I agree with the other posters , especially uchopyourown I think you ' re being a bit ambitious for what will be your first backpacking trip , and the risk you ' re running by doing so is to put yourself significantly outside your comfort zone and experience level to the extent that you either come away from the trip hating backpacking or significantly injure yourself . Being able to stay comfortable and safe while backpacking over longer distances is something that takes at least a little bit of experience . You don ' t want to be 30 miles into a 100 mile trek when you discover that the boots that felt comfortable when worn around the block give you massive blisters after several miles , the food that seemed OK when you planned your meals out in your kitchen just isn ' t giving you the energy you wanted it to , the pack that felt OK when on your back for 5 minutes in your living room is torture after several hours on the trail , that you didn ' t pick the right stove for the conditions you ' re faced with , that your sleeping set up isn ' t as warm as you anticipated it ' d be , etc . These are all common issues faced by beginner backpackers . The point is that backpacking for beginners is a lot of trial and error figuring out what works for you and what doesn ' t . There ' s absolutely nothing wrong with having the desire to participate in epic , lengthy trips through rugged and spectacular terrain , but you ' ll enjoy these trips more and get a lot more out of them if you wait until you have at least some experience before attempting them . I always suggest that beginner trips should be short and easy no more than 2 nights . Use a base camp approach by picking a destination that is no more than 5 miles from the trailhead . Hike in and set up camp . Practice with your gear , and make note of anything that you think you couldshould change for next time . If you ' re out for 2 nights , it ' s OK to do a day hike on the second day climb a mountain , visit another lake , etc . but keep your camp set up in the same spot so that you ' re not lugging your full pack to a new location . With each successive trip , you can slowly increase the difficulty while remaining confident that you ' re not putting yourself significantly outside your level of skill . I also agree that by picking March as your time frame , you ' re significantly limiting yourself with regards to where you can go without still encountering winter or cold temperatures in general . If you ' re willing to wait until May , your number of options increases significantly . Pick something close to home within driving distance so that you ' re not spending money on a trip whose goal is to be a simple learning experience . There ' s tons of options in the Appalachian Mountains look at destinations in the George Washington , Thomas Jefferson , Monongahela National Forests to the south . To the north , there ' s Michaux State Forest in PA , as well as a number of backpacking trails in the PA Wilds in northcentral PA . Closer to home , Green Ridge State Forest in the Maryland panhandle has a few backpacking trails . For books on the subject of how to go backpacking , I highly recommend Colin Fletcher ' s The Complete Walker IV . It ' s a larger and somewhat pricier book , but you won ' t find anything else that covers basic techniques and gear especially in as much detail . A few other suggestionsMake sure you familiarize yourself with the regulations for any area prior to visiting . Not doing this is a common beginner mistake that can lead to getting ticketed and fined for something that you could ' ve easily prevented . In particular , you need to know Where you can legally camp . Even in areas where dispersed camping at locations of your own choice is permitted , there ' s usually minimum setbacks from water to protect water quality and trails to protect the sense of solitude that you ' re expected to abide by . How long you can stay in one location . In most areas there ' s a limit to how long you can occupy a single campsite consecutively , to prevent squatting . Can be as long as 2 weeks or as short as 1 night . How many people you can have in your group . Larger groups generate disproportionately large levels of impact on the resources , so group size limits on overnight groups are common . Usually somewhere between 6 and 10 persons . Whether you can have a fire or not . Some areas have seasonal fire bans in the spring andor the fall as fire danger is usually higher during these periods . Other areas have permanently banned fires because of high levels of use and abuse once dead and downed firewood runs out , unfortunately some groups resort to illegally cutting down standing trees for fuel , which lessens the natural character of an area . Also , please take the time to familiarize yourself with the Leave No Trace principlesprinciples . Beginners especially often underestimate how great our recreational impact can be on natural resources , and there ' s a lot more to minimizing our impact than just carrying our trash out proper waste disposal is only 1 of the 7 LNT principles . Another advantage to following LNT is that by doing so , you ' re usually in compliance with most if not all of the regulations for an area anyways . It makes things a bit simpler .