Hiking Time Calculator

All three describe more work to cover: a longer Distance means more ground to walk at your chosen Pace, a slower Pace (a higher minutes-per-mile number) means the same distance takes longer, and more Elevation Gain adds proportionally more climbing time on top. None of these three inputs can ever shorten the estimate — each one only adds to either the Base Time or the Elevation Time component, so the total only ever moves upward as any of them increases.

It's the elevation-gain half of Naismith's Rule, a hiking-time rule of thumb first published in 1892 that's still the standard starting point for trip planning: allow one hour for the flat-ground distance at a typical walking pace, then add one more hour for every 2,000 feet (about 600 meters) of ascent. Switching to Metric mode swaps the underlying math to the equivalent 600-meters-per-hour ratio, but the Elevation Gain field's on-screen label still reads "feet" — the interface doesn't relabel it, so you're entering meters into a field that visually says feet.

Only indirectly, through the Pace input — a faster hiker can enter a lower minutes-per-mile pace to shorten the Base Time. It does not separately model fitness level, pack weight, trail surface, weather, or rest stops, all of which real hikers commonly adjust Naismith's Rule for using supplementary corrections. Treat the output as a baseline you should personally calibrate against your own past hikes.

Distance, Elevation Gain, and Pace are interpreted differently depending on the unit system: in Imperial mode the same numeric value means miles, feet, and minutes-per-mile, while in Metric mode the identical numbers are read as kilometers, meters, and minutes-per-kilometer. Because a kilometer is shorter than a mile and a meter is shorter than a foot, entering the same raw numbers under a different unit system describes a physically different hike, so switching the toggle without updating your inputs will change the estimate. Note that only the math changes when you toggle — the input field labels stay fixed at "miles," "feet," and "min/mile" in both modes, so you have to remember which unit system you intend rather than reading it off the field.

It estimates a single one-way trip based on the Distance and Elevation Gain you enter — it does not automatically double the time for an out-and-back hike or account for the fact that descent is generally faster than ascent. For a round trip, run the calculator once for the outbound leg and once for the return leg with the appropriate elevation change for each direction.