Frequently Asked Questions

Every long-distance journey starts with a practical problem: what will I eat today? On a long route, that question gets asked every morning for months. The answers tend to be interesting: they reveal what the region produces, how it cooks, who eats what, and what the land makes possible.

pinecrumbs is the independent guide to food on long-distance journeys. It includes firsthand accounts and maps, along with Community entries that are identified as such.

Much of the food on this site was encountered while walking. Firsthand maps and stories come from roads walked, meals eaten in the field, and journals kept on the trail. Other entries are based on Community sources and are marked Community.

The food guides are per-route practical references. Each one covers what people eat on a given route: the regional dishes and food traditions specific to that route, where to eat in trail towns, practical notes on budget, what to look for at different points along the way, and a few notes for vegetarians. They're at pinecrumbs.com/food.

The food maps are interactive maps with pins drawn from firsthand walking experience or Community sources: restaurants, markets, regional specialties, cooking experiences, and wild food. Each pin includes its provenance and review status. You can filter by category and zoom to any section of the route. They're at pinecrumbs.com/maps.

Information marked Firsthand records food encountered while walking the route. Other spots are marked Community when they come from a local recommendation or another source rather than a documented firsthand visit. The distinction is part of every map and guide. The Pacific Crest Trail coverage is mostly Community. Some coverage is Firsthand, based on five years spent in the Pacific Northwest and on section hikes there. The site does not present it as a thru-hike or a first-person route narrative.

Each guide and map records its source and freshness. The Appalachian Trail was walked in 2017, the Shikoku Pilgrimage in 2024, the Camino Portugués in 2025, the Kumano Kodo in 2026, and Scotland's Remotest Pint route in 2026. The Pacific Crest Trail coverage is mostly Community, with some Firsthand coverage based on five years spent in the Pacific Northwest and on section hikes there. Restaurants close and things change. No food map stays current forever. Updates are made as new information comes in.

Offline GPX food waypoints are available for download. The interactive maps themselves require an internet connection, and offline map tiles are not available.

pinecrumbs currently covers:

• Appalachian Trail: 2,190 miles, Georgia to Maine (2017)
• Shikoku Pilgrimage: 88 temples across four prefectures of Shikoku, Japan (2024)
• Camino Portugués: Lisbon to Santiago de Compostela, through Portugal and Galicia (2025)
• Kumano Kodo: Nakahechi Route, Kii Peninsula, Japan (2026)
• Scotland's Remotest Pint: West Highland Way, Affric Kintail Way, and Cape Wrath Trail (2026)
• Pacific Crest Trail: coverage across Southern California, Central California, Northern California, Oregon, and Washington

Each route has a food guide at /food and an interactive map at /maps.

Yes. Which routes come next is a question of where walking happens next.

The Pinecrumbs newsletter is published at pinecrumbs.substack.com. It includes food stories, guides, maps, and occasional notes from the field.

Subscribe to the Pinecrumbs newsletter at pinecrumbs.substack.com.

For general inquiries: shewmaps@gmail.com.

Yes. Email shewmaps@gmail.com with the spot name, location, and what you know about it. Corrections are welcome.