Hiking Pace Calculator

1. Enter the distance you walked in kilometres.
2. Enter your moving time as hours and minutes.
3. Read your pace in minutes per kilometre.
4. Check your speed and your pace per mile alongside it.

Hiking pace is how long it takes you to cover a set distance, usually written as minutes per kilometre or per mile. Unlike running, hiking pace is heavily shaped by terrain and climb, so it varies far more than a road runner pace does.

Knowing your typical pace lets you plan realistic days, work out when you will reach a checkpoint, and judge whether you are on schedule to finish before dark. Because a hiking pace of 4 km/h in the hills is completely normal even for fit walkers, comparing yourself against road-walking or running numbers is misleading; the honest measure is what you actually average over similar ground with a similar load.

1. Turn your time into total minutes.
2. Divide the minutes by the distance for pace per kilometre.
3. Divide the distance by the time in hours for your speed.
4. Multiply the pace by 1.609 for pace per mile.

Pace and speed are two views of the same thing: a faster speed means fewer minutes per kilometre, and a slower speed means more. Most hikers find pace per kilometre the more useful of the two, because it maps directly onto how long the next stretch of trail will take.

You cover 10 kilometres in 2 hours 30 minutes. That is 150 minutes for 10 kilometres, so your pace is 15 minutes per kilometre and your speed is 4 km/h. In miles, 15 minutes per kilometre is about 24 minutes per mile. On easier ground the same effort might give 12 minutes per kilometre, showing how much terrain moves the number. Track the same route on a good day and a tired day and the gap between the two paces tells you as much about your fitness and load as it does about the trail itself.

Terrain

Smooth trail is fast; bog, scree, roots and snow all slow your pace, often dramatically.

Climb

Steep ascent cuts pace sharply, which is why hill days feel so much slower than the distance suggests.

Pack Weight

A heavy backpacking load slows you down and tires you faster than a light day pack.

Fitness and Group Size

Your fitness sets a ceiling, but a group moves at the pace of its slowest member.

Typical hiking speeds span a wide range depending on ground and load.

Most hill walkers average around 4 km/h over a mixed day once climbs and rough ground are included.

Checking Your Speed

Work out your real pace on a known section to plan future days better.

Estimating Arrival

Use your pace to predict when you will reach a hut, summit or car park.

Comparing Routes

See how much terrain slows you between an easy trail and a rough one.

1. Using Road Pace on Trails

Trail and mountain pace is much slower than a flat road walk; do not assume the same numbers.

2. Timing Only the Fast Sections

Average your pace over a full, mixed section, not just the easy bits.

3. Ignoring Rests

Decide whether your time is moving time or includes breaks, and stay consistent.

4. Forgetting the Pack

A full backpacking load changes your pace, so measure with the load you will carry.

The pace maths is exact for the distance and time you enter. Whether it predicts future sections depends on the ground staying similar.

Divide your moving time in minutes by the distance in kilometres. Ten kilometres in 150 minutes is a pace of 15 minutes per kilometre.

On mixed ground most hill walkers average about 4 km/h, or 15 minutes per kilometre. Easy trails allow 5 km/h; rough or steep ground drops to 3 km/h or less.

Pace is minutes per kilometre; speed is kilometres per hour. They are two views of the same thing, one the inverse of the other.

Trails, climbs, rough ground and a pack all slow you down, so hiking pace is well below a flat road walking pace.

Multiply the pace per kilometre by about 1.609. A pace of 15 minutes per kilometre is roughly 24 minutes per mile.

Either works, but be consistent. Moving time gives your true walking pace; total time including breaks gives your overall progress.

Yes. Carrying a full backpacking load slows you and tires you faster, so measure your pace with the weight you will actually carry.

Multiply your pace by the distance still to go, then add it to the current time to estimate when you will reach the next point.

No. The calculator runs entirely in your browser and nothing you enter is stored or sent anywhere.

• Walking speed (Wikipedia).
• Hiking basics (Wikipedia).
• Pace in walking and running (Wikipedia).