Try This Free Tool to Plan Your Appalachian Trail Thru-Hike or Section Hike

What Is the Appalachian Trail Thru-Hike Planning Tool?

It’s a free Google spreadsheet I made with all the major Appalachian Trail waypoints or points of interest, with a lot of extra information and some cool filtering and planning options. I’ll explain all of those later, but offering some background first might be helpful.

I thru-hiked the Appalachian Trail in 2019 (see my hike summary and statistics) and I did a LOT of online research (see my collection of Appalachian Trail resources).

Of course, I bought the FarOut mobile app as well as a PDF version of The A.T. Guide (commonly called AWOL). FarOut is pretty much a must-have app. Everyone uses it and, besides being a good app in general that also works offline, the GPS tracking, elevation information and profiles, downloadable topographical maps, and user comments make it indispensable. I also recommend AWOL, though it’s more of a nice-to-have complement to FarOut rather than a must-have resource (it was also only $10 or $12 when I bought it, which was pretty reasonable but the price has more than doubled so I am not sure if I would buy it again).

With those two great resources, you might wonder why I would take such a huge amount of time to put together this planning spreadsheet. Here are some reasons:

1. I am kind of a geek and I like spreadsheets.
2. It was a way to force myself to actually review all the waypoints before starting. This is NOT necessary to successfully thru-hike. Many people just “wing it” and do fine, but that doesn’t suit my personality.
3. When I first put together the spreadsheet, FarOut’s waypoint filtering wasn’t as good as it is today (it was also called GutHook back then).
4. FarOut has one really big user experience drawback. They sell the trail as a collection of sections. What that means is you can only see waypoints for one section at a time. That’s not a dealbreaker or reason not to use the app, but it is a minor inconvenience having to load each section when you need to research someplace further ahead. This is especially annoying when you are on trail and getting close to the end of your section.
5. I wanted one place to store a lot of useful notes and information I picked up from various online sources and I wanted to add some planning features that no app (that I am aware of) offers. 

Details

The spreadsheet includes the following individual sheets:

1. About. All the important details about the spreadsheet, including what you’re reading here. It’s the sheet where you can enter basic customization fields. It also lists the latest version and edit dates so if you are planning pretty far in the future you might want to revisit the main spreadsheet to see if it’s newer than your copy.
2. Changes. This lists the changes I have made over time. I only started tracking them with the latest update, but this might help if you are debating whether to re-download a copy or stick with an older copy you already have.
3. Rituals. This is a collection of things I want to remember to do each day (or, at least, regularly) on the trail and in town. I think a lot of the items on the list will apply to many hikers but edit it to suit your personal goals/interests or delete the sheet entirely if it offers no value to you.  
4. Waypoints. This is a collection of various points of interest along the trail that I have gathered from multiple sources and combined together. Note that mile info may be off or not updated for the current year and I don’t guarantee the accuracy of any information, especially things that may change easily like prices and other note details (definitely use FarOut for those details). Also, note that any individual waypoint may not always list all options available, especially for lodging options which likely offer food, resupply, showers, or laundry but aren’t listed as such.
   
   The last columns of this sheet let you build a customized hiking plan. They are checkboxes you can select. For example, you can check all the resupply stops you plan to make, shower locations, places you want to camp or shelter, etc.
5. Waypoints (Filter). Use this sheet to display only one specific type of waypoint from the main “Waypoints” sheet AND/OR by a start and stop mile range. This should make it easy to focus on just what you are looking for (lodging, post offices, resupply points, etc.) or plan a single day or section hike. I also added a column showing the distance between the filtered entries. FarOut has good filtering options, but my spreadsheet offers more (e.g., bear boxes/poles, showers, charging).
6. Waypoints (Planned). This sheet lets you filter all the waypoints you have marked as part of your personal hiking plan on the “Waypoints” sheet. You can filter by type of waypoint as well as by starting and stopping mile numbers.
7. NOBO Planner. You can enter your start date and the number of miles you hope to average (enter on the “About” sheet) and it will create a plan you can follow with each day showing the waypoints before and after your ending mile number (as well as the one closest to it), the next town, and the estimated elevation and relevant change in elevation to the nearest waypoint. (Source: Richard Smiley, edited by me)
8. Mailing Labels. This sheet will automatically list all mailing labels for any locations you have selected in the “Waypoints” sheet which you can then print, cut to size and use for your mail drop packages.
   NOTE: Always call any lodging location to verify they still accept mail drops before sending any.
9. Beer Locations. A list of beer locations along the trail found originally on a WhiteBlaze forum post. I don’t know how accurate it is these days, but it’s a starting point.
10. Resupply Points Map. Scott Martin made a Google Map of AT resupply points; click through to see the live version.
11. NOBO 12-mile Plan. A suggested itinerary from the A.T. Guide for thru-hiking that will end up averaging roughly 12 miles per day.
    NOTE: These plans were created back in 2011 so they may refer to waypoints (e.g., hostels) that no longer exist.
12. NOBO 15-mile Plan. The same as above, but assumes 15 miles per day average.
13. NOBO 18-mile Plan. The same as above, but assumes 18 miles per day average.
14. Drop Down. Drop Down options needed to populate certain fields in the “Data Sheet” sheet.
15. Data Sheet. Keep track of your hiking days, costs, and other things. If any questions, trouble, or other things send contact Freddy (creator) on Facebook.
16. State Notes. I have included separate sheets for each of the 14 Appalachian Trail states with various notes for each.
17. Whites Stealth. A list from 2014 of places to stealth camp in the Whites. If anyone knows of a more up-to-date version please send it to me.

Waypoint Statistics

If you are interested, here’s a list of the types of waypoints tracked and their respective number of entries.

Using the Spreadsheet

This spreadsheet tool is not terribly convenient to use on a mobile phone, though it can be done with the Google Sheets mobile app (Android, iOS) in landscape mode. I recommend you freeze and hide relevant columns to aid navigation and scrolling.

As for customizing things, there are really only a few things to consider. On the “About” sheet, there are five yellow input fields, including:

• Your Name
• Year
• Start Date
• Miles/Day (“NOBO Planner” sheet)
• Miles (the total distance of the trail for your year)

Planning Features

I already mentioned this above, but in case you skipped that section, on the “Waypoints” sheet, the last columns have yellow checkboxes. You can toggle these as appropriate to create your own customized hiking plan (e.g., where you plan to resupply, take a nearo/zero, grab a shower, etc.). You can see that plan on the “Waypoints (Planned)” sheet. This is something I added recently so I never used it personally. If you notice any problems with it, please let me know and I will try to fix them.

Access Note

This spreadsheet is public and free to use, but it won’t make sense for everyone to use and edit the same sheet. Therefore, please don’t ask for permission to become an editor (unless you actually want to help keep it up to date, in which case, it’s better to contact me directly).

The best thing to do is to make a copy of the spreadsheet that you can use and edit as you see fit without bothering (or being bothered by) any other users. The ways to make a copy differ depending on if you are using a computer or the Google Sheets mobile app. On a computer, just use the “File” menu. If you are using the mobile app, click the three dots at the top right, then click “Share & export” and you will see the “Make a copy” option.

A Similar, Alternative Tool

If all you want this tool for is for the waypoints or if you are looking for a free alternative to FarOut, you can check out Silverlight [Reddit announcement]. The developer of that app used my spreadsheet as a starting point (he made a lot of updates as well, which I have now incorporated). It’s still new and it doesn’t have the planning features or some of the extra state information sheets. Its offline support is still being worked on, but it is mobile-friendly and you can see waypoints for the entire trail without needing to load individual sections. I don’t know how committed the developer is to maintaining and improving the app, so it may or may not be a good option in the future, but check it out if interested.

Want more Good Stuff? 

I have made a few other spreadsheets that might help with your hiking activities, including:

1. Pacific Crest Trail (PCT) Planning Tool. If you think this type of tool is helpful, I have made a similar planning spreadsheet for the PCT, which I thru-hiked in 2022.
2. Thru-Hike Tracking Info (Google spreadsheet; explanatory blog post). Track your thru-hike and automatically create interesting statistics (mileage, days, camp options used, elevation numbers, budget, etc.). This is the spreadsheet I used for my Expenses and Statistics reports (Appalachian Trail, Pacific Crest Trail, comparison of the two).
3. Long Distance Hiker Food Resupply Tool (Google spreadsheet; explanatory blog post). I created this interactive tool to help you plan your food resupplies while targeting calorie and nutrition goals.

Get My Book

I wrote a very detailed guide to preparing for an Appalachian Trail thru-hike (or any long-distance hike, really). Regardless of your experience level, I guarantee you will find it helpful. It’s also a nice way to show a little financial support for the effort I put into this free spreadsheet. If you find it useful, please consider telling others about it and leaving an honest review would also be very helpful (to me, to Amazon’s ratings algorithms, and to other potential readers).

Good luck with your hike!

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