Katahdin Hunt Trail

The Hunt Trail is the Appalachian Trail's final — and most dramatic — approach to Katahdin's 5,267-foot Baxter Peak, the highest point in Maine and the northern terminus of the entire 2,190-mile AT. Beginning at Katahdin Stream Campground, the route climbs steadily through dense boreal forest before emerging onto the iconic Hunt Spur, a knife-edge granite ridge with near-vertical hand-over-hand scrambling on iron rungs and steel handholds anchored into the bedrock. Above treeline, wind-scoured slabs and cairns guide hikers across the Tableland plateau, an arctic tundra ecosystem hosting rare alpine plants like diapensia and Lapland rosebay found nowhere else in the northeastern U.S. at lower latitudes. The summit register overflows with entries from thru-hikers completing their journey. The famous summit sign marks the AT's end. Views extend across the Katahdin massif, the remote Klondike wilderness, and 200,000 acres of donated Percival Baxter wilderness. Day-use reservations are strictly limited and sell out months in advance; arrive early at the gate as the park enforces caps. Descend the same route before afternoon thunderstorms, which develop rapidly over the exposed Tableland.