Plan It For Real
Ready to plan your next backpacking trip?
This calculator gives you a ballpark. Ridgefold does it for your actual route — draw the line, drop your camps, and it breaks the whole trip into days automatically.
- Snap your route to real trails and pull true distance + elevation
- Per-day miles, gain, and hiking time between each campsite
- Free 3D terrain, permit info, and GPX in and out
- Plan alongside your crew in real time
Free account · no credit card required
How this calculator works
It starts from a comfortable flat-trail pace for your fitness (beginner ~8 mi/day, recreational ~12, fit ~16), then adjusts for pack weight and terrain, and converts every ~1,000 ft of climbing into an extra effort-mile — so a big-climb day covers fewer real miles at the same effort.
It also accounts for absolute altitude: above about 5,000 ft the air thins and your pace drops (roughly 3% per 1,000 ft higher), which is why the same 2,000-ft climb feels far harder topping out at 12,000 ft than near sea level. Longer trips get a gentle cumulative-fatigue reduction too.
Moving time assumes ~2 mph with a loaded pack plus an hour per ~2,000 ft of gain (a loaded-hiker take on Naismith's rule). Your campsites ultimately choose your mileage — map your route in Ridgefold and it breaks the trip into real per-day segments between camps.
Questions
How many miles per day is realistic for backpacking?
For most people carrying a multi-day pack on established trails, a comfortable day is 8–14 miles. Beginners and heavily loaded hikers sit at the lower end; fit hikers with light packs push higher. Elevation gain, rough terrain, and pack weight all lower the number — this calculator adjusts for each.
Does elevation gain reduce how many miles you can hike?
Yes. Climbing is slow and tiring, so a day with big elevation gain covers fewer real miles at the same effort. A common rule of thumb is that every ~1,000 ft of climbing costs roughly the same effort as an extra mile of flat walking.
How does pack weight affect hiking pace?
A heavier pack slows you down and tires you faster. A light setup (under ~25 lb) lets you cover more ground comfortably; a heavy pack (40 lb+) can knock 15% or more off your daily mileage.