On a recent thread someone asked how many hostels are along the AT. I was surprised at the number. This raised my curiosity. I thought I would look at the number of hiker accommodations through the years. I used the "Thru Hikers Companion" for the years 2017, 2014, 2012, and 2010 for my references. The Companion has a list in the back of hostels, campgrounds, and showers along the trail. I first totaled the number of hostels using the Companion's list. I then added other hiker accommodations that were not listed as a hostel. These included places that have inexpensive and/or group lodging, ie. bunks.


In 2017 there are 56 places listed as hostels. Add in another 13 places that are not listed as hostels (eg. Shaws, Pine Ellis, Mt. Harbour, etc.) and the total comes to 69. This does not include the new hostels that opened this year after publication of the Companion.


In 2014 there were 45 listed as hostels and another 9 for a total of 54. In 2012 there were 39 listed as hostels and an additional 9 hiker accommodations for a total of 48. In 2010 there were 40 listed as hostels and another 12 not listed as hostels for a total of 52.


I also compared the years 2010 and 2017 to look at the number of new hiker accommodations and the number of places that closed. There are 32 places that are in the 2017 Companion that were not listed in the 2010 edition. There are 16 places that were listed in the 2010 edition that are no longer in operation. This includes some noteworthy places such as the Blueberry Patch, Happy Hiker Hollow, and Palmerton Jail. South of Harpers Ferry there were 24 new places and 5 that closed between 2010 and 2017. North of Harpers Ferry 8 new places opened and 11 closed between 2010 and 2017.


For a twist I compared 2017 number with numbers from 40 years ago. In 1977 there were 14 places for hikers to stay. I used an annotated version of the "Appalachian Trail Mileage Facts" published by the ATC in August 1975. There were only 5 true hostels and 3 of them are still in operation, The Place, Holy Family Church, and Church of the Mountain. The fourth hostel was the Jesuit Hostel in Hot Springs which today is known as the Laughing Heart Lodge and Hostel. The fifth was Ken's Old Church in Monson. Other places offering a place for hikers to stay included fire stations in Waynesboro, VA and Duncannon, the YMCA in Erwin, a place in Wesser that was known as the Outdoor Motel (today we know it as NOC), and Mt. Meadows in Killington.