PCT Trail Businesses

Thanks for your interest in becoming part of the PCT Passport.

Example Only

What Is The PCT Passport?
The Passport is a 5″ x 3.5″, 8-panel accordion-fold document… small enough to fit in your pocket.

When a hiker walks into a trail-town shop, climbs into a shuttle, or crosses paths with a trail angel, they pull out their passport and get it stamped.

Each checkpoint has a custom rubber stamp.
Each stamp is permanent.
By the time a hiker ends their adventure, they have a physical record of everyone who supported them and the places they visited along the way.
They keep it long after the trail ends.

What Is On The PCT Passport?
One side holds stamps.

The other holds what resources hikers need, town by town: trail angels, lodging, resupply, outfitters, shuttles, and more.
Accessible offline when the signal disappears.

Every passport includes a QR code connecting hikers to the full downloadable PCT Passport PDF.
A complete resource guide for the entire trail, saved to their phone before they lose signal.

Why It Exists
The PCT Passport was originally designed to let PCT hikers know about the PCT Hiker Trash Yearbook.
It quickly became much more.

Many hikers don’t use Social Media, so they never see your posts, specials, or hours.
The Passport solves that.
It puts your business directly in a hiker’s hands while on the trail.

What Is a Passport Checkpoint?
A Passport Checkpoint is a local business or Trail Angel dedicated to supporting hikers.

Every Checkpoint will have a custom rubber stamp.

When a thru-hiker walks through your door, ask if they have a passport, stamp it with your custom rubber stamp, and date it.
You become a permanent, physical mark in their PCT adventure.

Even for trailhead Trail Magic, Shuttles, and Water Caches:
If you support PCT hikers, you are part of a PCT hiker’s adventures and memories, and you should have your own custom stamp.

The Annual PCT Hiker Trash Yearbook
Every participating Checkpoint receives a digital copy of the PCT Hiker Trash Yearbook for that season, a lasting archive of the very faces, stories, and hikers you hosted, fed, or shuttled.

Timeline & Deadlines

• Dec. 1, 2026: Deadline to be listed on the Passport.
• March 1, 2027: The Passport officially launches at the Southern Terminus (CLEEF).

What Your Investment Actually Builds

• The Physical Print Run
  It covers the costs of the physical passports handed to every PCT thru-hiker for free.
• Markets the Yearbook
  The PCT Hiker Trash Yearbook logo and PCT2027.com will be displayed on every passport; it does the heavy lifting of gathering hikers, capturing their photos, and selling the yearbook. This will help keep the yearbook cost down for hikers.
• A Self-Sustaining Legacy
  The Passport funds a sponsored hiker each season, someone on the trail living the year, getting the vibe, talking with the hikers, and capturing what a desk never could. This plan keeps the PCT Yearbook legacy alive.

The Downloadable PCT Passport PDF

Because of limited space on the physical passport, hikers can download PDFs of upcoming towns when they have cell service.

Hikers can plan ahead with a full list of services and resources, even without cell reception.

PDF content includes:

• Trail angels
• Businesses supporting PCT hikers
• Shuttles
• Trail town events and festivals
• Hiker discounts
• The PCT Burger Blaze
  • Serve burgers? Details Here.
• Hospital and healthcare info
• Post office updates
• and more.

How to Secure Your Checkpoint Spot

• A $10 deposit reserves your spot.
• Balance due January 1-15, 2027.
• Payment instructions are included in your follow-up message after you sign up.

The Physical, Printed Passport

• Space is limited
• 5 listings per town.
• One listing per category (examples: Lodging, Resupply, Shuttle, Outfitter, Restaurant, Other).
• List priority is granted on a first-signup basis per town.

• As much space as needed.
• Multiple listings per category (examples: Lodging, Resupply, Shuttle, Outfitter, Restaurant, Other).
• List priority is granted on a first-signup basis per town.

Join this season to lock in your town positions permanently, as long as you renew each year.

Most hikers pass through a town focused on miles.
A bed, a resupply, maybe a burger, and they’re gone.

The Passport puts your town’s events, attractions, and experiences in front of every hiker before they arrive.

A hiker who takes a second zero because their town has a music festival or attraction is a hiker who eats two to three more meals, sleeps another night, and tells every hiker behind them to do the same.

Ready to Reserve Your Spot?
Click below to sign up.