Long-Distance Trail Data: Distance & Elevation of 976 Multi-Day Hikes (2026)

We mapped 976 multi-day trails — 72,574 km of long-distance hiking in total — in the free HikeLoad trail database. Below are the longest and steepest routes, the average distance and elevation gain, and how the numbers break down by country — the real figures for 2026.

Choosing a long-distance route usually means piecing together distance and elevation from a dozen scattered sources. We pulled the numbers into one place. Across the database the average trail runs 74 km with 1,089 m of climbing — but the spread is enormous, from weekend loops to continent-spanning thru-hikes.

The 10 longest trails in the database

The steepest trails (climb per kilometre)

Total elevation gain only tells half the story — a long trail accumulates a lot of climbing without ever feeling steep. Sorting by metres of ascent per kilometre (for routes over 20 km) surfaces the genuinely relentless climbs:

Distance and elevation by country

Where do the trails in the database sit, and how do they compare? The countries with the most mapped multi-day routes, by average distance and climbing:

Methodology

Figures are drawn from the HikeLoad trail database (976 processed multi-day trails with a recorded distance, 2026). Distance and elevation come from the underlying route geometry; "average" is the mean across the dataset, not weighted by popularity. The steepest ranking is limited to routes over 20 km so single climbs do not dominate, and the country table only lists countries with at least 5 trails. Explore, filter and compare every route yourself in the trail database — it is free and needs no account.