How to Choose a Hiking Trail by Difficulty

The five variables

Distance is real and still incomplete. Elevation gain tells you about the climb. Surface (sandstone slabs, wet granite steps, roots, ice) tells you about speed. Exposure to cliffs or weather tells you about consequence. Climate and altitude tell you about physiology. A 3-mile desert trail in July can be harder than a 7-mile forest trail in September.

Easy, moderate, hard, expert—as this site uses them

Easy: short, limited exposure, a trail a careful beginner can reverse without a scramble. Canyon Overlook is easy in mileage and still has drop-offs. Easy is not ‘no attention.’

Moderate: several hours, real elevation, but a clear trail and reasonable turnarounds. Bright Angel to a rest house, Emerald Lake, Cadillac North Ridge in dry conditions.

Hard: a full day for many hikers, steep or long, with a crux (chains, wet slab, heat). Angels Landing’s chain section, Sky Pond’s falls scramble, Delicate Arch in heat.

Expert: long days, big gain, permits, and a high cost of being wrong. Half Dome via the cables is the type specimen on this site. Expert does not mean ‘impressive.’ It means the margin is thin.

Turnaround rules

Set a time, a water amount, and a weather condition that ends the hike regardless of the summit. Down is not free, especially in canyons. If the slowest person is quiet, that is data.

Kids, groups, and ego

The group’s hike is the hike of the least prepared member. Splitting a group on an exposed ridge so someone can ‘just finish’ is how days go badly. There is no shame in Scout Lookout, the Vernal Fall footbridge, or Ooh Aah Point.