Best Multi-Day Backpacking Trails in North America 2026

Multi-day backpacking sits between the dayhike and the thru-hike — five to twenty-five days, one resupply or none, a single permit application most years. The seven North American routes below all fit that envelope in 2026. Three sit behind a recreation.gov lottery that opens between February and April. Two are off-trail high routes no ranger is tracking. One is a 273-mile state-spanning footpath still running on a first-come shelter system from 1910. This guide gives the distance, the elevation, the water cadence, the average solo finish, and the exact 2026 application window for each.

How to Read This Guide

Each trail below lists total distance, total elevation gain, the average solo finish in days for a moderately fit hiker doing roughly 12-15 trail miles or 7-10 off-trail miles per day, the 2026 permit window with the recreation.gov link and fee, the season, and the typical water source spacing in miles. Water cadence matters more than people think — a 6-mile gap on an alpine ridge in August in Wyoming is not the same as a 6-mile gap in Vermont in June. Where the route is off-trail or partially off-trail we say so explicitly. The standard kit assumed throughout: a 50-65L backpack sized for 5-10 day food carries, a Sawyer Squeeze water filter (the Wind River and Sierra High Route alpine streams are silt-free enough that Squeeze beats chemical), carbide-tipped trekking poles, and a Garmin inReach Mini 2 for the cell-dead alpine zones — five of the seven trails below have multi-day sections with zero signal. Our ultralight backpacking gear guide breaks down sub-10-pound base weights for the JMT and Wonderland in detail.

The Seven Trails

Wonderland Trail — Mount Rainier National Park, Washington

Distance: 93 miles loop Elevation gain: ~22,000 feet Average solo finish: 10-12 days Season: Mid-July through late September; before mid-July expect snow on Spray Park and Panhandle Gap Water cadence: Every 2-4 miles; never more than 6 between sources

The Wonderland circumnavigates Rainier — 93 miles, ridges in and out of every drainage on the mountain, and roughly 22,000 vertical feet of gain that gets you a panoramic 360 of the peak from every quadrant. Snow lingers into July on the north side passes; Spray Park can hold drifts to August in heavy years. Permits are the gating factor: the National Park Service runs an early-access lottery on recreation.gov with applications open February 10 through March 3, 2026, results posted March 14, 2026, and lottery-winner booking windows assigned between March 21 and April 18, 2026. The general first-come release for any remaining sites is April 25, 2026 at 7 a.m. PT. The lottery fee is $6, and the per-trip permit is $26 once issued. Per the NPS, roughly two-thirds of campsites are reservable online and the remaining third are held for in-person walk-up permits issued the day before or day of, available at any Wilderness Information Center. Plan an itinerary in the 9-12 day range; rushed Wonderland itineraries (sub-8 days) make the climbs miserable and force long water-carries on the dry south side between Indian Bar and Nickel Creek.

John Muir Trail (JMT) — California

Distance: 211 miles (Happy Isles to Whitney Portal) Elevation gain: ~46,000 feet Average solo finish: 18-22 days Season: Mid-July through mid-September Water cadence: Every 1-3 miles; one 6-mile dry stretch above Tyndall Creek

The JMT runs the spine of the Sierra Nevada from Yosemite Valley to the summit of Mount Whitney. Eleven passes above 11,000 feet, six above 12,000, and a final climb to the 14,505-foot Whitney summit. SOBO (southbound) permits are issued by Yosemite National Park via a rolling 24-week-out lottery at recreation.gov/permits/445859. The application fee is $10 and the per-person permit fee is $5. According to the Pacific Crest Trail Association, roughly 70% of applicants for mid-July through mid-August SOBO starts are denied, with success rates climbing above 50% by mid-September. NOBO (northbound) permits from Whitney Portal are issued by Inyo National Forest via their own lottery on recreation.gov; the unlotteried backdoor is the Horseshoe Meadows / Cottonwood Pass trailhead — a 12-mile approach over Cottonwood Pass that drops you onto the JMT at Crabtree Meadow and lets you skip the lottery entirely. Resupply at Muir Trail Ranch (mile 110) is mandatory unless you carry a bear canister with 12+ days of food, which is physically possible but punishes the climb out of Bishop Pass.

Long Trail — Vermont

Distance: 273 miles end-to-end (Massachusetts border to Canadian border) Elevation gain: ~70,000 feet Average solo finish: 19-25 days Season: June 1 through mid-October; mud season closure on side trails April 15-May 28 Water cadence: Every 2-5 miles; very rarely over 6 miles between sources

America’s oldest long-distance footpath, founded in 1910 by the Green Mountain Club and still maintained by them. The Long Trail runs the spine of the Green Mountains north from the Massachusetts state line — sharing tread with the Appalachian Trail for the first 105 miles — then peeling off east at Maine Junction to climb Mount Mansfield (4,395 ft) and Jay Peak before terminating at the Canadian border. There is no permit and no lottery. The trail runs on a first-come shelter and tentsite system with roughly 70 GMC-maintained shelters and lean-tos spaced 6-12 miles apart, most with privies and water. Suggested donation is $5/night at shelters, free for GMC members. The cumulative elevation gain — over 70,000 feet across 273 miles — is steeper per mile than the Appalachian Trail. Northbound thru-hikers report 12-15 trail miles per day on the southern AT-shared half and 9-12 miles per day on the harder northern half above Maine Junction. The trail is famously muddy; mud season closures on side trails run April 15-May 28 and the GMC asks thru-hikers not to start before June 1.

Teton Crest Trail — Grand Teton National Park, Wyoming

Distance: 40 miles (Phillips Pass to String Lake) Elevation gain: ~7,500 feet Average solo finish: 3-5 days Season: Mid-July through mid-September Water cadence: Every 2-4 miles in alpine zones; dry above Hurricane Pass for 5 miles in dry years

The shortest trail on this list and the densest payoff per mile. Forty miles across the highest backcountry zones of Grand Teton National Park — Alaska Basin, Death Canyon Shelf, the Death Canyon — Hurricane Pass — South Fork Cascade Canyon traverse — with the Grand, the Middle, and the South Teton looming the entire route. Permit reservations open at the Grand Teton backcountry recreation.gov page at 8 a.m. MT on January 7, 2026 for trips between May 1 and October 31, 2026. Reservations are real-time first-come for camping zones (Alaska Basin, Death Canyon Shelf, South Fork Cascade, etc.), not a lottery; refresh the page at 8:00:00 sharp. The booking fee is $45 plus a $5 per-person camping fee. Important 2026 note: the NPS has announced that the Death Canyon Trailhead will be closed for the 2026 summer for construction, and all camping zones remain open but may require alternate access via Phillips Pass or Granite Canyon. If you miss online reservations, walk-up permits issue the day before from the Craig Thomas Discovery Center or the Jenny Lake Ranger Station.

Wind River High Route — Wyoming

Distance: 97 miles (Bruce Bridge to Green River Lakes) Elevation gain: ~26,000 feet (65 miles off-trail) Average solo finish: 7-10 days Season: Mid-July through mid-September; snowpack on Alpine Lakes Pass into August Water cadence: Every 1-3 miles in alpine basins; some dry talus traverses of 4-5 miles

Andrew Skurka’s Wind River High Route is the hardest route on this list and the highest reward. Ninety-seven miles, sixty-five of them off-trail, across the Wind River Range from the south end at Bruce Bridge to the north end at Green River Lakes. Two summits above 13,000 feet and nine alpine passes, much of it on class 2-3 talus and scree with sustained off-trail navigation. There is no permit and no lottery — the route runs through the Bridger and Shoshone National Forests on existing wilderness permits which are issued at trailhead self-registration stations for free. The U.S. Forest Service does not cap dispersed camping permits in the Bridger Wilderness. What gates this trail is skill: per Skurka, the route is “not for hikers who aren’t used to off-trail travel.” Cumulative cross-country gain across class 2-3 terrain runs 7-10 miles per day for experienced off-trail hikers; ordinary backpackers without route-finding chops should not attempt this without a guide or a Skurka mapset. A satellite communicator like the inReach Mini 2 is non-negotiable — there is zero cell signal for the full 97 miles and the rescue trigger is one button.

Sierra High Route (SHR) — California

Distance: 195 miles (Road’s End to Twin Lakes) Elevation gain: ~60,000 feet (roughly half off-trail) Average solo finish: 14-21 days Season: Mid-July through mid-September Water cadence: Every 1-3 miles; talus passes occasionally dry for 3-4 miles

Steve Roper’s 1982 high route from Sierra High Route: Traversing Timberline Country runs parallel to the JMT but stays consistently 1,000-2,000 feet higher, crossing approximately 30 mountain passes between Kings Canyon and the northern Sierra. About half the route is off-trail and the off-trail sections are class 2-3 talus and slabs, no exposed scrambling. Roper himself recommends mental math of 6 SHR miles equals 10 trail miles when planning daily mileage; experienced hikers do 12-15 SHR miles per day, ordinary backpackers do 8-10. Permits are issued by Inyo National Forest via recreation.gov on a 24-week rolling release for the south start at Road’s End in Kings Canyon. No lottery, but quotas are tight in July and August. Resupply is the planning headache — there are no road crossings between Kings Canyon and Mammoth Lakes, so plan a mail-drop at Vermilion Valley Resort or Red’s Meadow, or carry 10+ days in a single bear canister.

Appalachian Trail — Northern Section (Hot Springs to Mount Katahdin)

Distance: 1,793 miles (full AT); 700-mile northern section is the most backpackable for a 30-60 day trip Elevation gain: ~150,000 feet on the northern section Average solo finish: 35-50 days for the northern section; 5-6 months for the full thru-hike Season: NOBO thru-hikers start February-April from Springer; section hikers run the northern half June-September Water cadence: Every 3-7 miles; longer dry stretches in Pennsylvania ridges (8-10 miles)

The full Appalachian Trail from Springer Mountain, Georgia, to Mount Katahdin, Maine, is a 4-6 month commitment most working adults cannot make. The honest 2026 advice is to section-hike the northern half — Hot Springs, North Carolina, to Katahdin — as a 30-60 day trip across one or two summers. There is no permit for the AT itself, only specific permits for Great Smoky Mountains National Park ($40 thru-hiker permit on recreation.gov) and Baxter State Park’s Katahdin summit. The Appalachian Trail Conservancy registers thru-hikers voluntarily to spread out start dates and reduce trail wear. Northbound starts in 2026 are recommended between March 1 and April 15 to hit Katahdin before the October 15 Baxter closure. Shelters spaced every 8-12 miles with privies and (usually) water; Pennsylvania is the dry stretch. For most readers on this site, the Hundred Mile Wilderness through Maine from Monson to Abol Bridge is the highest payoff per day on the entire AT — five to seven days, no resupply, the last northern lake country, and a Katahdin finish.

Picking the Right Trail for 2026

If you have never carried a multi-day pack, start with the Teton Crest Trail — four days, one mountain range, one permit application on January 7. If you have one or two backpacking seasons under your belt and can string together 10-15 mile days, the Wonderland Trail is the canonical American backpacking objective; apply to the February 10 lottery. If you want a full season’s vacation and the iconic American thru-hike experience, the John Muir Trail is still it — apply 24 weeks before your start date, and if you get denied for July or August, look at a mid-September start where success rates climb past 50%. The Long Trail is the no-permit, no-stress option for anyone who lives in the Northeast; June and July work for southbounders and northbounders alike. The two high routes — Wind River and Sierra High — are only for hikers who have done route-finding work above treeline before. Do not attempt either as your first off-trail trip.

Permit Calendar — 2026 At a Glance

Trail	Permit Source	Lottery / Window	Booking Fee
Wonderland	recreation.gov	Lottery Feb 10–Mar 3, 2026	$6 lottery + $26 permit
JMT SOBO	recreation.gov/permits/445859	Rolling 24-week-out lottery	$10 + $5/person
Teton Crest	recreation.gov/permits/4675342	Real-time Jan 7, 8 a.m. MT	$45 + $5/person
Sierra High Route	recreation.gov/permits/445860	Rolling 24-week, no lottery	$6 + $5/person
Wind River HR	Free self-registration	None	Free
Long Trail	None (GMC shelters)	None	$5/night suggested
Appalachian (N)	Thru-hiker registry	Voluntary	$40 GSMNP fee

Final Notes Before You Apply

Two practical reminders. First, every recreation.gov lottery is essentially a refresh-the-page event when the early-access window opens; have your camping zones ranked in priority order before the clock hits, because availability collapses inside the first ninety seconds for the Wonderland and Teton Crest. Second, the off-trail high routes are not graded by quotas — they are graded by competence. The Wind River High Route has killed experienced hikers who lost the route in fog above Indian Pass, and the Sierra High Route’s class 3 talus passes are unforgiving when wet. Carry the inReach, learn to read a topo against the visible ridge, and turn around if the weather turns. The trails will be here in 2027.

For the deeper packing list, our adventure travel gear guide walks through every item assumed above, and the ultralight backpacking gear guide is the companion piece for any of these trails where every ounce climbs 50,000+ vertical feet with you.

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Related Reading

• How to Plan a Thru-Hike: A Step-by-Step Guide
• Ultralight Backpacking Gear for 2026
• Best Trekking Poles for Long-Distance Hikers (2026)