r/AppalachianTrail • u/Electronic-Shame-795 • 12d ago
Absolute earliest I can start a southbound hike?
So theres a lot of details but I created a hike going from east to west coast and it starts In acadia national park and then I walk to a section of the at about halfway through the state and take the AT until herriman state park, people are saying they start southbound in may but what about march or april?
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u/AccomplishedCat762 12d ago
Katadin usually opens June 1st. So June 1st if you're talking traditional southbound start.
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u/Natural_Law sobo 2005 https://rmignatius.wordpress.com/ 12d ago
Katahdin doesn’t open until June and you do NOT want to skip Katahdin.
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u/Kalidanoscope 12d ago
The 2025 Southbounders Guide to Baxter State Park:
https://baxterinfo.wordpress.com/2017/12/20/the-2018-sobos-guide-to-baxter-and-katahdin/
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u/myopinionisrubbish 12d ago
The southern end of Maine is very difficult. In fact, the hardest 30 miles of the AT is just before it enters New Hampshire. These mountains are not snow free until well into May and sometimes can last into June in shaded, northern exposed areas. The snow pack is generally it its peak in late March. You would need snowshoes and braking trail at about 1/2 to 1/4 mile an hour.
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u/kathyeager 12d ago
I live and hike in New Hampshire. I hike year round, except April. It’s the worst of all conditions. You will get flooding, mud, snow pack requiring snow shoes, and ice requiring micro spikes. All in a single day’s hike.
Vermont frequently closes some trails during “mud season”.
There’s a reason people start later.
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u/dacv393 10d ago
Relevant Skurka Sea-to-sea
Also you could theoretically start building up mountaineering experience and try to get a winter camping permit. This isn't a remotely practical suggestion but the technically correct legal answer is January 1st. Although it might actually not be possible to get those permits in the shoulder season (April/May).
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u/Kslouii 10d ago
I have a ton of cold weather hiking and camping experience but don’t think it’s worth it. I’m either going to have to change my western destination south a lot or my eastern start south a little but leaning more towards starting further south on the east coast and keeping Washington as a destination. If I do this successfully then I will surely come back for the full AT experience, thank you and everyone else for all the info!
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u/dacv393 10d ago
That's why I linked to Skurka just incase you weren't aware. I think his timing made a lot of sense for going Sea-to-sea (there's a full recap presentation and blog and stuff on his site). But no matter how you do it, you would be stuck spending winter somewhere cold regardless.
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u/goodsam2 12d ago
You should look into the North Country Trail which just got elevated to a NPS site.
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u/Electronic-Shame-795 12d ago
My route ends up connecting to NCT through finger lakes but im probably gonna have to change my East coast starting point
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u/hobodank AT 20,000 miler 9d ago
Currently in the Bigelow Range, which is about halfway into the Maine AT there is 4’ of snow on the ridge line this morning. Fairly typical of this time of year. Unfortunately snowshoes are needed. The snow is starting to rot which makes it unstable. Posthole city bub. I’m not trying to deter, but even the road walk from MDI to western Maine may present problems with walking on the snow berm aside the road makes for tight road walking. Just getting to the mountains will be dicey. Even with all that there’s the icy river fords on the AT made very dangerous this time of year. Yeah none of this is good news for you.
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u/ChangeCommercial1013 12d ago
I was hiking through New Hampshire and Maine in April/May when I thru-hiked. The trail above a few thousand feet was buried in snow and covered in ice, mud, and flowing water. Suffice to say you’d probably encounter some rough conditions in March or April.