Best Hiking and Backpacking Books for Every Adventurer

Some hiking books make you want to walk. Others make you ready to carry everything you need for a week on your back. That second kind is where this list lives. If you’ve ever stood at a trailhead wondering whether your pack is light enough, or how to find water on day three, the right backpacking book can answer questions that a single trail guide never will.

Disclosure: Please note that some of the links below are affiliate links and at no additional cost to you, I may earn a commission. Know that I only recommend hiking gear I personally stand behind; when you use my affiliate links, it helps me run this blog and keep all of this content free of charge for readers (like you).

This list covers the best hiking and backpacking books for people at every stage. You’ll find a classic field manual, a gear guide written by a long-distance hiker, an older book that still teaches the basics, an ultralight guide, a true story about starting late, and an audiobook option for the drive to the trailhead. If you haven’t yet read the shelf for day hikers, start with our best hiking books and guidebooks first.

Key Takeaways

• A field manual covers the planning and first aid you need before a backpacking trip.
• Gear guides change quickly, so choose the newest edition you can find.
• Older foundational books teach the mindset, even when the gear advice has aged.
• Thru-hike stories show what long walks ask of you, from the first step to the last mile.
• Audiobooks are a good way to cover the long drive to a trailhead.

Backpacking Books at a Glance

Skills Manuals for Backpackers

The Backpacker’s Field Manual by Rick Curtis

Rick Curtis’s manual is the book I’d start with if you’re planning your first multi-night trip. The revised and updated 2011 edition covers gear, first aid, Leave No Trace camping, and trip planning.

It’s a reference you can read at the kitchen table two weeks before you leave, then keep in your pack for questions that come up on the trail.

Read it alongside our guide to backpacking vs day hiking so you know what changes once you carry a pack overnight. The manual also gives practical reasons behind its advice, which helps when conditions don’t match the plan.

For the principles behind camping and trail behavior, see the Leave No Trace principles and the official Leave No Trace Center.

The Ultimate Hiker’s Gear Guide by Andrew Skurka

Andrew Skurka has been named Adventurer of the Year by Outside and National Geographic Adventure, and Person of the Year by Backpacker.

His gear guide draws on more than 30,000 miles of long-distance hiking, according to the book’s (The Ultimate Hiker’s Gear Guide) own description. National Geographic published the first edition in 2012.

The second edition came out in 2017 with sixteen new pages, including food on the trail, and updated gear recommendations throughout. Use it to build a packing list for any trip length, from a weekend to a long loop. If your gear list is already set, the California gear checklist is a useful second opinion to compare against.

Backpacking: One Step at a Time by Harvey Manning

Harvey Manning first published this guide in 1972. Manning also edited Mountaineering: The Freedom of the Hills, the climbing reference that the Mountaineers club has kept in print for decades. Backpacking: One Step at a Time is an older book, so the gear sections are dated.

Read it for the mindset and the basics: how to think about your pace, your load, and the choices you make on the trail. Then pair it with a newer gear guide, since equipment has changed a great deal since 1972.

If you want to sharpen the map-and-compass side of your planning, our map and compass skills guide is a good place to start, and the backcountry navigation hazards post explains where people most often go wrong.

Ultralight and Thru-Hike Planning

Trail Tested by Justin Lichter

Justin Lichter has hiked more than 35,000 miles since 2002, including thru-hikes on long trails across North America. He is a Triple Crowner, which means he hiked the Eastern Continental Trail, the Pacific Crest Trail, and the Continental Divide Trail in one year.

Trail Tested is his guide to ultralight hiking and backpacking, and it’s written for hikers who want to carry less without giving up comfort.

Falcon first published it in 2013, and the second edition came out in 2021. The book is useful for day hikers and for multi-night trips alike. If you’re ready to plan a longer route after reading it, our guide to multi-day backpacking loops shows how a route can be built from several shorter legs.

Thru-Hike Stories

Grandma Gatewood’s Walk by Ben Montgomery

In May 1955, Emma Gatewood, at 67 years old, started walking the Appalachian Trail from Mount Oglethorpe in Georgia. She wore canvas Keds and carried her gear in a homemade drawstring bag, with little more than a change of clothes. She finished at Mount Katahdin in Maine after 146 days, covering about 2,050 miles.

She became the first woman to thru-hike the Appalachian Trail alone, and she later hiked it two more times. Chicago Review Press published the first edition in 2014 and the paperback in 2016.

Ben Montgomery, a distant relative, had access to her diaries, trail journals, and letters, and the book (Grandma Gatewood’s Walk) reads like a story that starts with a single step. Read it for proof that a long walk can begin with very little.

The Appalachian Trail’s own history is documented by the Appalachian Trail Conservancy, which is a useful companion for anyone reading the book.

For another long-distance account on the Pacific side, see our overview of the thru-hiking guide for California.

The Best Hiking Audiobooks for the Trail

Audiobooks fit the hours you spend driving to the trailhead, the ride home, or the commute you already make. The best hiking audiobooks are the ones you’ll finish before the next trip. One option is the 1998 audio edition of A Walk in the Woods, read by Bill Bryson himself, published by Random House Audio.

Bryson’s comic voice carries the story well, and the narration makes the long stretches of trail feel close. Listing details vary between editions, so check whether the version you find is abridged before you buy.

Choose a narrator you enjoy and a runtime that matches your drive. Keep the printed field manual in your pack, and let the audio cover the story.

Building Your Backpacking Shelf

Start with a field manual and a gear guide, since those two answer most of the questions you’ll face on your first overnight.

Add a foundational book like Backpacking: One Step at a Time to understand the thinking behind the advice, and then choose a story for the long evenings.

If you’ve already read our best hiking books and guidebooks, you’ll notice the memoirs there pair well with the manuals here. Books about backpacking work best when you read them in order: the planning book first, then the gear book, then the story.

Where to Go Next

If you’re ready to put the reading into practice, begin with a short route. Our backpacking trails guide walks through how to pick a first overnight, and the permits and passes post covers what to check before you go. Once you’ve done one trip, the multi-day backpacking loops post and the thru-hiking guide show where the next steps lead.

Pick one field manual and one gear guide this week, and you’ll have what you need to plan your next overnight. The rest of the shelf can wait for the trail.

Hiking and Backpacking Books Frequently Asked Questions