Choosing a Great Hike

By John McKinney

What’s a great hike?

It’s a question as difficult to answer, as unanswerable perhaps, as “What is great art?” or “What is great music?” Objectivity in these matters is impossible, statistical analysis inappropriate, a rating system downright ridiculous.

Some insight into what comprises a great hike comes from my range of field experience. I’ve explored considerably more than a thousand trails in America, plus many pathways abroad during a 25-year span as a “hiking writer.” Most, if not all, of these trails had one or more distinctly pleasurable sights and at the very least offered some good exercise.

I’ve also discussed the notion of a great hike at some length with dozens of trail builders, fitness consultants, park service professionals, and experienced hikers. No two experts agreed what defined a great hike, of course, but some common themes emerged.

Elements contributing to a great hike are:

• Unusual landforms
• Forests, ancient or at least mature.
• Wildflowers, intriguing flora
• Splendid views
• Lakes, rivers, ocean shores
• Tranquility and solitude
• Wildlife watching
• Cultural or historical interest

To help pick the best hikes in a region, I rely heavily on the advice of National Park Service rangers, Forest Service naturalists, Sierra Club outings group leaders, nature center directors, professional tour leaders, and many local hikers. Nevertheless, I always make it clear that the final selection of the hikes included in my hiking guidebooks is mine and the many outdoors consultants who aided me should be thanked for their invaluable expertise and be held blameless for my admittedly subjective decision-making process.

Quite apart from my not-very-scientific criteria, a great hike often depends on what a hiker brings on the hike. No, I’m not referring to a hiker’s knapsack packed with lunch, water bottle and compass,” but to the point-of-view a walker brings to the great outdoors. Some walkers are looking for romance, some for trout, some for leg-stretchers to break up a vacation drive, some for a week-long hike that’s a vacation from driving.

A great hike for a family might be one in which baby can come along, perched happily in a backpack; or one that tires out a four-year old so he’ll nap in the car during the two-hour drive back to the motel; or a stirring sojourn that puts a smile on the face of even the most sullen teenager.

For Happy Trails, Choose Your Hiking Experience

Choosing what kind of experience you wish to have on the trail—is just as important as selecting a trail to hike. Ask yourself these questions:

• What kind of social experience am I looking for—solitude, first date, male-bonding, girlfriend gabbing, grandparent-grandchild nurturing, romance?

• Is watching wildlife a goal? Want to photograph a moose, ID a dozen species of water birds?

• What’s my interest level in flora and flowering plants?

• How out there do I want to get? How remote a trail do you want to hike?

• How far, how long do I want to travel to the trailhead?

• What ancillary activities do I enjoy on the trail—swimming, fishing, photography, rock scrambling?