How Much Can You Hike In A Day? (Time / Distance)
When organizing a hike, one of the crucial factors to consider is how far and how long it’s going to take. After all, you don’t want to find yourself trying to find the way to your camp with a small flashlight after sundown. So, how much can you hike in a day?
As a general rule, you can hike 7-15 miles (11-24 km) per day. Excluding breaks, a typical trekking day lasts between 5 and 10 hours. Your potential hiking distance is influenced by your level of fitness, the weight of your bag, the terrain, and the weather.
This general rule of thumb depends on many different factors you might need to consider. We’ll cover the facts and considerations in this post.
How far can you hike in a day?
As mentioned before, the average hiker can cover between 7 and 15 miles a day. But the distance you can reasonably cover is affected by multiple different factors.
- Fitness level. As you might expect, avid hikers can cover much larger distances than beginners. That’s because experienced hikers built their fitness level over time, going on longer and longer hikes. Beginners should stick to shorter walks, and learn their capabilities, building strength and fitness over time.
In fact, I’d recommend beginner hikers to start with short day trips, to get more into shape before going on challenging long treks. They’ll also find out what their capabilities are, and have a better idea of what hikes they should and shouldn’t take. Going on a 15 miles-a-day hike isn’t something most beginners can do, or enjoy. So start small. - Weight of bag and equipment. The weight you carry is a major factor in how much you can walk. With heavier backpacks, you’ll get tired much faster, leading you to take more breaks and cover a lower distance.
Generally, every hiker should try to minimize the weight of their backpack and equipment. A general rule of thumb is that you shouldn’t carry over 20% of your body weight. Of course, if you’re carrying a backpack full of food, clothes, a tent, and more, sometimes this wouldn’t be reasonable.
As you get into the hobby, you can get dedicated lightweight equipment, and also learn what stuff you do and don’t use, so you can reduce the number of items you carry. - Terrain. Of course, hiking through challenging terrain takes longer. For example, walking uphill takes longer than walking the same distance on flat terrain. Going downhill is just as difficult – walking downhill puts a lot of strain on your knees, slowing you down. Even if the surface is flat but uneven, it will slow you down. On such terrain, you must carefully choose where and how to step, which takes longer than normal walking.
The nature of the terrain affects your speed as well. Is it a typical trail? Is it strewn with mud, sand, or snow? Some areas are more difficult to navigate through than others. - Weather. Hiking in pleasant weather is much easier than hiking on a hot summer day or on a snowy winter day.
When hiking on a hot day, you will tire faster and need to stop more frequently to rest and drink water.
However, walking can be difficult on cold winter days. For example, if you’re walking in the rain and wind, you’ll have a more difficult time covering ground.
These various factors all have an impact on your hiking ability and the distance you can cover. The more difficult your hike, the slower you will most likely be.
How fast do hikers walk?
Most hikers travel at an average speed of 2.1 miles per hour (3.4 km per hour). Along with the hikers’ level of fitness and the weight of their equipment, the ground’s slope affects the hikers’ speed.
Hiking speed was actually empirically studied, for example by Waldo Tobler, who estimated Tobler’s hiking function((Wikipedia contributors. “Tobler’s hiking function.” Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, 14 Sep. 2022. Web. 3 Oct. 2022.))). It was also estimated in Naismith’s rule((Wikipedia contributors. “Naismith’s rule.” Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, 14 Sep. 2022. Web. 3 Oct. 2022.)): “Allow one hour for every 3 miles (5 km) forward, plus an additional hour for every 2,000 feet (600 m) of ascent”.
According to Tobler’s hiking function, a hiker’s speed will be highest in a slight descent, but for a very large sloped terrain, their speed will also start to reduce.
Here are some sample values from Tobler’s hiking function, as well as additional estimates for the maximum mileage a hiker can cover in 5 and 8 hours based on the function:
| Slope (degrees) | Average Hiker’s Maximal Speed (mph) | Highest Mileage in 5 hours | Highest Mileage in 8 hours |
| -20 | 1.2 | 6.2 | 9.9 |
| -10 | 2.4 | 12.0 | 19.2 |
| 0 | 3.1 | 15.6 | 25.0 |
| 5 | 2.3 | 11.5 | 18.4 |
| 10 | 1.7 | 8.4 | 13.5 |
| 20 | 0.9 | 4.4 | 7.0 |
You can apply these rules when planning your hike. Of course, in general, when hiking you’ll ascent and descent as you move forward. However, you can gauge your hiking speed by looking at the hike’s terrain.
I did a calculation using Tobler’s hiking function, accounting for the fact that smaller slopes (up to 6 degrees) are more typical than larger ones. I, therefore, determined that the typical hiking speed should be about 2.1 mph. This is, of course, only a preliminary estimate.
Considering the different factors we discussed that might affect your pace, these rules should be considered a maximal pace.
Conclusions
In this post, we discussed how far and how fast you can hike in a day. An average hiker can hike between 7 and 15 miles per day, at a maximal average speed of around 2.1 miles per hour.
Of course, different factors influence your ability to hike, like your fitness level, the weight of your equipment, the terrain, and the weather.
As you hike more and more, you’ll learn your capabilities, and be able to better estimate how far you’re personally able to hike in a day. But in the meantime, I hope these rough estimations are helpful.
FAQ
Can I Hike 10 miles a day?
Most novice hikers should be able to cover up to 10 miles in a day, depending on their degree of fitness, the weight of their gear, the terrain, and the weather.
Can I Hike 20 miles a day?
While possible, hiking 20 miles a day can be quite challenging. Experienced hikers can hike 20 miles a day, with light equipment. Beginners should start with shorter hikes to increase their fitness before attempting longer ones.
How far can you hike in 5 hours?
An average hiker can cover 10 miles in 5 hours by walking at a pace of about 2 miles per hour. It should be obvious that this is based on the hiker’s fitness, their equipment, terrain, and weather.
