Hiking Statistics 2026: 30+ Key Facts, Trends & Data
By Peak Gear Guide Editorial Team · Gear research & fact-checking
Quick Answer
Hiking draws roughly 61 million U.S. participants a year (Outdoor Foundation) — about double 2010’s roughly 30 million — and U.S. national parks set an all-time record with 331.9 million recreation visits in 2024 (National Park Service). The outdoor recreation economy generates roughly $1.2 trillion in gross output, about 2.3% of U.S. GDP (BEA). Every statistic below is numbered, individually linkable, and attributed to its source.
How to Cite This Page
Journalists, bloggers, and researchers are welcome to cite any statistic on this page — each numbered block has its own anchor link you can point to directly. If you use a figure, please link back to this page as the source so your readers can verify the numbers and find the original datasets.
“Hiking Statistics 2026: 30+ Key Facts, Trends & Data.” Peak Gear Guide, June 12, 2026. https://peakgearguide.com/guides/hiking-statistics
Key Takeaways
- U.S. hiking participation has roughly doubled since 2010— from about 30 million to about 61 million participants a year (Outdoor Foundation).
- U.S. national parks set an all-time record in 2024 with 331.9 million recreation visits (National Park Service).
- The NPS runs roughly 3,500 search-and-rescue operations a year, and hiking is the most common activity involved.
- Outdoor recreation generates roughly $1.2 trillion in gross output — about 2.3% of U.S. GDP (Bureau of Economic Analysis).
- Hiking burns roughly 430–550 calories per hourfor a 155–185 lb adult (Harvard Medical School).
How many people actually hike? Which park gets the most visitors? How often do hikers need rescuing — and how much is all of this worth to the economy? This page collects the key hiking statistics in one place, drawn from public sources like the Outdoor Foundation, the National Park Service, the Bureau of Economic Analysis, and the Appalachian Trail Conservancy.
Every statistic is presented the same way: a headline number, one line of context, and the organization it comes from. Each block is numbered and has its own anchor link, so you can cite a single figure rather than the whole page. Where a figure is an estimate rather than an official count, we say so explicitly — approximate and commonly cited numbers are labeled as such. We last reviewed every figure on June 12, 2026.
A note on what this page is not: it is not a forecast, and it does not blend sources into invented composites. Where organizations measure different things — participation surveys versus turnstile-style visit counts, for example — we keep their figures separate and attribute each one individually, so you always know exactly which dataset a number belongs to.
1. Hiking Participation Statistics
The headline story of the past decade and a half is growth. Hiking went from a quiet pastime to one of the most popular outdoor activities in the United States, and the broader outdoor recreation population keeps setting records. These figures come from the Outdoor Industry Association and its research arm, the Outdoor Foundation, which run the longest-standing participation surveys in the industry.
175.8 million
#1Americans — 57.3% of everyone aged 6 and over — took part in outdoor recreation in 2023, an all-time high.
Source: Outdoor Industry Association / Outdoor Foundation participation report
≈61 million
#2Hiking draws roughly 61 million U.S. participants in a typical year.
Source: Outdoor Foundation
Roughly doubled
#3U.S. hiking participation has roughly doubled since 2010 — from about 30 million to about 61 million participants.
Source: Outdoor Foundation trend data
That doubling is the single most useful number for understanding modern trail life: busier trailheads, fuller permit lotteries, and a far larger audience of first-time hikers. The next three figures sketch who those participants are and where they come from.
A top gateway activity
#4Day hiking is consistently among the top “gateway” activities that bring first-time participants outdoors.
Source: Outdoor Foundation
≈Half are women
#5Roughly half of outdoor recreation participants are women.
Source: Outdoor Industry Association
100+ million
#6Walking for fitness counts more than 100 million U.S. participants — the broadest on-ramp to trail walking and hiking.
Source: Sports & Fitness Industry Association (SFIA)
2. National Parks & Trails Statistics
Participation growth shows up directly at the gates of America’s national parks. Visitation has climbed year after year, and the trail networks those visitors walk are vast — from short interpretive loops to the long national scenic trails that take months to complete. All visitation figures below come from the National Park Service’s public counts; trail figures come from the NPS and the Appalachian Trail Conservancy.
331.9 million
#7Recreation visits to U.S. national parks in 2024 — an all-time record.
Source: National Park Service
325.5 million
#8Recreation visits in 2023, up about 13 million year over year.
Source: National Park Service
The climb is steady rather than spiky — each of the recent years added visits on top of the last, ending in 2024’s record. Beneath the system-wide totals, a handful of parks and long trails do most of the heavy lifting.
12+ million
#9Great Smoky Mountains is the most-visited national park, with more than 12 million visits a year.
Source: National Park Service
60,000+ miles
#10The National Trails System covers more than 60,000 miles of scenic and historic trails.
Source: National Park Service
433 units
#11The U.S. National Park System spans 433 units — far more than the headline parks alone.
Source: National Park Service
≈2,190 miles
#12The Appalachian Trail runs about 2,190 miles and sees roughly 3 million visitors a year.
Source: Appalachian Trail Conservancy
1 in 4
#13Roughly 3,000 people attempt an Appalachian Trail thru-hike each year, and only about 1 in 4 finish.
Source: Appalachian Trail Conservancy
≈7,900 miles
#14The Triple Crown of thru-hiking totals roughly 7,900 miles: the AT at about 2,190, the Pacific Crest Trail at about 2,650, and the Continental Divide Trail at about 3,100.
Source: Commonly cited trail mileages (approximate)
5–7 months
#15A typical Appalachian Trail thru-hike takes five to seven months to complete.
Source: Commonly cited thru-hiking timelines
3. Hiking Safety & Search-and-Rescue Statistics
More people on trail means more rescues — and the pattern of who needs rescuing is remarkably consistent. It is rarely the heavily loaded backpacker deep in the wilderness; it is the casual day hiker who set out with too little water, too little daylight, or no map. The figures and findings below come from National Park Service search-and-rescue data and from safety guidance published by the American Hiking Society and the World Health Organization.
≈3,500 operations
#16The National Park Service conducts roughly 3,500 search-and-rescue operations a year.
Source: National Park Service
No. 1 SAR activity
#17Hiking is the single most common activity involved in park search-and-rescue cases.
Source: National Park Service SAR data
Day hikers, not backpackers
#18Day hikers account for most search-and-rescue subjects, usually due to insufficient preparation.
Source: NPS / American Hiking Society guidance
Fatigue, water & wayfinding
#19The most common contributing factors in hiker rescues are fatigue, running out of water, and getting off trail.
Source: NPS / American Hiking Society
+10% UV per 1,000 m
#20UV radiation rises about 10% with every 1,000 m of altitude gained.
Source: World Health Organization
≈0.5 L per hour
#21Experts advise about half a liter of water per hour of moderate hiking.
Source: American Hiking Society
The practical reading: most rescues are preventable with basic planning. Use our water needs calculator to work out how much to carry before you leave, and read our guide to electrolytes for hiking if you sweat through long, hot days. And because UV exposure climbs with altitude, our sun protection for hiking guide covers how to shield yourself on high routes.
4. Outdoor Economy & Gear Statistics
Hiking sits inside one of the largest recreation economies in the world. The U.S. government now measures outdoor recreation as its own slice of GDP, and the gear side of the industry — footwear, packs, shelters, apparel — reflects how hikers actually spend. A note on precision: government output and jobs figures come from official accounts, while market sizes and thru-hike budgets are estimates, and we label them that way.
$1.2 trillion
#22The U.S. outdoor recreation economy generated roughly $1.2 trillion in gross output — about 2.3% of GDP.
Source: U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis (2023 data)
≈3 million jobs
#23Outdoor recreation supports about 3 million U.S. jobs.
Source: U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis
≈$5 billion
#24The global hiking gear and equipment market is valued at around $5 billion (approximate).
Source: Industry estimates such as Grand View Research (approximate)
≈3 in 4
#25Around three-quarters of Pacific Crest Trail thru-hikers wear trail runners rather than boots.
Source: Halfway Anywhere annual thru-hiker survey
$6,000–$8,000
#26Commonly cited estimates put the cost of a full Appalachian Trail thru-hike at $6,000–$8,000 including gear (approximate).
Source: Commonly cited estimates (approximate)
58+ million households
#27More than 58 million North American households camp at least once a year.
Source: KOA North American Camping Report
The trail-runner figure is the one gear takeaway worth acting on: lighter footwear has become the default for long-distance hikers, though boots still earn their place for rough terrain and heavy loads. Our roundup of the best hiking boots explains when the sturdier option is still the right call.
5. Health & Fitness Statistics
The health case for hiking is unusually well documented. It is a moderate, sustained aerobic activity that most people can do for hours at a time, and it carries a mental-health dividend that researchers have measured. These figures come from Harvard Medical School’s activity tables, the World Health Organization’s activity guidelines, and peer-reviewed research.
430–550 calories/hour
#28Hiking burns roughly 430–550 calories per hour for a 155–185 lb adult.
Source: Harvard Medical School activity tables
150–300 minutes
#29The WHO recommends 150–300 minutes of moderate aerobic activity weekly — regular hiking alone can meet it.
Source: World Health Organization
Less rumination
#30A Stanford study published in PNAS (2015) found that walking in nature reduces rumination, a thought pattern linked to depression risk.
Source: PNAS (2015), Stanford University study
2–3 mph
#31Typical hiking pace on moderate terrain is 2–3 mph; Naismith's Rule adds about an hour per 2,000 ft of elevation gain.
Source: Naismith's Rule (trip-planning convention)
If you want to turn those numbers into a plan, our guide on how to train for hiking builds fitness progressively, and the hiking pace calculator applies Naismith’s Rule to your own route so you can estimate trip time from distance and elevation gain.
6. Global Hiking Statistics
The hiking boom is not an American phenomenon. Europe’s most famous long-distance routes tell the same story of surging demand, with the Camino de Santiago’s meticulous pilgrim records offering some of the cleanest long-run data anywhere in the hiking world.
446,035 pilgrims
#32The Camino de Santiago issued 446,035 Compostela certificates in 2023, and nearly half a million in 2024 — an all-time record.
Source: Pilgrim's Office, Santiago de Compostela
≈5x since the mid-2000s
#33Camino pilgrim numbers have roughly quintupled since the mid-2000s.
Source: Pilgrim's Office records
≈25,000 hikers
#34The Tour du Mont Blanc is commonly estimated to draw roughly 25,000 hikers a season (approximate, commonly cited).
Source: Commonly cited estimates (approximate)
Taken together with the U.S. figures above, the pattern is consistent across continents: more people are walking long trails than at any point on record, and the institutions that count them keep reporting new highs.
7. Sources & Methodology
Each organization below is the primary source for the figures attributed to it in the stat blocks above.
- Outdoor Industry Association / Outdoor Foundation — annual outdoor participation reports.
- National Park Service — visitation counts, the National Trails System, and search-and-rescue data.
- Appalachian Trail Conservancy — AT mileage, visitation, and thru-hike completion data.
- U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis — outdoor recreation economy output and employment.
- World Health Organization — UV radiation and physical activity guidance.
- American Hiking Society — hydration and trail safety guidance.
- Halfway Anywhere — annual Pacific Crest Trail thru-hiker survey.
- Kampgrounds of America (KOA) — North American Camping Report.
- Harvard Medical School — calories-burned activity tables.
- Pilgrim’s Office, Santiago de Compostela — Compostela certificate statistics.
Additional figures are attributed in-line to the Sports & Fitness Industry Association (SFIA), industry estimates such as Grand View Research, and a Stanford University study published in PNAS.
Methodology:figures on this page are compiled from the cited public sources and were last reviewed on June 12, 2026. Approximate or commonly cited figures are labeled as such in the text; everything else reflects the source’s published count.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many Americans go hiking each year?
Hiking draws roughly 61 million U.S. participants a year, according to the Outdoor Foundation. That figure has roughly doubled since 2010, when about 30 million Americans hiked, and it sits inside a broader boom: 175.8 million Americans — 57.3% of everyone aged 6 and over — took part in outdoor recreation in 2023, an all-time high.
What is the most-visited national park in the United States?
Great Smoky Mountains National Park is the most-visited U.S. national park, drawing more than 12 million visits a year according to the National Park Service. Across the whole system, U.S. national parks logged 331.9 million recreation visits in 2024 — an all-time record.
What percentage of Appalachian Trail thru-hikers finish?
Only about 1 in 4 finish. Roughly 3,000 people attempt an Appalachian Trail thru-hike each year, according to the Appalachian Trail Conservancy, and a typical thru-hike takes five to seven months to cover the trail's roughly 2,190 miles.
How many calories does hiking burn?
Hiking burns roughly 430–550 calories per hour for a 155–185 lb adult, based on Harvard Medical School activity tables. The exact number depends on body weight, pack weight, terrain, and pace. Regular hiking alone can meet the WHO recommendation of 150–300 minutes of moderate aerobic activity per week.
Is hiking growing in popularity?
Yes. U.S. hiking participation has roughly doubled since 2010 — from about 30 million to about 61 million participants — according to Outdoor Foundation trend data. Outdoor recreation overall hit an all-time participation high in 2023, and U.S. national parks set a visitation record in 2024 with 331.9 million recreation visits.
How common are search-and-rescue incidents in national parks?
The National Park Service conducts roughly 3,500 search-and-rescue operations a year, and hiking is the single most common activity involved in those cases. Day hikers — not backpackers — account for most subjects, usually due to insufficient preparation; the most common contributing factors are fatigue, running out of water, and getting off trail.
Related Guides
Peak Gear Guide Editorial Team
Gear research & fact-checking
Jake has spent 15 years hiking and writing about trails and gear across the Appalachian Trail, Pacific Crest Trail, and mountain ranges throughout North America and Europe. For this page he compiled participation, visitation, safety, and economic figures from the public sources listed above. His work is independent and unsponsored.