Happy Trails

50 Best Hikes in the World Every Adventurer Should Do in Their Lifetime

Panoramic view of Landmannalaugar, colorful volcanic mountains, at famous Laugavegur hiking trail in Iceland.Oleg Senkov / Shutterstock

by John O'Connor

From a family day hike through southern Utah’s Road Canyon to a grueling scramble through northern Michigan’s Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore, this exhaustive (and highly subjective) list of the best hikes in the world can guide you on your next outdoor adventure, and on adventures for years to come.

To create the list of the best hikes, we canvassed some of the most accomplished guides, mountaineers, and backcountry adventurers, including pro climber Jimmy Chin, who recommends Wyoming’s “stunningly beautiful” Teton Crest Trail as “the number one hike in America”; three-time Everest summiter Conrad Anker, whose hands-down favorite is the sandstone Angels Landing Trail in Zion (He says he hikes it “barefoot, to wear-off calluses”); legendary mountaineer Jim Whittaker; backpacker Andrew Skurka, and Brad Ludden, who shared a well-kept (until now) local secret in Glacier National Park.

Some of these best hikes are rambling strolls, and some are true tests of skill and endurance. While most are here at home in the U.S., we’ve thrown in a few classics from around the world, like Iceland’s Laugavegurinn Trail, and Europe’s epic Tour du Mont Blanc.

The 50 Best Hikes in the World

1. Laugavegurinn Trail, Iceland (34 miles)

This trail is set among the violent, volcanic, glacier-bound land of the Norse sagas, which has more diversity of terrain than probably anywhere else in the world. From Skogar, the trail winds through a mountain pass between the twin lava-belching craters of Magni and Móði, (“Strong” and “Angry,” respectively), who in the Icelandic Edda are the sons of Thor. After crossing the glacial Krossa River, you pitch down to the southern lowlands of the Thorsmork (Thor’s wood) and Porsmork nature reserve. Near the end you have a chance to take a second trail, Fimmvörduháls, which skirts a volcano’s cap for 14-miles toward the coast.

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2. Hundred-Mile Wilderness, Maine (100 miles)

The last 100-miles of the Appalachian Trail are undeniably the hardest and most isolated, holding the AT’s longest section of unbroken wilderness. A sign at the start reminds hikers that there’s nowhere to re-supply until the end of the line. “It’s really out in the sticks,” says guide and trail expert Philip Werner. “The first 35-miles are extremely mountainous, up and down, up and down. But the last 65 are flat and gorgeous, with ample lakes and streams and waterfalls. It’s also moose city. As far as I’m concerned, it’s the greatest hike in the world.” Be sure to arrange a pick-up at the end, as the trail ends unceremoniously in the middle of nowhere, on a dirt road with logging trucks blowing by.

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3. Tenmile Range Traverse, Colorado (15 miles)

“I mostly prefer off-trail routes these days,” says long-distance hiker Andrew Skurka. “It demands a higher level of engagement with the environment. You’re forced to pay attention.” Case in point: this high alpine route, beginning near the town of Frisco and ending in Breckenridge. Besides the on-trail start and finish, it traverses an unmarked ridgeline between no fewer than ten 12,000-foot-plus peaks, doable in a single day by a strong, experienced hiker. By the time you get to the tenth, you’re at 13,633-feet. “It’s big Colorado scenery,” says Skurka. “Rocky, craggy, high and exposed. And the views are fantastic.” A free shuttle in Breckenridge takes you back to your car.

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4. Pawnee Pass Trail, Colorado (4.5 miles)

The first quarter-mile of this rugged trail outside of Boulder is heavily trod, but traffic lightens once you enter the Indian Peaks Wilderness — home to seven mountains over 13,000-feet — where it becomes more rocky and exposed. The route follows the Continental Divide between Pawnee Peak and Shoshoni Peak (13,409), along several switchbacks that meander under a ridge above the stunning glacial Lake Isabelle, with Navajo Peak (13,409) and Apache Peak (13,441) hovering in the distance. Most folks skip the extra half-mile of 400-vertical-feet to the summit of Pawnee Peak, where even more spectacular views await.

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5. Lostwood Refuge Prairie Trail, Lostwood National Wildlife Refuge, North Dakota (7.5 miles)

An overlooked gem in the North Dakota backcountry, the Lostwood contains 42-square-miles of stunning mixed-grass prairie and wetlands that are a bird-watcher’s paradise. This loop follows a gravel road along the southern border of the refuge, rolling through a landscape of gentle hills and plains, and with one of the refuge’s 40 “leks” — breeding grounds for Sharp-Tailed Grouse. The rugged grasslands are the essential habitat for this grouse and over 200 other bird species, including Sprague’s pipits, Baird’s sparrows, American avocets, willets, and marbled godwits.

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6. The Lost Coast Trail, North, California (25 miles)

Named for its tendency to vanish beneath California’s tide, and for its scarcity of roads, the 64,000-acre Lost Coast encompasses the state’s most undeveloped stretch of shoreline. Much of the King Range wilderness is beach hiking, including three lovely black-sand stretches, with diversions into redwood groves, chaparral, grassy meadows, old-growth forest and fern glens, and several stream and tide-pool crossings. A herd of Roosevelt Elk considers the area around Chemise Mountain home, and seals, sea lions, and whales can often be spotted offshore. It’s a popular hike, with some occasionally heavy rainfall. A midweek summer season trek is your best shot at solitude and dryness.

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7. Camp Muir Trail, Mt. Rainier, Washington (9 miles)

This classic mountain trek up to Camp Muir, a popular base camp for Mt. Rainier summiters, takes you to the 9,000-foot mark — as high as one can go without a climbing permit. With snow and ice common into late August, and two crevasses to negotiate, you’ll want to take it slow. “And crampons don’t hurt,” says Jim Whittaker. The trail stops at about 7,000-feet, and from there you’re on the Muir Snowfield for another three-miles to Camp Muir. “At the top, you can see all the way into Oregon,” says Whittaker. “Mt. Hood, Mt. Adams, St. Helen’s are all in the distance. You can almost see Seattle.”

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8. Backbone Trail, Kisatchie National Forest, Louisiana (7.6 miles)

As the name suggests, this well-blazed track follows a spine-line ridge for much of its length, offering expansive views of the hills and bayous of the Louisiana countryside. Located in the state’s only national park, a 600,000-acre swath of hardwoods and cypress-tupelo gum swamp, it’s without question the most beautiful trail in Louisiana, bisecting a longleaf pine forest that provides ample shade from the molten southern sun. About four miles in, you hit the tallest overlook on the trail, a sandstone outcrop facing the valley and Bayou Cypre. It’s doable in a day, but there are several good campsites, and no alligators, along the way.

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9. Tower Fall Trail, Wyoming (2.5 miles)

A short, simple hike, and a go-to for tourists and out-of-towners, but also probably a necessary stop in Yellowstone. Try tackling it in November by snowshoe, when the unplowed trail presents a little more of a challenge, and bison, bighorn sheep, and bald eagles outnumber hikers. The Tower Fall Trail follows a road past the Calcite Springs Overlook to Tower Fall, a 130-feet waterfall that plunges into Tower Creek. Just above the falls, the creek passes through a scraggy, broken jumble of orange volcanic spires that look like giant incisors chopped out of a mountainside.

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10. Devil's Den, Big Bend National Park, Texas (5.5 miles)

Not many people think of Texas as primo hiking territory, which is how Texans like it. Devil’s Den, located in a beautiful limestone slot canyon in the Chihuahuan Desert, is visited by as few as five hikers per year, according to park rangers (In fact, Big Bend, spread out over a majestic 800,000-acres, is one of the least-visited national parks). A short trek up a dry but well-shaded creek bed ends in a series of caves and natural arches gouged out of hard limestone. In the rainy season, cool arroyo pools, called tinajas, provide welcome respite from the ovenish heat. The southern edge of the canyon reveals a broad desert plain and the jagged relief of the Santiago Mountains.

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11. Oregon Desert Trail, Sections 13 & 14, Steens Mountain, Oregon (42 miles)

The ODT is a mammoth 750-mile trail system that carves through Oregon’s scenic high desert. The best part, according to Sage Clegg, is the Steens Mountain section. “Steens is a great adventure,” she says. “A four or five day traverse will take you to eastern Oregon’s most incredible spots. But you want to be in mountain shape.” At French Glen, the trail enters the Steens, a huge fault-block range stretching some 50-miles, as it rises 4,000-feet from the Alvord Desert to a peak elevation of 9,733. You end in Alvord Hot Springs, a natural Jacuzzi with man-made sitting pools.

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12. East Fork Quinault River Trail, Olympic National Park, Washington (26 miles)

A major portal to Olympic National Park’s legendary Enchanted Valley, the Quinault River plows deep into primeval rainforest and a fern-ringed canyon of slate and sandstone outcroppings. With 140-inches of rainfall per year, the valley walls are almost blindingly verdant and lined throughout with waterfalls — it’s also known as the “Valley of 10,000 Waterfalls.” The midway point is a historic chalet and emergency ranger station that was once used as an aircraft warning post during WWII, and now teeters on the banks of the river. There’s a large year-round black bear population, and in winter the valley is home one of the largest elk herds in America.

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13. Copper Canyon, Sierra Madres, Mexico (40 miles)

The name Copper Canyon (la Barranca del Cobre in Spanish) comes from the greenish-copper hue of the canyon walls, which were formed by an ancient and massive river system in the Tarahumara Mountains. Stretching some 37,000-miles and measuring up to 5,500-feet deep, the Copper is bigger and badder than even the Grand Canyon. A three or four-day expedition, from Divisidero to Pamachi in the state of Chihuahua, takes you to one of Mexico’s most untrammeled and spectacular ecosystems. The desert heat is your biggest adversary, and the best time to go is October through April, after the summer monsoon season when cooler weather prevails.

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14. Long Range Traverse, Gros Morne National Park, Newfoundland (23 miles)

The Long Range Mountains mark the northern terminus of the Appalachians. It’s an imposing landscape of coastal arctic bogs, tightly packed tuckamore (stunted spruce and fir trees), and caribou paths running every which way. With no trail to speak of, you’ll have plenty of chances to test your backcountry skills over a four-to-five day adventure. In fact, the park warden may very well ask you demonstrate your map reading and compass proficiency before issuing a backcountry permit. The trail starts at the massive freshwater fjord of Western Brook Pond, follows migration paths of woodland caribou, and ends with a spectacularly steep descent off the Long Range plateau. July is the driest and warmest month, with temperatures hovering in the mid-60s, and solitude is assured.

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15. Old Rag Mountain, Shenandoah National Park, Virginia (9 miles)

Located within the borders of Washington, D.C. commuter-zone, the Old Rag is one of the more popular day-hikes in the southeast, with around 100,000 visitors per year. It’s also one of the most arduous and dangerous, mostly owing to a challenging rock scramble to the summit, and NPS search-and-rescue missions routinely pluck unprepared climbers off of the mountainside. The views of the Blue Ridge Mountains and the Piedmont are worth the risk. The Shenandoah is also the only major granite climbing area in the mid-Atlantic region, with over 100 established routes, some up to 100-feet in length and rated 5.7 and above. The best of the 5-star outings are Strawberry Fields (5.9+) and Bushwhack Crack (5.10c).

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16. Mt. Mitchell, North Carolina (11 miles)

This 6,684-foot peak, plopped down in the Black Mountains at the southern edge of the Blue Ridge chain, is the highest east of the Mississippi. From the Black Mountain Campground on the Toe River, the trail gains 3,600-feet in just over 5.5 miles, much of it in old-growth hardwood forest, including a particularly striking and dense stand of red spruce and Fraser fire. At the 4,000-foot mark, you’ll come to the Long Arm Ridge, which swings to-and-fro across the back of the mountain. An observation platform at the summit provides 360-degree panoramic views of the green-crested Appalachians.

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17. Charleston Peak National Scenic Trail, Nevada (15.4 miles)

Just 33-miles northwest of Las Vegas, this arduous loop in the Spring Mountains slices through a forest of ponderosa pine and aspen, climbs across the gently rising slopes of Mummy Mountain, and emerges onto a high ridge with spectacular views of Lee Canyon to the north. A series of switchbacks then traverses the limestone slopes of Charleston Peak, which is covered with bristlecone pine, and leads up to the summit. In the late spring or early summer, the upper portion of the trail may hold snow and ice, so crampons might be necessary.

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18. Red Creek Trail, Dolly Sods Wilderness, West Virginia (16.4 miles)

Arguably the most neglected outdoors state, West Virginia has some surprising natural wonders. The crown jewel is this 17,371-acre slice of the Monongahela National Forest in the eastern Alleghenies. Its tundra-like meadows, wind-etched granite rocks, heath barrens and flag-form red spruce forests are as close to a western landscape as you’ll find in the east. The Red Creek Trail bisects the southwest corner of the park, skirting a steep-walled canyon through the Red Creek drainage, then rising through the forest to Breathed Mountain, where you’ll emerge onto a plateau of blueberry bogs, huckleberry heaths, red cedar, sundew and reindeer moss. In addition to black bears and bobcats, you might also find live military ordinance—the Dolly Sods was a bombing range during WWII—so don’t touch the mortars.

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19. Tour du Mont Blanc, France, Italy and Switzerland (100 miles)

Europe’s most famous long-distance wilderness route, “the TMB” circles the Mont Blanc Massif in the northwestern Alps, traipsing through France, Italy and Switzerland in the process. Jagged rock peaks paint the skyline the entire way, from the village of Les Houches in the Swiss Chamonix valley, through Italy’s Mont Blanc range and the verdant, monumental Col des Fours in France, which may remind you of Wintervale in “Game of Thrones.” It’s a loop trail, so you can leave your luggage at your chalet in Les Houches and collect it on your return. And if you happen tire of sleeping bags and tent pads during the ten-day hike, you can find a soft bed, warm meal, and even cold beer at multiple dormitory-like “refuges” along the route.

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20. Big Sandy Trail, Wind River Range, Wyoming (8.5 miles)

The southernmost trailhead in the Wind River Range, Big Sandy starts in a meadow, quickly enters a forest of evergreens, gives way to stark hillsides of rust-colored boulders and scree, and deposits you at the Cirque of the Towers, a remarkable semicircle of sheer 12,000-foot granite spires, with the glacial basin of Lonesome Lake in the center of it all. The Cirque—each slab has an imposing name like War Bonnet, Warrior, Pylon, Block Tower, Wolfs Head and Lizard Head—is widely considered the best granite climbing in the U.S. It’s a popular base-camp for anyone heading further into the mountains. For optimum solitude, try for early June.

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21. Great Divide Trail, Alderson-Carthew Trail, Canada (12 miles)

One of the hardest long-distance hikes on the planet, the Great Divide Trail traces the Continental Divide for 750-miles between Alberta and British Columbia, piercing the heart of the Canadian Rockies. A relatively easy section but still a first-class jaunt is the trail’s first leg in the Waterton Lakes National Park, a UNESCO World Heritage Site and Biosphere Reserve that shares both a boundary with Montana’s Glacier National Park and the same astounding landscape: windswept mountains, sub-alpine forests, red rock canyons, and unspoiled prairies. The route gains about 900-feet of elevation as it seesaws up a steep forested slope to the Carthew Ridge, with commanding views of the lakes and mountains, and even Montana to the west.

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The 50 Best Hikes in the World

1. Laugavegurinn Trail, Iceland (34 miles)

2. Hundred-Mile Wilderness, Maine (100 miles)

3. Tenmile Range Traverse, Colorado (15 miles)

4. Pawnee Pass Trail, Colorado (4.5 miles)

5. Lostwood Refuge Prairie Trail, Lostwood National Wildlife Refuge, North Dakota (7.5 miles)

6. The Lost Coast Trail, North, California (25 miles)

7. Camp Muir Trail, Mt. Rainier, Washington (9 miles)

8. Backbone Trail, Kisatchie National Forest, Louisiana (7.6 miles)

9. Tower Fall Trail, Wyoming (2.5 miles)

10. Devil's Den, Big Bend National Park, Texas (5.5 miles)

11. Oregon Desert Trail, Sections 13 & 14, Steens Mountain, Oregon (42 miles)

12. East Fork Quinault River Trail, Olympic National Park, Washington (26 miles)

13. Copper Canyon, Sierra Madres, Mexico (40 miles)

14. Long Range Traverse, Gros Morne National Park, Newfoundland (23 miles)

15. Old Rag Mountain, Shenandoah National Park, Virginia (9 miles)

16. Mt. Mitchell, North Carolina (11 miles)

17. Charleston Peak National Scenic Trail, Nevada (15.4 miles)

18. Red Creek Trail, Dolly Sods Wilderness, West Virginia (16.4 miles)

19. Tour du Mont Blanc, France, Italy and Switzerland (100 miles)

20. Big Sandy Trail, Wind River Range, Wyoming (8.5 miles)

21. Great Divide Trail, Alderson-Carthew Trail, Canada (12 miles)

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