View Full Version : Is 4 miles per hour
the average pace of your average AT hiker?
My guess is that the average person after several weeks on the Trail moves along at 2-3 mph.
I found my "average" speed I calculated for an entire day (including rests) was about 2 mph.
When actually timing myself, I would normally move about 3 mph and if I was going really fast, it was 4 mph.
I don't think I ever moved faster than 4 mph.
So, at the beginning of the day, when thinking that I had 20 miles to do that day, I would estimate it to take me 10 hours, with breaks and everything.
Also to note is that I consider myself a fast walker. But I usually take more/longer breaks than the slow walkers I was travelling with and we would normally end up at the same place at the same time at the end of the day.
The only time that I walked 4 mph on my hike was if I was down-wind from town and could smell pizza and beer!
wilderness bob
03-09-2006, 14:51
Terrain dictates but on an average I was at about 2.5 mph.
WB
p.s. That was when I was in my comfort zone, a hiker's sweet spot. The trick is to know what your speed is at a given time so you can figure on how long it will take to get somewhere. That only develops completely while you are out there, doing the miles.
James Fetter
03-09-2006, 15:02
Have you ever put yourself on a treadmill and tried walking 4 mph? Add a little elevation. I do it 3 nights a week when not hiking that weekend and 4 mph is my max without a pack and hiking shoes on. 2 mph is my goal when I'm on the trail. jnf
txulrich
03-09-2006, 15:42
For all the trips I've planned with Scouts, the standard we use is 2 mph + 1 hour for every 1000 feet of elevation climbed (total climbed, not total gained).
So, to hike 15 mile in a day, you would start at 7.5 hours then get out the topo maps and look at the terrain. If you climbed 3500 feet, you would add 3.5 hours for a total of 11 hours. It works out to be pretty close in actual application. Of course I need to add the standard disclaimer, YMMV.
My record on a 15+ mile hike is 2.6mph (with about 3500' elevation gain).
One time we did 6.2 miles in 1.5 hours (4.1mph) that was ALL down hill (down Mt. Le Conte in the rain...pizza was a motivating factor) we were moving the whole time (never running, just speed walking) there is no way we could do that with any kind of uphill.
orangebug
03-09-2006, 16:05
Back in November, Almost There and I did 11.5 miles in about 4 hours, SOBO into Damascus. Weather was crappy. Burgers were calling. And we blue blazed along the Virginia Creeper to avoid the last climb. We had still visited a shelter and privy, gotten water and other chores. I think we were hitting 4mph at times, inspite of light snow on the ground.
Ordinarily, I count 2.5 mph as a nice pace.
Almost There
03-09-2006, 16:06
Where do you come up with these amazing questions, Lobster???
icemanat95
03-09-2006, 16:09
My average walking pace after about 1.5 months in or so was about 3 mph. By the time I hit the halfway mark I could maintain that over any terrain including the White Mountains. The only spot that defeated me in this was Mahoosuc Notch and Mahoosuc Arm. Bad conditions over Baldpate also slowed me down. However, I enjoyed my rest breaks and reading shelter registers (even at the shelters I didn't stay at. So that knocked my average daily speed down to 2 MPH. So if I hiked a 12 hour day, I could figure 24 miles.
The one day I was able to sustain 4 MPH was coming into Pearisburg. I was slackpacking and pulled a 28 mile day in a little over 7 hours. Only stopped for about 30 minutes in the whole day. Very unusual and very difficult to do with a pack on.
The Solemates
03-09-2006, 16:34
we typically walk on average about 3mph when we are hiking together. this equates to 2.75mph on the uphills and 3.25mph on the downhills.
however, when i hike alone, i find that i typically hike about 3.25mph regardless of terrain (barring any rock scrambling, etc.)
digger51
03-09-2006, 17:23
Leaving Springer I usually like to keep to about 1.5 miles per hour. After a couple of days I like to get to 2-2.5 miles per hour. After a couple of weeks if I'm not doing 3-3.5 mph I think I am asleep.
SGTdirtman
03-09-2006, 17:31
i think the fastest I've hiked is 3.5mph including stops... I like to average 2mph
Book time for most hiking books is based on 2 miles per hour, plus 1/2 hour for each 1000 feet of climb. If you have to ask the question, then this is a good place to start. After a while, you will figure out what your actual pace is.
4 miles per hour is way too fast for most people.
There are some mighty fast walkers here!
Generally speaking 4 mph is about as fast as a fit person can sustain a normal walk. Any faster, and you inevitably introduce a little jog or shuffle that often takes both feet off the ground at the same time.
hopefulhiker
03-09-2006, 18:46
I usually made about 3 miles in two hours without trying to hard... This includes sitting around, snacking, shooting the bull, side trails ect.. I hated the forced march concept.. If I really tried to hustle I could make about 2 miles per hour.
SGTdirtman
03-09-2006, 19:16
4mph is the standard for a military ruck march, but this is over flat terrain... Anyone doing 4mph up and down a rocky moutain trail is going way to fast in my opinion. it can be done... but why?
ive seen plenty of hikers do 30 miles a day but I never understood why. Last year I started a I-80 at the PA/NJ border at about 7:30am and met a bunch thru hikers who started from the kirkridge shelter in PA earlier that day which is about 7 miles away. I did a good 15 miles that day and he had passed me and all the thru hikers. my trip through jersey I did the same mileage as the other thru hikers except that one guy who was doing 30 miles a day at least... even the other thru hikers thought he was freaking nuts.
Take it easy, enjoy the trail, its not a race.
Kerosene
03-09-2006, 21:46
You won't find any but the most athletic, long-striding, in-hiking-shape guys nearing 4 mph. I've encountered a number of thru-hikers in the Mid-Atlantic states who can sustain 3 mph.
I can exercise walk on a level surface without a pack at up to 4.5 mph for an hour. With a pack on a smooth trail I'll spurt up to 3 or 3.25 mph for a bit, but inevitably I average in between 2.3 to 2.7 mph for the day, and a bit slower if the trail surface is rough. Frankly, unless the elevation changes are extremely steep (more than 800'/mile for more than a mile) then I find that the trail surface impacts my speed more than the elevation change.
vipahman
03-09-2006, 23:29
If I'm not mistaken, 4 mph is considered the average walking speed on a road. So if you can maintain 4 mph on the trail, that's definitely well above average. And if you could maintain it for 14 hours/day for about 40 days, then you would be targeting Squeaky2. But you already knew that. :D
I am old and slow. I carry a heavy pack. I don't knpw or care how many mph I hiked, All I know is when I made it to Maine I figured the number of days I hiked and the miles and I averaged 12.6 miles per day. A good day was 16 miles and my best day ever was 22 miles. Most if not all hikers are faster than me, I just put in the hours and plodded all the way to Maine. You might ask the police in trail towns to set up radar traps on the ridges if hikers mph is that important to you.
Frolicking Dinosaurs
03-09-2006, 23:54
I used to average about 2.4 to 2.6 MPH, but only average about 1.5 MPH these days. Bad footing slows me down way more than elevation changes.
Billygoatbritt
03-10-2006, 00:13
I usually plan on 2.25 miles per hour for a good average hike. I could go faster, but then I run into knee problems from over use. At that point the miles per hour really suffers and I enjoy the hike much less.
I am old and slow. I carry a heavy pack. I don't knpw or care how many mph I hiked, All I know is when I made it to Maine I figured the number of days I hiked and the miles and I averaged 12.6 miles per day. A good day was 16 miles and my best day ever was 22 miles. Most if not all hikers are faster than me, I just put in the hours and plodded all the way to Maine. You might ask the police in trail towns to set up radar traps on the ridges if hikers mph is that important to you.
Great post and even greater accomplishment. :clap
LOL Only time I've ever done 4mph was on a treadmill at the gym. On a trail with a full pack cut that in half for me. YMMV.
mambo_tango
03-10-2006, 02:31
When I took my pack test for my red card I had to carry 45lbs for 3 miles (flat ground) in 45 min. I had my powerwalk (with a little jogging thrown in) for most of it and a dead run for the last 200 yards. I was the only girl and felt like death but I did it! I highly doubt that I would even try to do it on the trail. I would like to enjoy myself rather than kill myself.
KirkMcquest
03-10-2006, 02:35
When I took my pack test for my red card I had to carry 45lbs for 3 miles (flat ground) in 45 min. I had my powerwalk (with a little jogging thrown in) for most of it and a dead run for the last 200 yards. I was the only girl and felt like death but I did it! I highly doubt that I would even try to do it on the trail. I would like to enjoy myself rather than kill myself.
Smart AND beautiful, your quite the gal MT
Squeaky 2
03-10-2006, 07:10
4 mph with a pack on the AT is very tough to sustain for long periods of time. 3 mph as an overall daily mileage including stopping for various things is still hard to maintain. i would guess that most peoples avg. is about 2 to 2.5 mph.
The only way I could do 4 MPH is if I fell and was rolling downhill. I tend to average 2 MPH with breaks. On a hike last week we took longer breaks and took more photos than usual, and averaged about 1.75 MPH.
Really, all that matters is that you get where you need or want to be at the end of the day. How fast or slowly you get there is a matter of personal style.
gsingjane
03-10-2006, 08:52
Last summer we met thru-hikers who talked about what they called the "Connecticut Challenge." I had never heard of this before, but apparently they planned to, or did, or heard of somebody else who did, the entire state (52 miles) in one day. I sort of thought it was too bad, because CT is such a pretty state for hiking, and it couldn't have been anything but a blur under those conditions, but there were people who attempted it. That would involve some mighty fast hiking, whether 4 mpd or otherwise!
Jane in CT
ol walker
03-10-2006, 09:11
Well if your 62 years old, out of shape and almost 300 lbs and wondering what in the world am I doing out here. You get 1 mile a hour.
I went 2.5 (or thereabouts) miles in about 30 minutes once. But I was actually jogging trying to get to a shelter ahead of a huge storm. The terrain was fairly easy and generally downhill too.
Alligator
03-10-2006, 12:54
When I took my pack test for my red card I had to carry 45lbs for 3 miles (flat ground) in 45 min. I had my powerwalk (with a little jogging thrown in) for most of it and a dead run for the last 200 yards. I was the only girl and felt like death but I did it! I highly doubt that I would even try to do it on the trail. I would like to enjoy myself rather than kill myself.
Congratulations! I've given that test a lot of thought myself for a change of pace. But I can't leave home for that long.
Geez...4 mph, I don't think I run that fast. If I average 2 mph for a day I've made good time. I'll just hike longer days to keep up the mileage. I'll leave the trail running to the youngsters.
RockyTrail
03-10-2006, 15:32
What's a red card?
How fast do you have to walk for a green card?
orangebug
03-10-2006, 15:37
Geez...4 mph, I don't think I run that fast. If I average 2 mph for a day I've made good time. I'll just hike longer days to keep up the mileage. I'll leave the trail running to the youngsters.4 mph is a mile in 15 minutes. For most people, this is a brisk walk. Jogging usually begins somewhere around 4.2-4.5mph, and is a significant jog by the time 5mph (12 minute mile) gets started. Running is encountered by 6 mph, 10 minute mile.
Of course, those are speeds encountered without a backpack load. I have jogged downhill under load, but feared killing an ankle.
<TABLE id=HB_Mail_Container height="100%" cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%" border=0 UNSELECTABLE="on"><TBODY><TR height="100%" width="100%" UNSELECTABLE="on"><TD id=HB_Focus_Element vAlign=top width="100%" background="" height=250 UNSELECTABLE="off">Fastest I ever did with a pack was when 3 of us were trying to reach one of those Shenandoah Park stores before it closed. Did 4.5 miles in 55 minutes and made it with 5 minutes to spare. It was at a speedy shuffle.</TD></TR><TR UNSELECTABLE="on" hb_tag="1"><TD style="FONT-SIZE: 1pt" height=1 UNSELECTABLE="on">
</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
F
We should go over to trailplace and ask Wingnut his fastest speed - it is probably around 75-85 mph or so. What do you think?
sliderule
03-10-2006, 21:03
[quote=lobster<TABLE id=HB_Mail_Container height="100%" cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%" border=0 UNSELECTABLE="on"><TBODY><TR height="100%" UNSELECTABLE="on" width="100%"><TD id=HB_Focus_Element vAlign=top width="100%" background="" height=250 UNSELECTABLE="off">Fastest I ever did with a pack was when 3 of us were trying to reach one of those Shenandoah Park stores before it closed. Did 4.5 miles in 55 minutes and made it with 5 minutes to spare. It was at a speedy shuffle.</TD></TR><TR UNSELECTABLE="on" hb_tag="1"><TD style="FONT-SIZE: 1pt" height=1 UNSELECTABLE="on">
</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
[/quote]
Then you must have known that 4 mph was an absurd figure when you asked the question in the first place.
mambo_tango
03-11-2006, 00:54
[quote=RockyTrail]What's a red card?[quote]
Emergency forest firefighter certification.
longshank
03-11-2006, 12:37
2 to 2 and a quarter is usually the pace I calculate my miles by. I tend to make good miles and gauge times with a fair degree of acurracy using that pace.
RockyTrail
03-11-2006, 17:34
[quote=RockyTrail]What's a red card?[quote]
Emergency forest firefighter certification.
Thanks, I wasn't familiar with that term. If youre doing that stuff, my hat's off to ya, that looks like tough work!
Mango Tango, I'm taking my pack test on Fri. Any tips on this? This will be the first time I have received my red card and am looking forward to some wildland firefighting and possible hurricane cleanups this year. Thanks, Chris
66 days at 8 hrs per day at 4 mph to do the entire AT. The 4 mph is about double the avg speed of most AT hikers.
saimyoji
03-12-2006, 00:16
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0451196716/104-5252855-2463940?v=glance&n=283155
If you fall below 4 mph they shoot you.
I would contend that down south, the whites, and southern maine the average mph is 2.25. I would say 3 mph would be average for the rest of it.
I would contend that down south, the whites, and southern maine the average mph is 2.25. I would say 3 mph would be average for the rest of it.
Those figures are good. Maybe a little fast for some.
i average 2.2 miles and hour.:cool: neo