Enter your weight and hiking distance to calculate your calories burned doing trail hiking. Many hikers burn about 100 to 140 calories per mile on a level trail, with steeper routes pushing that higher.
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Trail Hiking Calories Burned Formula
The calculator uses these trail hiking formulas:
\begin{aligned}
\text{Basic: } C &= 0.67 \times W \times D \\
\text{Advanced: } C &= (0.67 \times W \times D) + (0.00162 \times W \times G)
\end{aligned}- C = calories burned (kcal)
- W = body weight (lb)
- D = hiking distance (mi)
- G = elevation gain (ft)
- If you enter kg, km, or m, the calculator converts them automatically.
Trail Hiking Calories Per Mile
On a level trail, the basic formula gives these per-mile calorie totals:
| Body Weight | Calories per Mile |
|---|---|
| 120 lb | 80 kcal |
| 150 lb | 101 kcal |
| 180 lb | 121 kcal |
| 200 lb | 134 kcal |
Extra Calories From Climbing
In Advanced mode, climbing adds calories on top of the per-mile total. For every 1,000 ft of elevation gain, the added burn is about:
| Body Weight | Extra Calories per 1,000 ft |
|---|---|
| 120 lb | 194 kcal |
| 150 lb | 243 kcal |
| 180 lb | 292 kcal |
| 200 lb | 324 kcal |
What Is Trail Hiking?
Trail hiking is walking on natural terrain such as dirt, gravel, rock, or mixed surfaces. Compared with pavement walking, trail hiking often includes more climbing, more balance work, and more pace changes, which is why calorie burn usually runs higher.
What Changes Your Calorie Burn?
- Distance: More miles usually means more total calories.
- Body weight: Heavier hikers generally burn more per mile.
- Elevation gain: Short steep hikes can burn much more than flat trails of the same distance.
- Terrain: Rock, mud, sand, and uneven footing can raise the workload.
Example Calculation
A 180 lb hiker covers 4 miles and gains 500 ft of elevation.
- Basic: 0.67 × 180 × 4 = 482 kcal
- Climbing add-on: 0.00162 × 180 × 500 = 146 kcal
- Advanced total: 482 + 146 = 628 kcal
