely outfit themselves for a backpacking trip in our calculations. So, you’ll need to do some research into what it will cost you to get to the trailheads at the start and end of your journey.įinally, when calculating this thru-hiking budget, we assume that you already have the vast majority of the gear you need to go backpacking in the mountains. When we calculated the average cost of hiking the Pacific Northwest Trail, we estimated that most people would take about 70 days to complete the journey, so if you plan to take more or less time on your hike, you should adjust the final total accordingly.Īdditionally, we don’t include the cost of transportation to or from the trail in our estimate since Pacific Northwest Trail thru-hikers come from around the world. Since a long-distance thru-hike can cost you a significant amount of money, we’ve broken down the total cost into categories to help your wrap your head around the logistics of this adventure. So, next up, we’ll break down the cost of a Pacific Northwest Trail thru-hike into specific categories so you know what you’ll be spending your hard-earned money on during your expedition. However, we also recognize that if you’re going to spend $1,800-$4,000 on an adventure, you should know what you’re spending it on. Thru-hiking the Pacific Northwest Trail is a major expedition and the costs involved are reflective of the magnitude of this undertaking. Since hiking the Pacific Northwest Trail from end to end takes most people between 60-70 days, anyone looking to thru-hike the trail will need to be able to pay for all the food, fuel, and gear that you need to survive for an extended period of time in the outdoors.
While we agree that this is a substantial amount to spend on an outdoor adventure, it’s important to keep in mind that a long-distance thru-hike is no afternoon stroll in your backyard. If you’re like most people, the thought of spending between $1,800-$4,000 to go on a backpacking trip might make your head spin. Let’s get to it! Why does it cost so much to hike the Pacific Northwest Trail? So, to help you out, we’ve created the ultimate guide to hiking the Pacific Northwest Trail, complete with a breakdown of what it’ll cost you to get out and explore the wonders of the Pacific Northwest. Thru-hiking is a surprisingly expensive pursuit and if you’re new to it, it’s easy to get overwhelmed by the planning and logistics. If this sounds like a lot of money to you, you’re not alone. This works out to an average of $28 to $59 dollars per day for the 70 days it takes most people to thru-hike the Pacific Northwest Trail. So, just how much does it cost to hike the Pacific Northwest Trail? On average, most Pacific Northwest Trail thru-hikers spend $1,800 to $4,000 on their adventure, not including the cost of new gear and transportation to and from the trail. Plus, heading out on a long-distance adventure like the Pacific Northwest Trail isn’t cheap. That being said, like all other long-distance trails, hiking the Pacific Northwest Trail requires a whole lot of pre-planning and organization. Indeed, unlike the PCT and AT, which see thousands of thru-hikers each year, the Pacific Northwest Trail rarely sees more than 100 thru-hiking attempts in a single season. This 1,200 mile (1,930 km) trail connects the rocky peaks of the Continental Divide in Montana to the sprawling temperate rain forests and glaciers of Washington’s Olympic Coast, making it the perfect path for a rugged adventure. These stalwarts of the thru-hiking world have long captured the imagination of backpackers around the world, however, many of us want more solitude, more remoteness, and more adventure than these three trails alone can provide. In the world of long-distance hiking, most people set their sights on the Triple Crown: the Appalachian Trail (AT), the Pacific Crest Trail (PCT), and the Continental Divide Trail (CDT).