How to use the hiking time calculator
- Enter the distance of the hike and the total climb, which is all the uphill added together.
- Choose miles or kilometers and feet or meters. The tool converts what you enter.
- Set your walking speed on the flat, your climbing rate, and any slowdown for a heavy pack or rough trail. Add breaks in minutes per hour.
- Enter a start time to see when you would finish, then read the moving time, breaks and total.
Formula
Walking time = distance / speed on the flat
Climbing time = total climb / climbing rate
Moving time = (walking time + climbing time) x (1 + slowdown)
Total time = moving time + moving time x break minutes / 60
Naismith's rule adds one hour for every 3 miles (5 km) walked and one hour for every 2,000 feet (600 m) climbed. Both rates are editable here.
Worked example
A hike of 8 miles with 2,200 feet of climb needs 8 / 3 = 2.667 hours of walking and 2,200 / 2,000 = 1.1 hours for the climb. That is 3 h 46 min of moving time.
Breaks of 10 minutes per hour add 38 minutes, so the total is 4 h 24 min, and a start at 8:00 AM finishes at about 12:24 PM. Adding a 50 percent slowdown with no breaks raises moving time to 5 h 39 min.
A rule of thumb, not a promise
Naismith's rule is a long-used rule of thumb for planning walks in hills. It is simple and often close for fit walkers on a good trail. It does not account for steep descents, which can be slow, nor for altitude, heat, snow, rough footing or a heavy pack. Use your own recorded pace if you have one, and treat the answer as a minimum.
Plan around daylight
Add margin to the estimate and check sunset times for the day. Start early, carry a light and know your turnaround time. For longer or harder routes take the weather forecast, water and navigation seriously. Pace conversions are in the pace calculator, and step counts are in the steps to miles converter.
Fitness
Climbing rate drops as hikes get longer or higher, and fitness makes a big difference. For a sense of your fitness see the VO2 max calculator, and for race planning the race time predictor.
Assumptions and limits
- Naismith's rule, with the default pace of 3 mph and climbing rate of 2,000 feet per hour, is used as a starting point. Both are editable.
- The route is entered as one distance and one total climb. Steep descents are not modeled.
- Breaks are a fixed number of minutes for each hour of moving time.
- Weather, terrain, altitude and group speed are not modeled beyond the slowdown percent you enter.
Frequently asked questions
How long does it take to hike 8 miles?
On flat ground at 3 mph, about 2 hours 40 minutes, plus extra for climbing and breaks. With 2,200 feet of climb, about 3 hours 46 minutes of moving time.
What is Naismith's rule?
A rule of thumb that allows one hour per 3 miles of distance plus one hour per 2,000 feet of climb.
Does the tool account for going downhill?
No. Naismith's rule adds nothing for descent, and steep descents can be slow. Add time with the slowdown field.
How should I count the climb?
Add all uphill sections together. A trail that goes up and down repeatedly has more total climb than its net change in elevation.