Hiking in the United States Voyage Tips and guide

Hiking in the United States lets you immerse yourself in the natural landscapes of the geologically diverse country. The low population density of large swathes of the nation, the multitude of national parks and other protected lands, and the rugged mountains of the West and the Appalachians make the U.S. one the best hiking destinations in the world.

This article assumes you have some familiarity with universal hiking skills and concepts, and focuses on what you might find different or special in the U.S. compared to other places.

What Americans call a "hike" varies widely. At minimum, it refers to a walk in a relatively natural or undeveloped environment. In rural or mountainous regions, it implies an unpaved foot trail and at least some elevation change. Hikes range from paved ADA (wheelchair) accessible interpretive paths, to climber trails ascending 10,000 ft (3,000 m) to the highest points of mountain ranges, blurring the line between hiking, scrambling and mountaineering.

There are many for whom hiking is their main hobby, who keep up on the latest gear trends and challenge themselves to hike dozens of miles in a day, or thousands of miles in a season. Even these people never exhaust the hiking opportunities in some regions of the country.

Thru-hiking refers to completing a long distance trail from end-to-end in a single trip. The Pacific Crest Trail, Appalachian Trail and Continental Divide Trail, the first three long-distance trails in the U.S., each stretch over 2,000 mi (3,200 km) from southernmost parts of the country all the way to the Canadian Border. Thru-hiking all of these three trails is known as the Triple Crown of Hiking.

Plan ahead before you get going. Compared to many other parts of the world, your hike in the U.S. is more likely to:

• not have services of any kind near the trailhead
• not have amenities or man-made structures of any kind away from the trailhead
• take you out of cell service range
• take you tens or hundreds of miles from the nearest human settlement
• have rough, poorly-marked or indistinct trails

Trails are typically described and marked by their mileage, either one-way or round-trip/out-and-back, and by their elevation change in feet. They are rarely marked in terms of minutes or hours between waypoints, leaving time estimation up to the hiker's fitness and comfort on the terrain. A rough estimate for a fit person on a well-maintained trail of moderate grade is about 2 miles per hour, or you can use "Naismith's Rule": one hour for every 3 miles (5 km) forward, plus an additional hour for every 2,000 feet (600 m) of ascent. Of course, trail conditions vary, and a rough path will slow you down.

Bring more water and food than is necessary for the amount of time you plan to spend. Know the weather of the place you plan to hike, since extreme weather is more common and much more dangerous in unpopulated areas.

Trailheads typically have a parking lot for cars (often unpaved), a signpost with a map and regulatory information, restroom facilities (often a rudimentary outhouse), and in some cases picnic tables and a water fountain. The most-visited trailheads may even have a visitor center.

Some trailheads lead to multiple trails; make sure you start on the right one. Some are starting points for extensive trail networks, leading hundreds of miles deep into the wilderness. The farther from a trailhead you get, the poorer you can expect the route markers and signage to be.

If you can't or don't want to drive, getting to the trailhead can be a challenge. Some great hikes have bus access, often near large cities or in the most popular national parks, but most don't. Taking a rideshare or taxi to the trailhead is a risky option, because you may not have cell phone service to arrange a pick-up.

It's best to stick to the trails and not leave the path, especially in forested areas, high-elevation deserts and grasslands. Among sand dunes with no vegetation, the path may be poorly marked, and in such situation deviating from it is not frowned upon – except in high-elevation deserts, which are especially fragile.

Some regions of the country have better hiking opportunities than others. The West has the open spaces, but at the same time it can also be dangerous due to wildlife, extreme temperatures, and the extremely low-density population of many areas.

Nearly all of the national parks have hiking opportunities, as do many of the national monuments and other national scenic areas. Many of the parks are geared more for hiking than any other activity. Park maps usually clearly show hiking trails.

National Forests cover large portions of the western mountains and other undeveloped areas, and make up the bulk of the lands available for hiking and other outdoors recreation. These lands have fewer services than national parks - popular trailheads may be miles down a gravel road, with no facilities nearby.

State parks are managed by state governments instead of the federal government. Experiences vary widely by state: they're often (but not always) smaller and not quite as dramatic as National Parks, but they provide a good idea of the countryside found in a region.

Tribal Reservations sometimes have their own parks. For example, the Navajo Nation operates the famous Monument Valley Navajo Tribal Park. These parks have a lot in common with the National Parks, but generally have more limited access. (For example, Monument Valley has hardly any hiking trails open to the public.)

• Hiking in the East Bay — hikes east of the San Francisco Bay in California

Main article: United States National Trails System

United States National Trails are much longer than most other trails; these provide opportunities for hikes comparable in length to what people such as Lewis and Clark explored. Two well-known examples are the Appalachian Trail and the Pacific Crest Trail. They also include two of the longest hiking trails in the world: the American Discovery Trail from the west coast to the east coast, and the Continental Divide Trail along the Rocky Mountains from the Canadian border in Montana to the Mexican border in New Mexico.

Even if you're unable to squeeze in a 2,000-mile jaunt into your tour of the states, consider a hiking a short section of one. These trails tend to link up with the most spectacular short trails of a region.

Wikivoyage features guides for many of these trails:

• Ala Kahakai National Historic Trail
• Appalachian Trail — a U.S. National Scenic Trail that follows the Appalachian Mountain Range
• Continental Divide National Scenic Trail
• Ice Age Trail
• Juan Bautista de Anza National Historic Trail
• Lewis and Clark National Historic Trail
• Natchez Trace National Scenic Trail
• Pacific Crest National Scenic Trail
• Oregon National Historic Trail
• Pony Express National Historic Trail — the Pony Express was once how mail was delivered across the country
• Santa Fe National Historic Trail
• Trail Of Tears National Historic Trail

Wikivoyage features in-depth guides for the following trails:

• Arroyo del Valle Trail — short hike near Livermore, California
• Colorado Trail
• Ohlone Trail — crosses the ridges south of Livermore in California

Hiking areas generally have camping areas too. National parks and places near cities will typically have better facilities, like restrooms, campfire pits and picnic tables.

You can expect some form of lodging near any of the national parks and any state parks that are near cities. For popular parks like the Grand Canyon, book your hotel rooms many months ahead because everyone else is doing exactly the same thing. These kinds of places try to manage the number of visitors they receive by limiting the nearby lodging options.

For advice on sleeping in the backcountry on a multi-day hike, see Wilderness backpacking.

If you've never been to desolate areas, you may be underestimating how far away you are from help, even in well-known areas. Unlike in some parts of the world where hikers are never far from a town or city, in the United States many hiking trails are too remote to make emergency calls possible.

Even if you are able to call for help, it may take hours or days for help to arrive; the members of your Search and Rescue team were probably living their daily lives in the metro area you flew into, and have to drive to the trailhead and hike down the trail just as you did.

Main article: Dangerous animals

Rattlesnakes are widespread across the western interior, and various species of other poisonous snakes are encountered in the south and southeast.

Alligators are found in the coastal south, especially in Florida and the Gulf Coast. By staying away from wetland areas, you will reduce your chance of having a dangerous encounter with alligators, since they are often found around the edges of ponds.

Two large predators, mountain lions and black bears, are widespread throughout the country. A black bear is much more likely to steal your food than to harm you, but attacks do happen. Fortunately, mountain lion attacks are exceedingly rare. Brown (grizzly) bears are found across Alaska and parts of the northern Rockies: Montana, Idaho and Wyoming. They are larger and more aggressive than black bears. Wolves are also found in those regions.

Main article: Poisonous plants

Watch out for poison ivy and poison oak, which can cause a nasty, itchy rash just by touching them, or even by touching clothing that has touched them. Poison ivy grows east of the Rocky Mountains; poison oak grows in the west. Both can be identified by remembering the rhyme, "Leaves of three, let it be."

Main article: Arid region safety

Always bring enough water for the hike you are planning to do, with some extra in case you get lost or delayed. Allow at least 1–1.5L per person per hour, more if it's hot or you are pushing the edge of your physical fitness. This is especially important in deserts and arid areas, where there may be no surface water. If you run out of the water you packed, you won't be finding any more.

Do not venture onto privately-owned land without the owner's permission. Private property is strongly protected under U.S. law, so trespassing could get you into legal trouble. In a few areas, it is even legal for owners to shoot people in defense of their property. If you need to take refuge on privately-owned land during an emergency, be sure to appropriately notify the owner.

In some nature preserves, it's legal for residents to hunt animals with guns or bows, at least for part of the year. If you're hiking during a local hunting season (typically in autumn), read up on safety precautions, such as wearing bright orange and calling out "Hikers on the trail!" so hunters in the distance won't mistake you for a deer. In certain areas it's just not safe to hike during hunting season.

Hunting is generally prohibited within national parks. However, hunting is often allowed in the national forests that surround some parks.

• Cycling in the United States
• Hiking and bushwalking in Australia