1. Home
  2. Routes
  3. Triple Crown of Thru-Hiking (USA)

Route: Triple Crown of Thru-Hiking (USA)

Location
California, US
Oregon, US
Washington, US
New Mexico, US
Colorado, US
Wyoming, US
Idaho, US
Montana, US
Maine, US
New Hampshire, US
Vermont, US
Massachusetts, US
Connecticut, US
New York, US
New Jersey, US
Maryland, US
Pennsylvania, US
Virginia, US
North Carolina, US
Georgia, US
Tennessee, US
Distance
7,944 mi
Description

The Triple Crown consists of the Big Three National Scenic Trails:  The Appalachian Trail, the Pacific Crest Trail and the Continental Divide Trail.  Completing the Triple Crown requires about 7,900 miles of hiking through 22 US States.  As of the end of 2018, about 400 people are acknowledged to have completed the Triple Crown.  The Calendar Triple Crown (all three in one calendar year) was first done by Flyin' Brian Robinson, in about 300 days between January 1 and October 29, 2001, a feat which has been repeated only five times (as of November 2018).  The trails can be hiked in any order, and can be broken into segments, as long as the full length of each trail is covered.

Note on "style":  The Calendar Triple has always been done in typical thru-hiker style, which we term "self-supported".  However, on such a long hike, most people will receive some support by family and friends from time to time; we generally consider these trips to have still been "self-supported".  If the support is planned and meaningful, the hike will be considered "supported".

Note on distances:  The current AT mile mileage is listed as 2,189, the PCT 2,655, and the CDT is estimated at 3,100, for a total of 7,944 miles.  The AT and PCT have clearly designated routes which must be followed for an FKT; however, the official governing body's can change the route at any time, which then becomes the new official route and distance.  The CDT has never had a clearly designated route, which is why FKT's have not been considered meaningful on that Trail.  

GPS Track
PCT_0.gpx3.15 MB
CDT_0.gpx3.34 MB
AT.gpx711.47 KB

FKTs

Images
Related Routes
Appalachian Trail (AT)
Pacific Crest Trail (CA, OR, WA)
Continental Divide Trail (NM, CO, WY, ID, MT)

Comments

User Picture
Profile picture for user Ty Smith

Ty Smith
Sat, 03/12/2022 - 02:19pm

Hello all, I will be attempting the calendar triple this year (2022).  My main goal is to do just that with an aspiration to be the fastest person. I will be attempting each trail fully and individually before moving to the next, hopefully not breaking them into sections. I am currently 470 miles into the AT going northbound. I'll then be moving to the CDT northbound, and finishing with the PCT southbound. The decision to southbound the PCT last is mostly due to poor planning but partially because of the deceptively high snow in early winter in California. Since then, the winter has been lackluster but I will likely be sticking with the permit I have and roll the dice with fires.

In terms of style, I will be going self-supported, but full opportunist, meaning I will do anything a normal thru-hiker would have access to.  I will absolutely be taking any trail magic, I will be hitching into towns when possible, and I will accept any random/non-planned help I recieve. 

I will have tracking of the entire effort via garmin inreach and suunto GPS that I will log here ( https://share.garmin.com/6S3NQ ) and update when I can on strava.

Exciting! Regional Editors: can we add this to the "tracking now" page?

User Picture
Profile picture for user Will ''Sisyphus'' Peterson

Will ''Sisyphu…
Mon, 02/06/2023 - 01:01pm

Sitting here dreaming of big days on trail, I thought it might be worth while to open up the discussion on this route. I have no plans for it in the near future, just asking out of curiosity. What did Jeff do for changing out his gear? Is it still self-supported on this route if you have people provide that kind of support?

Also how do people feel about Cam Honan's 236 day time listed in the comment above? I totally believe he did it, but based on his mileage he also seems to have taken a shorter version of the CDT thats only 2,632 miles. It says in the description of the route that the CDT has never had a designated route. Has that changed? If not, how should we regulate which version of the CDT people take?

User Picture
Profile picture for user JackrabbitHikes

JackrabbitHikes
Thu, 02/13/2025 - 12:02pm

Hi everyone,

My name is Connor 'Jackrabbit' Chapdelaine. I will be attempting the Supported version of the FKT here. My plan will be to start NOBO on the PCT early April, SOBO CDT, and finally SOBO AT. Like many other aspirants, I will be trying to complete each trail in full before moving on to the next. I'm hoping my current plan will facilitate that best - I expect the Sierra's will be challenging (although they are seeing below average snow this year, woohoo!) and Oregon will be incredibly difficult likely. Oregon has received more snow at this point than the previous highest year available on postholer.com, 2011. Despite this, my plan will remain as listed.

Wahoo set the bar extremely high with his effort last year and I'm hoping to give it a good run. My ultimate goal is complete the CYTC over the FKT but my start date will put me close enough in miles-per-day to go ahead and add a couple walking hours to my day and go for the record. I will be going under the 'Supported' classification because I intend to run into friends and family across the country and accept their help and company at times. I will still be traditionally thru-hiking all 3 trails.

I'm very excited about the adventures ahead and not naive to the routine this task will demand. Consistency is everything. I will provide GPS tracking as needed and will (if battery permits) try to log all of my daily hikes on Strava as well. See you guys out there. YEWWW!!!!!