Trail Name Generator

"Trail name" means two things, and both matter here. To a park planner or land trust it is the name on the trailhead sign: Laurel Falls Trail, Devil's Backbone, Old Rag Loop. To a thru-hiker on the Appalachian Trail or Pacific Crest Trail it is the nickname you go by for five months, bestowed by other hikers after you do something memorable, like eating an entire wheel of cheese (Cheese Wheel) or walking three miles the wrong direction (Wrong Way).

Real hiking trail names follow tight conventions. Most are a landmark plus a suffix that tells you the route type: Trail for point-to-point, Loop for a circuit, Spur for a short branch, Trace for a historic route, Boardwalk for wetlands. The landmark is usually a natural feature (falls, ridge, gap, knob, bald, hollow), an animal, a tree, or a person or industry from local history (Miner's Ridge, Sawmill Run, Towpath). Mountain-bike and difficult trails often drop the suffix entirely and go for attitude: Widowmaker, Lung Buster, The Staircase.

Thru-hiker trail names are different animals. They are earned, not chosen, and the classic categories are food (Snickers, Ramen, Pop Tart), a mistake or quirk (Blister, Sockless, Half Step), an animal you resemble (Sasquatch, Tortoise, Chickadee), or your off-trail life (Doc, Professor, Chef). If you insist on picking your own, keep it short, a little self-deprecating, and easy to yell up a switchback.