Looking for a good 1-4 week backpacking destination in the US with good weather in the winter

John Muir Trail in CA if it is another dry winter. Could be epic assuming you know what you are doing.

JMT3x wrote:

John Muir Trail in CA if it is another dry winter. Could be epic assuming you know what you are doing.

Thanks for the suggestion. I assume you have done it. Did you do it alone? How long did it take? And what did you like and dislike about it?

JMT3x wrote:

John Muir Trail in CA if it is another dry winter. Could be epic assuming you know what you are doing.

Actually, after reading about that trail, it's not something I would want to try and tackle in winter. While it could possibly be feasible for me, I would more than likely want something less technical, especially if I'm by myself. It looks amazing, I'm just not sure I want to hit that alone in the winter.

OP, if you have decent gear to handle ~20F degrees at worst, I would look at the Pigsah near Brevard, NC. You can get out there for a few weeks but still remain close enough to civilization in the event of an emergency. Probably a solid spot for a few weeks solo in the winter.

You should check out Big Bend National Park. The weather is excellent in Feb/Mar. Just stay away during spring break (week of March 14 this year). Everything gets booked up months in advance. If you are doing primitive camping, you will need a solo permit and will need to be an expert backcountry hiker if you go off the trail system and stay of the grid for an extended period of time. The desert portions do get into the upper 80s/lower 90s sometimes with salt flats getting hotter on occasion. In the mountains, you can get down into the 30s at night in February. There are lots of snakes at night, some mountain lions and bears. You do have to carry your poo out of the park. You will need to plan your water stops carefully.

There are tons of well marked trails, but if you are looking for a big long adventure, you will be able to go backcountry and hike wherever you like. The Chisos mountains are incredible. The Rio Grande is right next door. There is a Solitario (collapsed ancient volcano) that has mountain bike and 4wd trails leading in and out. It is an amazing sight. On the way in or out, you should check out Marfa, TX.

There's a big difference between a 1 and 4 week trip -- and between February and March. March on the southern Appalachian Trail is is more palatable that early February, but you still need to be prepared for rapid temperature changes. On a one week trip, you just carry everything with you -- on a month long trip, you need to resupply several times, so you have to factor that in logistically.

As a Florida resident, I can say that the Florida Trail is interesting and temperate, but it's a much different aesthetic than most people into backpacking are used to. No mountain vistas, etc., and you won't see many other backpackers. You can check out the Florida Trail Association's website for info.

I've never done them, but the Arizona Trail looks intriguing as does the Ozark Trail for a late winter-early spring trip. Be curious if anyone on the board has hiked through them.

Roy- that was a place I was considering but the outer rim trail or whatever it's called seemed short and I was looking for something longer. Have you done it before? Could you suggest an itinerary? And give me any tips you may have? Thanks a million

All fair points. I would do something as short as a week if it was a really cool place but I would prefer something longer. Two weeks seems ideal to me but I could do longer or shorter depending on the trail.

Yes I understand the difference between feb and March again I was just keeping options open although March would be more realistic for me. Thanks for your input.

This.^

I haven't been on the North Rim, but there are lots of places you can spend a day hiking within the park. There's also an ultra there sometime in Jan-Feb, I think.

I've been to lots of parks in the US and only two gave me a feeling of... well, hard to describe... a higher power. The Muir Woods and Big Bend. You can watch the sun set through The Window, see fields of bluebonnets, yucca, and other desert flowers. You can cross over into a sleepy Mexican border town (Presidio west of the park). You can drive to Marfa and look for one of the few reliably-visible unexplained phenomena in the world... the Marfa lights. You can spend the night in the Chisos mountains and see the stars unspoiled by city lights.

The only problem is that it is remote. Once you get there, it's a long way back to civilization... 500+ miles to Dallas, 400+ to San Antonio. It's 120 miles from Panther Junction to Marfa.

I would love to get to this place but I def cannot rent a car and seems too remote. I am going to see if I can make this work because it looks amazing but seems difficult to get to. I'm going to do more research on it.

Anywhere in Hawaii.

I second the NC highlands (Pisgah Forest or Smoky Mountains area). Plenty of good/scenic spots, civilization nearby, even places to ski if you want to (more so in February, most places are closed/in bad shape by mid-late March). I was there in late March a couple of years ago and it got pretty cold for a couple of days (20s and snow), but if you are well-prepared it shouldn't be a problem.

solo trippin wrote:

I would love to get to this place but I def cannot rent a car and seems too remote. I am going to see if I can make this work because it looks amazing but seems difficult to get to. I'm going to do more research on it.

If you don't have or can't rent a car, then your options are considerably more limited. Are you nearer the east or west coast? If you're in the east, you can easily take a bus or Amtrack down to Gainesville, GA and catch a taxi/shuttle to Amicalola Falls (where you find the access trail to Springer Mountain, southern terminus of the Appalachian Trail)... Hike north for as long as you want, resupply at trail towns, then when you're out of time, hitch to a town and take a bus home. In the early spring before foliage fills in, you'll get some decent views from the mountain tops in the Southern Highlands.

Or bus into Gatlinburg TN or Cherokee NC to access the Smoky Mountain Nat'l Park. Again, you can arrange a shuttle or hitch to your trail head. Once you get off the trails close to the main roads, you don't see that many people. You can easily come up with a good week-long itinerary connecting different park trails up and over the park's central ridge. You do need permits, etc.

Good luck.

I'm on the east coast. I don't want to add the cost of renting a car and then parking it for x amount of days or weeks while I backpack. I'm also not wild about the idea of flying to a place then driving 200miles to start my trip. I understand that sometimes you have to do those things, I just don't think that I'll be up for that when the time comes. I'm going to be flying to wherever it is that I start and I haven't ruled out doing an international backpacking trip. I've been lots of places in the world and I have traveled in the US lots touring and for work but not really for pleasure. This summer I hiked the Grand Canyon and thought it was great so and it inspired me to get to know and see more places in the US. I have thought about the Appalachian trail but of course being from the east coast, other alternatives seem more intriguing to me. I have hiked some of the AT and its great, I was just seeing if there was something else out there that was more appealing. Big Bend looks amazing and it's something I'll definitely do but not on this trip. Maybe with a group of people to share the cost of getting to and fro. Nonetheless, I appreciate all the input. Threads like these are a big part of what makes let's run awesome.

Gila Wilderness in southwestern New Mexico. Very beautiful red rock canyon running through open forests of pinyon and juniper. Extremely remote with lots of cool wildlife. March is a great time to go, sunny and 65 every day. Be prepared for cold nights though.

Any interest in the southern part of the PCT?

bigtool05 wrote:

Gila Wilderness in southwestern New Mexico. Very beautiful red rock canyon running through open forests of pinyon and juniper. Extremely remote with lots of cool wildlife. March is a great time to go, sunny and 65 every day. Be prepared for cold nights though.

Yes that sounds great, I will def look into that. Will I be able to filter water there? Or do I have to hike it in?

dingle wrote:

Any interest in the southern part of the PCT?

Yes for certain. I had initially wanted to do two months or so on the PCT but it'll be winter still so that's not gonna fly. The PCT wasn't tops on my list for this spring/winter only because I figure is wait til I could do a longer trip.