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A Free Six-Part Planning Course for the American Discovery Trail

Six emails, ten weeks, no charge. It opens with the decision that comes before all the others.

John Wesley Brett

• 1 min read
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Colorado Trail, American Discovery Trail and Continental Divide Trail trail sign along a path in mountainous western Colorado
On the American Discovery Trail in western Colorado - Photo courtesy: Rhiis Lopez
Hiking America Planning Your ADT Thru-Hike A free six-part course

The trail splits in Ohio. Take the northern side or the southern side and you walk about 4,900 miles. The 6,800-mile figure counts the whole system, both routes together. Which side you take changes your resupply, your water, your seasons and your calendar, and it is the first decision worth making properly.

That's installment one. Five more follow, one every two weeks:

  • Plan the trail one state at a time 
    Cutting 4,900 miles into sections anchored to towns that can actually feed you
  • The box that didn't arrive 
    A hiker stuck in Baker, 91 miles of Utah desert, and why mail is the lifeline out west
  • Memorial Day and Halloween, and what they leave out 
    Eighteen years of Sierra snow records, the Colorado passes, and the start date you solve for
  • You are not locked in 
    The hiker who met three weeks above 100 degrees in Moab and kept walking, in the other direction
  • From planning year to start line 
    The whole plan in one piece, and what to put under your feet when you go

It's free, and it runs about ten weeks start to finish. Sign up today and the last installment lands in mid-November, with the whole 2027 planning season still in front of you.

[Start the course →]

Hiking America is an independent navigation resource. This site is not authorized by, and has no affiliation with, the American Discovery Trail Society. Our routes are our own, developed and continuously verified through field research and hiker feedback. They are not the official route of the American Discovery Trail, are not derived from American Discovery Trail Society materials, and may deviate from the route marked with signage.