As the Appalachian Trail was explicitly designed to be hiked, it includes resources to facilitate hikers. Some are common to trails throughout North America, while some are unique to the Appalachian Trail. The trail is much more frequently hiked south to north (i.e. Georgia to Maine) than vice versa. Hikers typically begin in March or April and finish in late summer or early to late fall of that particular year. Many hikers will break down the mileage into halves or thirds, so that they can have the best weather, which typically occurs between May and September.

Navigation

Throughout its length, the AT is marked by 2-by-6-inch (5-by-15-cm) white paint blazes. Side trails to shelters, viewpoints and parking areas use similarly-shaped blue blazes.

In past years, some sections of the trail also used metal diamond markers with the AT logo, few of which survive.

Lodging

The trail has more than 200 shelters and camp sites available for hikers. The shelters, sometimes called lean-tos (in Maine, Massachusetts, and Connecticut) or huts (in Shenandoah National Park and the White Mountains in New Hampshire), are generally open, three-walled structures with a wooden floor, although some shelters are much more complex in structure. Shelters are usually spaced a day's hike or less apart, most often near a water source (which may be dry) and with a privy. They generally have spaces for tent sites in the vicinity.

Shelters are generally maintained by local volunteers. Almost all shelters have one or more pre-hung food hangers (generally consisting of a short nylon cord with an upside-down tuna can suspended halfway down its length) where hikers can hang their food bags to keep them out of the reach of rodents. In hiker lingo, these are sometimes called "mouse trapezes."

In addition to official shelters, many persons offer their homes, places of business, or inns to accommodate AT hikers. One example is the Little Lyford Pond camps maintained by the Appalachian Mountain Club. Inns are more common in sections of the trail that coincide with national parks, most notably Virginia's Shenandoah National Park.

Trail towns

The trail crosses many roads, thus providing ample opportunity for hikers to hitchhike into town for food and other supplies. Many trail towns are accustomed to hikers passing through, and thus many have hotels and hiker-oriented accommodations. Some of the most well-known trail towns are Monson, Maine; Harpers Ferry, West Virginia; Damascus, Virginia; Hot Springs, North Carolina; Erwin, Tennessee; Duncannon, Pennsylvania; Port Clinton, Pennsylvania; and Hanover, New Hampshire. In the areas of the trail closer to trail towns, many hikers have experienced what is sometimes called "trail magic," or assistance from strangers through kind actions, gifts, and other forms of encouragement. Trail magic is sometimes done anonymously. In other instances, persons have provided food and cooked for hikers at a campsite.

Hazards

The Appalachian Trail is relatively safe. Most injuries or incidents are consistent with comparable outdoor activities. Most hazards are related to weather conditions, human error, plants, animals, diseases, and fellow humans encountered along the trail.

Many animals live around the trail, with bears, snakes, and wild boars posing the greatest threat to human safety. Several rodent- and bug-borne illnesses are also a potential hazard. Ticks are carriers for Lyme disease, ehrlichiosis and other diseases, and are in higher abundance in northern states. Being thoroughly covered and wearing DEET can greatly reduce the chances of getting infected.

In scattered instances, foxes, raccoons, and other small animals may bite hikers, posing risk of rabies and other diseases. There has been one reported case (in 1993) of Hantavirus (HPS), a rare but dangerous rodent-borne disease affecting the lungs. The afflicted hiker recovered and hiked the trail the following year.

Poison ivy plant life can create its own brand of problems. Poison ivy is common the length of the trail, and more plentiful in the South. Flare-ups can be treated with calamine lotion or Solarcaine.

Hiking season of the trail generally starts in mid to late spring, when conditions are much more favorable in the South. However, this time may also be characterized by extreme heat, sometimes in excess of 100°F. Under such conditions, hydration is imperative. Light clothing and sunscreens are a must at high elevations and areas without foliage, even in relatively cool weather.

Further north and at higher elevations, the weather can be intensely cold, characterized by low temperatures, strong winds, hail or snow storms and reduced visibility. Prolonged rain, though not typically life-threatening, can undermine stamina and ruin supplies. Typical electrical storm precautions should be followed.

Violent crime, including murder, has occurred on the trail in a few instances. Most have been crimes by non-hikers who crossed paths relatively randomly with the AT hiker-victims.

In May 1996, two women were abducted, bound and murdered near the trail in Shenandoah National Park. The primary suspect was later discovered harassing a female biker in the vicinity but charges against him were dropped, and the case remains unsolved.  A total of 9 murders have occurred since then, including the notorious Ramsey/Mountford murder in 1981 and the Williams/Winans murder in 1996. On May 6, 2008, two fishermen from Virginia were shot, but survived near the trail in Giles County, Virginia, by the man behind the Ramsey/Mountford murders, Randall Lee Smith, who had recently met them not far from the 1981 murder site. Smith died four days later in jail of unknown causes.