Free tool
How long will the hike take?
Treader is a free group trip planner that puts every stop on one live map and checks the plan against sunset and public holidays on your dates. Made in Canada.
Type how far the hike is and how much it climbs. You get the moving time by Naismith’s rule at a relaxed, steady and brisk pace, for one way or there and back.
Work out the moving time
Enter the distance and the elevation gain from a map, a trail sign or a guidebook, then pick a pace. The sum runs in your browser, and nothing you type is sent or saved.
Tick it if the distance you have is one way, and the time covers the walk back too. The climb counts once, because the rule adds no time for going down.
Type the distance to see the time.
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Naismith’s rule
Naismith’s rule is a rule of thumb for how long a walk takes, worked out from the map: time for the distance, plus time for the climb. This calculator uses its metric form, the same one that times a route in Treader’s planner.
- Walking: 12 minutes for every kilometre, which is 5 km an hour
- Climbing: 1 minute for every 10 m of ascent, which is 600 m an hour
- Add the two, then scale the total for your pace
- There and back doubles the distance and counts the climb once, because the rule adds nothing for going down
- The result is rounded to the nearest 5 minutes, and is never under 5
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A worked example
Take a 10 km hike with 600 m of climbing. By Naismith’s rule it takes 3h at a steady pace, one way:
- Walking: 10 km × 12 min = 120 min, or 2h
- Climbing: 600 m ÷ 10 = 60 min, or 1h
- By pace: 3h steady, 3h 45m relaxed and 2h 25m brisk
- There and back on the same trail: 20 km with the climb counted once, 5h steady, 6h 15m relaxed and 4h brisk
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Adjusting for pace
The rule as written gives one time for everyone, so the calculator scales it by a pace factor to fit the people walking. Pick the pace of the slowest person in the group. If you are unsure, time a hike you already know and see which setting matches.
- Relaxed, × 1.25: with children, a heavy pack or lots of stops for photos
- Steady, × 1: the rule as written
- Brisk, × 0.8: a fit, light hiker
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What the estimate leaves out
It is moving time on a decent path, and nothing more. There is no allowance for stops: food, photos and rests come on top. Naismith’s rule adds nothing for going down, yet steep, loose or wet descents are often slower than the flat. Snow, heat, wind, altitude, a heavy pack, scrambling and finding the route also slow people down, and none of them are in the numbers. Use the time to plan, leave a margin before dark, and decide your turnaround time before you set out.
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Hikes in Treader
Treader’s planner times a hike with this same rule. Add a stop, choose Import a route and pick a GPX or KML file. The trail is drawn on the map, and Treader measures its distance and, when the file carries elevation, its climb. The stop’s duration comes from those two, scaled by the Walking pace you set in Settings (relaxed, steady or brisk). The time is worked out when you import the route, so changing the pace later does not rewrite stops already in a trip. Importing a route is free on every plan.
Questions
Frequently asked questions
What people ask before they plan a first trip. The docs go further.
Read the docs01 How long does it take to hike 10 km?
It depends on the climb. With 600 m of ascent it takes 3h at a steady pace, 3h 45m at a relaxed pace and 2h 25m at a brisk pace, one way and counting moving time only. On flat ground the same 10 km takes 2h steady, 2h 30m relaxed or 1h 35m brisk. Add time for stops.
02 How do you calculate hiking time with elevation gain?
Add the walking time and the climbing time. Allow 12 minutes for each kilometre and 1 minute for each 10 m of elevation gain, then scale for pace: × 1.25 relaxed, × 1 steady, × 0.8 brisk. For 10 km and 600 m that is 120 + 60 = 180 minutes, or 3h at a steady pace. The calculator above does the sum, and converts miles and feet.
03 What is Naismith’s rule?
A rule of thumb for how long a walk takes, named after the Scottish mountaineer William W. Naismith, who proposed it in 1892. It allows time for the distance and extra time for the climb. The metric form used here is 12 minutes per kilometre plus 1 minute per 10 m of ascent, which is 5 km an hour and 600 m of climbing an hour. Quoted in miles and feet, it is about 3 miles an hour plus an hour for every 2,000 feet.
04 Does going downhill add time?
Not in Naismith’s rule, which adds time only for climbing. In practice a gentle descent can be quick, but a steep, loose or wet one is often slower than walking the flat, because you place your feet with care. If a route drops a long way over rough ground, allow extra time.
05 Does the time include breaks?
No. It is moving time only. Add the stops you plan for lunch, rests and photos, and leave a margin before dark.
06 Is anything I type saved?
No. The time is worked out in your browser. Your distance, climb and pace are not sent to our server, saved on your device or added to the page address, so reloading clears the form.
Time the hike, then plan the day around it.
Import the trail as a GPX file and Treader times it the same way. Add the drive there and the rest of the day, and see the whole plan on one map.
Plan a hiking trip free Still deciding? Open a finished trip