The hiking knowledge centre
From a route on a map to a plan for your day.
Understand the numbers, compare your options and check what the map cannot tell you. These explainers use worked examples and linked sources to help you make better use of every route in the directory.
Build your route-planning skills
All planning articles →Choosing a route
How to choose a hike beyond the difficulty label
Compare distance, climbing, route shape and missing information to build a shortlist that fits your day.
Read article →Understanding the map
Read an elevation profile without misreading the climb
Understand total ascent, net height change, profile scale and the section breakdown on each mapped route.
Read article →Planning your day
Build a hiking time plan with room for your own pace
Separate moving time, climbing allowance and stops, then explore how changing your assumptions changes the plan.
Read article →Planning your day
Loops, out-and-backs and point-to-point return plans
Work out what a route's shape means for distance, endpoints and getting back after the walk.
Read article →Understanding the map
Download a GPX route and check it before leaving
Take a route into your navigation app, check the imported line and understand what a GPX download does and does not contain.
Read article →Sources and confidence
What open route data can tell you—and what to verify locally
Distinguish source records, calculated estimates and missing details before relying on a route page.
Read article →Understanding the map
Read trail waymarking across Europe before you rely on it
Swiss categories, Austrian colour dots, Spanish GR marks, Central European stripes and Nordic red T's: what each system tells you, and what it leaves out.
Read article →Planning your day
Plan a mountain day around thunderstorms, snow and wind
Set a turnaround time from the storm forecast, read the snow line as a seasonal barrier and dress for wind chill on ridges, whatever the valley temperature says.
Read article →Choosing a route
Hike with a dog: leash seasons, livestock and heat
Where dogs are allowed, when they must be leashed, how to handle cattle and livestock guardian dogs, and how to keep a dog safe in heat and on exposed ground.
Read article →Choosing a route
Access rights and permits: who lets you walk where
The Nordic right to roam, Central European marked-trail rules, Danish daylight forests and the American permit system, and what each means for camping and route choice.
Read article →Planning your day
Carry enough water and food, and leave a plan that can find you
Work out water and food from the time plan rather than the distance, know which number to call in each country, and understand that rescue is not always free.
Read article →Planning your day
What to bring hiking: a day-hike checklist built on the Ten Essentials
A practical packing list for a day hike, organised around the Ten Essentials and scaled to the length, remoteness and season of the route you have chosen.
Read article →Choosing a route
Hiking for beginners: choose a first route and walk it well
How to pick a first hike by distance, climbing and time, set a pace the group can hold, choose footwear and follow the basic trail etiquette and safety habits.
Read article →Planning your day
How long does it take to hike a mile, 5 miles or 10 miles?
Moving times for 1 to 20 miles from the directory's own time model, the extra time to add for climbing, and how Naismith's rule compares.
Read article →Planning your day
Hut-to-hut hiking in the Alps and Dolomites: how mountain huts work
What hut-to-hut trekking involves, how booking, half board, member discounts and hut rules work in the Alps, the Tour du Mont Blanc and Dolomites Alta Via 1 as examples, and the American equivalents.
Read article →These are general explainers and descriptions of our methods, not reports of field visits. Each article identifies its sources and update date. See our editorial and correction policy for how we distinguish recorded facts, calculations and information that needs local verification.