Hiking Statistics Updated November 2026

Human Written & Fact Checked · Updated

100 US Hiking Statistics for 2026

Do you want to know how many Americans hike, or how much pressure a particular trail receives? Those questions need different evidence. A participation survey counts people, while a trail visitation model counts repeatable visits and a volunteer report records work.

This page combines national hiking findings with original Appalachian Trail and Pacific Crest Trail records. It preserves each source's geography and population instead of presenting a long-distance hiking survey as a picture of every American who takes a walk. State figures identify the trail sections visited, whereas respondent residence identifies where surveyed hikers live.

Updated November 2026. OIA's current public summary reports historical participation data. The ATC volunteer citations use the fiscal year's September endpoint, explicitly not an assumed publication month. The other citation months identify the dated source release or report version.

Headline figures

  • US hiking participants aged 6+: 63.4 million. (OIA, Aug 2026)
  • Share of the US population aged 6+ that hiked: 20.5 %. (OIA, Aug 2026)
  • Core hikers participating13 or more times annually: 16.7 million. (OIA, Aug 2026)
  • Appalachian Trail recreation visits: 16.9 million. (ATC / NPS, Mar 2026)
  • Virginia visits: 4,306,369. (ATC / NPS, Mar 2026)
  • Mean respondent age: 44 years. (The Trek, Dec 2025)
  • Mean duration among self-reported thru-hike completers: 153 days. (The Trek, Dec 2025)
  • Mean reported thru-hike cost: 7680 USD. (The Trek, Dec 2025)
  • Volunteer service: 56844 hours. (PCTA, Feb 2026)
  • Trail maintained or logged out: 1140 miles. (PCTA, Feb 2026)
  • Individual Appalachian Trail volunteers: 4592 people. (ATC, Sep 2025)
  • Appalachian Trail volunteer service: 155256 hours. (ATC, Sep 2025)

How many Americans hike, and how often?

Hiking's national reach and its frequency of participation tell different stories. Growth in the number of participants does not automatically reveal the workload faced by any particular trail manager.

What does the national participation estimate cover?

  • Additional hiking participants since 2019: more than 13 million. (OIA, Aug 2026)

OIA's findings cover US residents aged six and older who reported hiking in the underlying year. They describe annual participation, including occasional hikers, instead of a daily count of people outdoors. The report's title and its observation year are different. A newly published summary does not turn historical observations into a real-time population estimate. The headline participation figures therefore retain their original period throughout this page. Nor should a visitor count from a famous trail be divided by the national participant estimate to calculate market share: a person can make repeated visits, and a trail can receive international visitors. The national evidence is useful for understanding the category's reach, while local demand needs local measurement.

Is frequent hiking growing faster than hiking overall?

  • Five-year average annual growth of core hiking: 7.6 %. (OIA, Aug 2026)
  • Five-year average annual growth of all hiking: 5.2 %. (OIA, Aug 2026)
  • Hikers also participating in other outdoor activities: more than 90 %. (OIA, Aug 2026)

The source reports faster average annual growth for its core-hiker segment than for hiking overall. Core participation uses an annual outing threshold, so it measures frequency within the category instead of a separate sport. That distinction counts for equipment demand, maintenance planning and community programmes. A larger population of occasional hikers can coexist with more frequent use by committed participants. The cross-activity finding also means that hiking audiences overlap with other outdoor activities. It would be wrong to add those audiences together and call the result unique consumers. These findings come from the same OIA research programme; the trail records elsewhere on this page provide operational context, not independent replication of the national survey.

Where are Appalachian Trail visits concentrated?

The state table is a map of use, not a census of unique hikers. Border-crossing trips can contribute to more than one state, making the combined state count larger than the trailwide total.

Which northern and central states recorded the most visits?

  • Recreation visits on NPS-managed Appalachian Trail land: 6.2 million. (ATC / NPS, Mar 2026)
  • New Hampshire visits: 2,879,020. (ATC / NPS, Mar 2026)
  • Pennsylvania visits: 2,702,091. (ATC / NPS, Mar 2026)
  • New York visits: 1,604,469. (ATC / NPS, Mar 2026)
  • North Carolina visits: 1,523,824. (ATC / NPS, Mar 2026)
  • Massachusetts visits: 1,075,575. (ATC / NPS, Mar 2026)
  • New Jersey visits: 1,037,730. (ATC / NPS, Mar 2026)

The largest listed counts sit in heavily used sections of the corridor. They do not measure resident participation in the states named below. The source combines mobile-location modelling with counters and field observations. These estimates should not be treated as exact turnstile counts or as completed long-distance journeys. The national-park-land observation uses a narrower land-management boundary than the full corridor, so it is a subset instead of an additional trail. State totals are shown at the source's published precision; that precision does not remove modelling uncertainty. The leading state's count is already included in the takeaways.

What do the remaining state visit counts show?

  • Georgia visits: 643,738. (ATC / NPS, Mar 2026)
  • Connecticut visits: 535,327. (ATC / NPS, Mar 2026)
  • Vermont visits: 532,805. (ATC / NPS, Mar 2026)
  • Maryland visits: 518,594. (ATC / NPS, Mar 2026)
  • Tennessee visits: 477,349. (ATC / NPS, Mar 2026)
  • West Virginia visits: 274,164. (ATC / NPS, Mar 2026)
  • Maine visits: 84,548. (ATC / NPS, Mar 2026)

The remaining states still record substantial trail use, but lower counts do not establish lower hiking popularity among residents. Corridor length, access points, trip patterns and the model's coverage all affect the comparison. A visitor crossing a state line on the same day is counted in each state visited. Multi-day journeys can also contribute repeated daily observations. Consequently, these rows should support local access and stewardship discussions, not rankings of how active a state's population is. The same caution applies when comparing a short trail segment with a much longer one. A countrywide participation rate requires a population survey instead of this table.

How should the published state percentages be interpreted?

  • Virginia state-table share: 23.7 %. (ATC / NPS, Mar 2026)
  • New Hampshire state-table share: 15.8 %. (ATC / NPS, Mar 2026)
  • Pennsylvania state-table share: 14.9 %. (ATC / NPS, Mar 2026)
  • New York state-table share: 8.8 %. (ATC / NPS, Mar 2026)
  • North Carolina state-table share: 8.4 %. (ATC / NPS, Mar 2026)
  • Massachusetts state-table share: 5.9 %. (ATC / NPS, Mar 2026)
  • New Jersey state-table share: 5.7 %. (ATC / NPS, Mar 2026)
  • Georgia state-table share: 3.5 %. (ATC / NPS, Mar 2026)
  • Connecticut state-table share: 2.9 %. (ATC / NPS, Mar 2026)
  • Vermont state-table share: 2.9 %. (ATC / NPS, Mar 2026)
  • Maryland state-table share: 2.9 %. (ATC / NPS, Mar 2026)
  • Tennessee state-table share: 2.6 %. (ATC / NPS, Mar 2026)
  • West Virginia state-table share: 1.5 %. (ATC / NPS, Mar 2026)
  • Maine state-table share: 0.5 %. (ATC / NPS, Mar 2026)

These are the percentages printed alongside the overlapping state counts. They are not shares of unique people.

Who responded to the Appalachian Trail hiker survey?

A voluntary long-distance hiking survey provides detail that national participation totals cannot. It also selects a narrower audience, so its demographic profile must remain attached to its respondents.

What does the age profile actually tell us?

  • Respondents in the voluntary survey: 279. (The Trek, Dec 2025)
  • Median respondent age: 37 years. (The Trek, Dec 2025)
  • Most common respondent age: 26 years. (The Trek, Dec 2025)
  • Youngest respondent age: 12 years. (The Trek, Dec 2025)
  • Oldest respondent age: 73 years. (The Trek, Dec 2025)

The sample spans younger and older hikers, and its median and most common age describe different aspects of that distribution. The mean already showed above should not be treated as the age of a typical American hiker. The Trek recruited through its readership and social channels instead of drawing a probability sample of US residents. People who stayed engaged with the trail community may be more likely to respond than those who left early. The sample size therefore supplies context for these descriptive findings, not a population denominator for extrapolation. Age extremes are individual observations and should not be used to infer common trip patterns or ability.

How did residence, education and occupation vary?

  • Respondents identifying as White: 96 %. (The Trek, Dec 2025)
  • Respondents resident in the United States: 93 %. (The Trek, Dec 2025)
  • Other countries represented: 9. (The Trek, Dec 2025)
  • Respondents from Colorado: 10. (The Trek, Dec 2025)
  • Respondents holding bachelor or graduate/professional degrees: about 75 %. (The Trek, Dec 2025)
  • Respondents working in STEM and professional services: 40 %. (The Trek, Dec 2025)
  • Respondents who were students: 6.8 %. (The Trek, Dec 2025)
  • Respondents who were educators: 4.7 %. (The Trek, Dec 2025)

Respondents were predominantly US residents and frequently held higher-education qualifications. Those findings describe who answered this particular survey, instead of establishing access barriers or their causes across the whole population. Country and state of residence are not hiking destinations. Education and occupation are separate characteristics, and the occupational categories below should not be added to the education share. The sample's limited demographic breadth also makes subgroup comparisons fragile. Read the chart as a descriptive profile, not a nationally weighted distribution.

How much time and money did surveyed hikers report?

Trip averages can conceal very different experiences. Completion, duration and spending also use different subsets of respondents, so a single "typical thru-hike" assembled from all of them would be misleading.

How do completion and time-off responses differ?

  • Respondents reporting a thru-hike exceeding 2,000 miles: 63.7 %. (The Trek, Dec 2025)
  • Respondents reported as not completing a thru-hike: 43. (The Trek, Dec 2025)
  • Non-completers who had intended only a section hike: 39 %. (The Trek, Dec 2025)
  • Respondents citing summer holidays as their time-off arrangement: nearly 8 %. (The Trek, Dec 2025)

The survey reports completion alongside reasons for not completing a full thru-hike. A planned section hike is not a failed attempt, and the non-completer subgroup must not be used as the denominator for the entire survey. The published completion proportion and the separately discussed non-completer count do not form a simple exhaustive partition of all respondents. We preserve their reported scope instead of calculating a new failure rate from them. Summer holidays describe a time-off arrangement, not a completion outcome. Self-selection also counts: someone who abandoned a trip may be less likely to answer a hiking survey months later. These results therefore cannot establish an unconditional probability of finishing the trail.

How varied were reported duration and daily distance?

  • Longest reported completed thru-hike: 223 days. (The Trek, Dec 2025)
  • Shortest reported completed thru-hike: 64 days. (The Trek, Dec 2025)
  • Mean self-reported daily distance among thru-hikers: 14.3 miles. (The Trek, Dec 2025)
  • Most common self-reported daily distance: 15 miles. (The Trek, Dec 2025)
  • Respondents satisfied with their start date: 89 %. (The Trek, Dec 2025)

The duration statistics apply to respondents who said they completed a thru-hike. They should not be combined with partial-trip durations to estimate an average for every person who started walking. The author warns that daily mileage is a loose self-report and may exclude rest days. Multiplying it by a separately reported duration therefore does not reconstruct a verified route distance. The shortest and longest reports are extremes, not recommended schedules. Start-date satisfaction measures how people evaluated their own timing after the event; it does not identify a generally suitable starting date. Weather, access and personal circumstances still require trip-specific planning.

Why is the spending distribution more useful than one average?

  • Mean reported gear spending: 2113 USD. (The Trek, Dec 2025)
  • Respondents reporting total spending below $1,000: about 13 people. (The Trek, Dec 2025)
  • Respondents reporting total spending above $15,000: about 13 people. (The Trek, Dec 2025)
  • Respondents reporting gear spending above $10,000: 1 person. (The Trek, Dec 2025)

Reported trip and gear spending vary widely. The separate gear figure should not automatically be added to the trip average because the public summary does not establish an identical, mutually exclusive accounting treatment for every respondent. The low and high spending groups illustrate the spread of answers, not reliable price bands for a future journey. Trip length, accommodation choices, prior equipment ownership and the way respondents interpreted the question can all matter. The chart retains the original survey's distribution and currency. Treat the figures as historical self-reported planning context; they are not a current supplier quotation, a minimum budget or a promise about what a complete journey will cost.

What work kept the Pacific Crest Trail accessible?

A popular trail needs continuing repair and trained people. PCTA's operational records measure that work directly, but neither volunteer hours nor staff encounters can substitute for a count of all trail users.

What did maintenance and repair produce?

  • Trail reconstructed or constructed: 21 miles. (PCTA, Feb 2026)
  • Stone cribbing constructed: 953 feet. (PCTA, Feb 2026)
  • Log cribbing constructed: 237 feet. (PCTA, Feb 2026)
  • Corps crew and partner contributions: 14410 hours. (PCTA, Feb 2026)
  • Fallen trees removed in the reported San Jacinto project: 106 trees. (PCTA, Feb 2026)
  • San Jacinto corridor covered by the fallen-tree removal: 22 miles. (PCTA, Feb 2026)
  • Overgrown brush cleared north of San Jacinto Peak: 5 miles. (PCTA, Feb 2026)
  • Drainage structures repaired north of Snoqualmie Pass: more than 30 structures. (PCTA, Feb 2026)
  • Volunteers in the PCTA demographic table: 1013 people. (PCTA, Feb 2026)

PCTA recorded reconstruction, supporting structures and work on named problem areas during the year. These are outputs of the reported programme, not an inventory of every maintenance need along the entire corridor. Length, structure counts and volunteer numbers use different units and cannot be added into a single total. Local results retain their locations.

How did training build the capacity to maintain trails?

  • Trail Skills College weekends: 2 events. (PCTA, Feb 2026)
  • Classes at Trail Skills College weekends: 14 classes. (PCTA, Feb 2026)
  • Participants at Trail Skills College weekends: 77 participants. (PCTA, Feb 2026)
  • Trail skills trainings and day projects: 7 events. (PCTA, Feb 2026)
  • Participants at trail skills trainings and day projects: 64 participants. (PCTA, Feb 2026)
  • Saw training and certification weekends: 8 events. (PCTA, Feb 2026)
  • New and certified sawyers in those trainings: 43 people. (PCTA, Feb 2026)
  • Crew leadership courses: 2 courses. (PCTA, Feb 2026)
  • Crew leadership course participants: 17 people. (PCTA, Feb 2026)

The programme recorded colleges, hands-on day sessions, saw certification and crew-leadership courses. Training supports safe technical work and crew organisation. Attendance is not necessarily a count of distinct people across all events: the same volunteer may join several sessions. Course counts likewise cannot be substituted for the number of people qualified to perform a task. These figures describe delivered training in the reporting year, not the workforce available on a particular future date.

What do Crest Runner contacts reveal about trail use?

  • Crest Runner interactions: 2228 contacts. (PCTA, Feb 2026)
  • Crest Runner interactions with thru-hikers: 1932 contacts. (PCTA, Feb 2026)
  • Crest Runner interactions with section hikers covering 500 miles or more: 85 contacts. (PCTA, Feb 2026)
  • Crest Runner interactions with backpackers covering less than 500 miles: 111 contacts. (PCTA, Feb 2026)
  • Crest Runner interactions with day hikers: 91 contacts. (PCTA, Feb 2026)

Crest Runners recorded encounters with different types of trail user near the southern terminus. These are staff contacts in the programme's operating area, not a census of everyone using the Pacific Crest Trail. The named categories do not sum exactly to the published total, so we retain each reported value instead of forcing reconciliation. The report separates long section hikes from shorter backpacking trips by distance; that programme-specific classification should not be imposed on other sources. A person encountered repeatedly may contribute multiple contacts. The figures are useful for understanding the audience reached by information and stewardship work, but not for calculating national participation or a trailwide completion rate.

What did Appalachian Trail volunteers contribute?

Volunteer effort is part of the trail's operating infrastructure. Administrative counts show the scale of that contribution while keeping registrations, people, training and visitor interactions separate.

How did advertised opportunities connect people with trail work?

  • Events posted on the volunteer platform: more than 400 events. (ATC, Sep 2025)
  • Volunteer registrations for advertised events: more than 2,060 registrations. (ATC, Sep 2025)
  • Volunteers assisting Hurricane Helene repairs: nearly 700 people. (ATC, Sep 2025)

ATC's report records advertised opportunities and the registrations they generated, alongside participation in hurricane repairs. Registrations are bookings or sign-ups, so they should not be presented as distinct volunteers or added to the overall volunteer headcount. The hurricane-response figure describes a particular recovery effort within the wider programme. It is not a measure of everyone affected by the storm. The report covers the federal fiscal year ending in September, which differs from the calendar-year scope used for some other trail records. Its summaries represent selected contributions across the cooperative trail-management system instead of a complete count of all informal stewardship by visitors. The fiscal endpoint is the date used in the citations below.

What did training and visitor services add beyond maintenance?

  • ATC-led in-person and online trainings: 47 trainings. (ATC, Sep 2025)
  • Volunteers receiving training: more than 625 people. (ATC, Sep 2025)
  • Clubs represented at the Volunteer Leadership Meeting: 27 clubs. (ATC, Sep 2025)
  • Visitor interactions at the three ATC-managed visitor centres: 29464 contacts. (ATC, Sep 2025)

Training and visitor services supported the trail alongside physical repair. The report counts sessions, participating volunteers, clubs represented and visitor contacts separately because they measure different aspects of the programme. Training participants can overlap with the volunteers counted elsewhere, and a club is an organisation instead of an individual. Visitor-centre contacts likewise do not establish unique visitors or hiking participants. These records help describe the service delivered by the cooperative management system. They should not be used to calculate productivity by dividing all trail visits by a selected group of volunteer hours, since the numerator and denominator would cover different activities and populations.

Glossary

Methodology and sources

Every figure on this page comes from the organisation that produced it: regulators, statistics offices, public bodies, research institutes, and companies reporting their own data or surveys. Each one links to the original report or dataset and carries its release date. Survey results keep their population and fieldwork period, and financial figures keep the measure the producer used. Figures from different producers are not added together or ranked against each other. The page is reviewed monthly and updated when a producer releases newer data.