The KMS General Store has officially thrown down the gauntlet, claiming it has the best burger on the PCT.
To the rest of the trail towns:
Put your burger where the hiker’s trash mouth is.

PCT Hiker Trash Yearbook Presents

PCT 2027 Burger Blaze

Hike. Eat. Vote. Repeat.

The annual search for the best burger on the Pacific Crest Trail.

2,650 miles.
Dozens of legendary burger stops.
One gold ink pad.

What It Is
Hiker Trash knows the feeling.
You’ve been eating dehydrated food out of a bag for five days.
You’re running on trail mix and peanut butter.
Then you hit a town… and someone puts a burger in front of you.

That burger changes everything.

The PCT 2027 Burger Blaze is a trail-wide vote to determine who on PCT serves the best burger.
Hikers rate every spot they eat at using a QR code on the counter.

Results are evaluated at the end of the season.
The winner is announced in the PCT Hiker Trash Yearbook.

The Gold Ink Pad

The PCT 2026 Burger Blaze champion is Kyle.
Kyle is PCT Hiker Trash, a chef, and made this burger on the trail.

He doesn’t get a stamp or an ink pad.
Sorry Kyle.

The 2027 champion will receive a custom rubber stamp and a gold ink pad.
When a hiker gets their passport stamped in gold, they’ll be in the presence of the best burger on the PCT.

At the end of each season,
unless they are a repeat winner,
the champion passes the gold ink pad to the next winner
and retires his stamp.

How Hikers Vote
Every participating location has a small counter card with a QR code.
Scan it.
Rate five things on your phone in about 60 seconds:

• Calorie-to-Price … how much fuel for your dollar?
• Hiker-Friendliness … outlets, refills, zero judgment for trail smell?
• Structural Integrity … did the bun survive your hunger?
• Hitch-to-Effort … steps off the trail or a brutal 30-mile hitch?
• Pure Flavor … hunger aside, how good is it really?

Max score: 50 points. Every vote counts.

The Veggie Category
There’s a second gold ink pad.

Not every hiker eats meat.
The PCT Best Burger Challenge includes a second category for veggie and plant-based burgers.
Same criteria.
Same voting.
Same tradition.

A location can enter both categories.
Win both if you’ve earned it.
The trail decides.

Coming in 2027
The challenge launches with the 2027 PCT season.

Participating locations are being confirmed now.
Results are evaluated at the end of the season.
The winner is announced in the PCT Hiker Trash Yearbook.

Join the Challenge
New to the PCT Passport? Start here.
During signup, you can check that you want to be part of the Burger Challenge.

$25 gets you in.
Once you’ve paid, we’ll send you everything you need, including
details on being a passport checkpoint and how the Burger Challenge works
Both are easy.
The main task is getting your custom stamp for your location made.
Once you have it, your name goes on the challenge list.