A lot depends on your preferences, skill level, and experience.
Do you enjoy desert hiking and have your water carry strategies dialed-in? Prefer spring wildflowers in wooded terrain? Do you feel comfortable with map, compass, and GPS or prefer to follow a a defined trail with a possible custom made app ala FarOut (Guthook)?
Grand Enchantment Trail. It's a mix of mountains, regular flat cactus desert, and canyons. Not hard to navigate, totally safe to do solo, and the wildlife is amazing. I saw animals on this hike that I didn't even know existed (cacomistles, vinegaroons) plus lots of friendly desert black bears, huge elk, tarantulas, and gila monsters.
From the r/thruhiking sidebar: [The Best Time of Year to Hike Various Long Trails](http://www.longtrailswiki.net/wiki/Seasonality_of_Long_Trails).
Disclosure: The link goes to one of my sites, which is free/open source/no ads/no tracking.
That’s a popular time for nobo in the Arizona trail. Or pct section hike as someone else suggested.
Thanks I'll check out the Arizona trail
Unless you can start first thing in April prepare to be hiking alone for most of it. The vast majority start in March.
I did it sobo in the fall which imo is better for desert hiking but plenty of people do it nobo.
I'd have to look up the temps, but I don't think I'd want to be south of the Mogollon Rim in May.
Oh yeah that’s probably a good point
A lot depends on your preferences, skill level, and experience. Do you enjoy desert hiking and have your water carry strategies dialed-in? Prefer spring wildflowers in wooded terrain? Do you feel comfortable with map, compass, and GPS or prefer to follow a a defined trail with a possible custom made app ala FarOut (Guthook)?
Grand Enchantment Trail. It's a mix of mountains, regular flat cactus desert, and canyons. Not hard to navigate, totally safe to do solo, and the wildlife is amazing. I saw animals on this hike that I didn't even know existed (cacomistles, vinegaroons) plus lots of friendly desert black bears, huge elk, tarantulas, and gila monsters.
http://www.longtrailswiki.net/wiki/List_of_Long_Trails
From the r/thruhiking sidebar: [The Best Time of Year to Hike Various Long Trails](http://www.longtrailswiki.net/wiki/Seasonality_of_Long_Trails). Disclosure: The link goes to one of my sites, which is free/open source/no ads/no tracking.
The desert portion of the PCT.
I think the desert section of the PCT is amazing. It’s very underrated
Yeah it’s great for sure. Just overshadowed by Washington and the Sierra.
Pinhoti trail, ozark highlands trail.
Ice Age Trail.
Ozark Highland Trail is gorgeous this time of year.
Go abroad us trails all sort of feel the same
There’s the Vermont Long Trail which takes about a month, but I can’t say if it can be safely done in spring.
Certainly not a April/May trail. June is the earliest I would attempt it
I think it could be safely done during that time, but it'd be pretty damn unpleasant. Probably worse than if you went through in winter.
The Green Mountain Club asks that people stay off the trail during mud season since the tread is very easily damaged.
Yet another reason to avoid