About this directory

HikingTrailDirectory is an independent directory built from open route data. Right now that is 154k routes across 52 countries, covering 1.6M kilometres of walking.

Every route admitted to the search index has a real, measured line on the map. Routes with incomplete source data can remain available to visitors, but are withheld from search engines until they pass that quality gate. Elevation gain, high and low points and the profile chart are sampled from open terrain data along that line, not copied from a description.

Difficulty combines distance with total ascent into an effort index, then adjusts for gradient. It helps compare physical effort within the directory. It does not establish technical difficulty, exposure or current trail conditions.

How the descriptions are made

Route descriptions and filtered guides are generated from the recorded data using templates. “Quality-checked” refers to automated checks for source links, mapped geometry and elevation data; it does not mean a person has walked or individually reviewed every route. Collection rankings are calculated from directory scores.

Our contribution is making the data easier to compare: route maps, elevation profiles, downloadable GPX files and section-by-section ascent and descent where the stored profile supports it. Photos from the surrounding area are contextual images, not evidence of a visit by our team.

Photography comes from Wikimedia Commons, always with the photographer and licence shown. Route data comes from OpenStreetMap contributors under the Open Database Licence. Both are credited on every page that uses them.

What we will not do: invent facts to fill a page, publish a route we cannot map, or bury the content under advertising. If a field is unknown, the page says so.

Corrections and local knowledge

Found an incorrect route line, restriction or measurement? Send the route’s page URL, the detail you believe is wrong, and a dated source or your own observation to support@hikingtraildirectory.com. Distinguish what you observed from what you heard elsewhere. Read more on our support page.