The Appalachian Trail has way more bear sightings than I expected

I was planning a section hike for this spring and started looking at the ATC's annual report. Turns out there were over 1,200 bear sightings reported on the trail in 2023 alone, mostly in Virginia and New Jersey. I figured bears were rare but apparently they're just chilling near shelters all the time. Has anyone actually had a close encounter out there?

3 comments

3 Comments

margaret3041mo ago

Right, the numbers are definitely higher than most people realize. The thing is, bears are smart and they know exactly where the food is. Shelters and popular campsites are basically all-you-can-eat buffets for them because someone always leaves a crumb or doesn't hang their bag right. I had one come through my site about three years ago near the Grayson Highlands. It wasn't aggressive at all, just walked right past my tent like I was invisible, probably heading for the guy three sites down who was cooking bacon at dusk. That was the real wake-up call, seeing how casual they are about it. The real danger isn't the bears themselves, it's people getting too comfortable and leaving trash or food out. You can spend weeks hiking without seeing one, but you should always act like they're right around the next corner.

sullivan.finley1mo agoTop Commenter

Nah, people are way too paranoid. Bears aren't prowling campsites like some horror movie.

thea_mitchell201mo ago

WAIT someone was cooking bacon at dusk in bear country?