Hikers tackling the Georgia stretch of the Appalachian Trail will soon need more than boots and a tent. The U.S. Forest Service has ordered that anyone camping along the trail's entire 78-mile run through the state must store food in a hard-sided bear canister, with the rule kicking in on January 1, 2027.
The order covers a one-mile-wide corridor along the whole section, including the shelters that dot the route and the AT Approach Trail that leads up to Springer Mountain. There's no wiggle room: bear hangs and fabric bags like Ursacks won't count. Get caught without a proper canister and you could be fined up to $5,000 or spend up to six months in jail.
Why the crackdown? Bears. A 2025 survey by the Appalachian Trail Conservancy found bear reports on the trail jumped 75 percent in a single year, and Georgia is the hotspot. Morgan Sommerville, the ATC's director of visitor use management, notes the state holds just 3.5 percent of the trail's mileage but accounts for more than 12 percent of its bear encounters. Forest supervisor Judy Toppins framed the rule as an attempt to protect hikers, wildlife and forest health all at once.
It's a big shift from what came before. Until now, canister rules applied only to short segments — most notably a five-mile stretch between Jarrard and Neel Gaps in the Blood Mountain Wilderness — and hikers could simply camp elsewhere to sidestep them. This is the largest food-storage mandate on the AT to date.
The catch: convincing hikers to actually comply. The ATC has recommended hard-sided canisters since 2017, but a 2025 survey by The Trek found only 13.6 percent of hikers used one. Most rely on a bear hang (43 percent), and nearly a third admitted to the riskiest move of all — sleeping with their food. Bears, it turns out, have got very good at defeating traditional hangs, which is exactly why the ATC pushed for the change.
If you're planning a spring thru-hike start or a section hike through North Georgia, budget for a canister (roughly $70 to $100 to buy, or rentable from outfitters) and factor the extra pound-plus of weight into your packing. The rule applies year-round, so there's no season to dodge it, and it includes shelter stays — meaning even slackpackers bedding down at Blood Mountain will need one.
