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Moderate Hiking Trails in United States

There are 3,241 hikes in United States in our database that fit. They average 5.7 km and 194 m (636 ft) of ascent, with the longest running to 18.7 km.

That is 35 percent of the 9,390 routes we map in United States. They are shorter than the local average, 5.7 km against 14.0 km, which is what makes this a practical shortlist for a half day. They also climb less than the area average, 194 m (636 ft) against 281 m (922 ft), so they suit a recovery day or a group with mixed fitness.

Moderate routes are the sweet spot for most regular walkers: enough climbing to feel like a proper day out, never enough to turn into an ordeal. These lean toward the demanding end, so plan for a full day and check the forecast before you commit.

Trails

Snowshoeing in RMNP to Mills Lake
Moderate

Glacier Gorge Trail

Colorado · United States

Distance
9.2 km
/ 5.7 mi
Elevation gain
263 m
Typical duration
2 hr 19 min
  • Mountain
  • Canyon and gorge
  • Glacier
Ouray, CO, USA Historic Court House from 1888 at the South East corner of 4th Street and 6th Avenue, as seen from the 4th Street
Moderate

Upper Cascade Falls Trail

Colorado · United States

Distance
4.9 km
/ 3.0 mi
Elevation gain
784 m
Typical duration
2 hr 12 min
  • Waterfall
  • Mountain
Snowshoeing in RMNP to Mills Lake
Moderate

North Longs Peak Trail

Colorado · United States

Distance
8.7 km
/ 5.4 mi
Elevation gain
65 m
Typical duration
1 hr 54 min
  • Mountain
  • Summit push
Kawuneeche Valley, Rocky Mountains, Colorado River, USA
Moderate

Timber Lake Trail

Colorado · United States

Distance
4.7 km
/ 2.9 mi
Elevation gain
443 m
Typical duration
1 hr 38 min
  • Lake
  • Mountain
Whitestone Cliffs Trail. Blue-Blazed CFPA "loop" foot path in Mattatuck State Forest. Whitestone Cliffs Trail. Blue-Blazed CFPA "loop" foot path in Mattatuck State Forest. Whitestone Cliffs Trail head sign on Spruce Brook Road / Mt Tobe.
Moderate

Whitestone Cliffs Trail

Connecticut · United States

Distance
2.2 km
/ 1.4 mi
Elevation gain
84 m
Typical duration
35 min
  • Coastal
  • Waymarked route
Lock 33 along the en:Chesapeake Ohio Canal near en:Harpers Ferry, West Virginia .
Moderate

Overlook Cliff Trail

Maryland · United States

Distance
1.1 km
/ 0.7 mi
Elevation gain
36 m
Typical duration
17 min
  • Coastal
  • Panoramic viewpoint
  • Waymarked route
Case Brothers Historic District
Moderate

Lookout Mountain Trail

Connecticut · United States

Distance
1.7 km
/ 1.1 mi
Elevation gain
84 m
Typical duration
29 min
  • Mountain
  • Panoramic viewpoint
  • Waymarked route
Thursday, April 3, 2014 -- Governor Dannel P. Malloy, Department of Energy and Environmental Protection (DEEP) Commissioner Rob Klee, and Mayor Scott Jackson joined first and fifth graders from Hamden’s Helen Street and Ridge Hill Schools f
Moderate

North Summit Trail

Connecticut · United States

Distance
1.3 km
/ 0.8 mi
Elevation gain
10 m
Typical duration
17 min
  • Mountain
  • Summit push
  • Waymarked route
Adult fox yawning in Acadia National Park in Maine, US.
Moderate

Valley Peak Trail

Maine · United States

Distance
2.4 km
/ 1.5 mi
Elevation gain
222 m
Typical duration
50 min
  • Mountain
  • Summit push
Label view of ant Temnothorax nevadensis specimen casent0103385 .
Moderate

Alta Trail

California · United States

Distance
15.7 km
/ 9.7 mi
Elevation gain
177 m
Typical duration
3 hr 33 min
  • Mountain
  • Summit push
Grand Canyon, Arizona View from Moran Point at the south rim, looking north, with Juniperus osteosperma tree at left.
Moderate

New Hance Trail

Arizona · United States

Distance
9.4 km
/ 5.8 mi
Elevation gain
261 m
Typical duration
2 hr 21 min
  • Mountain
  • Canyon and gorge
This little pocket in the rock is supporting several types of plant life. It was a treat to be here in the spring, got to see lots of plant life in bloom From the west side of the Toroweap overlook. sw2 560
Moderate

Lava Falls Trail

Arizona · United States

Distance
2.3 km
/ 1.4 mi
Elevation gain
52 m
Typical duration
33 min
  • Waterfall
  • Mountain
Emerald Lake
Moderate

Flat Top Mountain Trail

Colorado · United States

Distance
6.8 km
/ 4.2 mi
Elevation gain
875 m
Typical duration
2 hr 44 min
  • Mountain
Jericho Blue-Blazed Trail. Ruins of Bridge at end of Sheffield Street, Waterbury. Trailhead for Hancock Brook Trail.
Moderate

Hancock Brook Trail

Connecticut · United States

Distance
4.2 km
/ 2.6 mi
Elevation gain
212 m
Typical duration
1 hr 11 min
  • River
  • Waymarked route
View of Earth taken during ISS Expedition 65.
Moderate

Arroyo Seco Trail

California · United States

Distance
7.5 km
/ 4.7 mi
Elevation gain
222 m
Typical duration
1 hr 54 min
  • River
  • Mountain
  • Desert
Doyle Peak and Fremont Peak in the San Francisco Peak of Arizona. I hiked from Lockett Meadow on the Inner Basin Trail to the Weatherford Trail to Humphrey's Summit in the San Francisco Peaks Wilderness north of Flagstaff Arizona. Looking s
Moderate

Humphreys Summit Trail #151

Arizona · United States

Distance
7.8 km
/ 4.8 mi
Elevation gain
79 m
Typical duration
1 hr 44 min
  • Mountain
  • Summit push
Slender wheatgrass is common right along the JMT from montane parkland into the subalpine and occasionally alpine. Lengths of lemmas awns and degree of secund arrangement of spikelets are variously developed throughout these elevation zones
Moderate

Rock Creek Lake Trail

California · United States

Distance
5.4 km
/ 3.3 mi
Elevation gain
291 m
Typical duration
1 hr 33 min
  • Lake
  • River
  • Mountain
Up Mount Washington
Moderate

Hungtington Ravine Trail

New Hampshire · United States

Distance
3.1 km
/ 1.9 mi
Elevation gain
859 m
Typical duration
1 hr 56 min
  • Mountain
  • Canyon and gorge
Beaver dam on McGee Pass Trail
Moderate

Baldwin Canyon Trail

California · United States

Distance
6.9 km
/ 4.3 mi
Elevation gain
707 m
Typical duration
2 hr 30 min
  • Mountain
  • Canyon and gorge
Looking west over Flagstaff from Mt. Elden Lookout. Taken 7-17-13 by Brady Smith. Credit: U.S. Forest Service, Coconino National Forest.
Moderate

Elden Lookout Trail

Arizona · United States

Distance
4.2 km
/ 2.6 mi
Elevation gain
764 m
Typical duration
2 hr 1 min
  • Mountain
  • Panoramic viewpoint
Inyo County star tulip ( Calochortus excavatus ) on Tyee Lakes Trail
Moderate

Tyee Lakes Trail

California · United States

Distance
10.4 km
/ 6.5 mi
Elevation gain
753 m
Typical duration
3 hr 18 min
  • Lake
  • Mountain
Ouray, CO, USA Historic Court House from 1888 at the South East corner of 4th Street and 6th Avenue, as seen from the 4th Street
Moderate

Lower Cascade Falls Trail

Colorado · United States

Distance
1.3 km
/ 0.8 mi
Elevation gain
38 m
Typical duration
20 min
  • Waterfall
  • Mountain
Mineral King Valley, California
Moderate

Monarch Lakes Trail

California · United States

Distance
6.5 km
/ 4.0 mi
Elevation gain
824 m
Typical duration
2 hr 35 min
  • Lake
  • Mountain
View north up the Trail Canyon Trail in the Mount Charleston Wilderness, Nevada from about 1.0 miles north of the trailhead
Moderate

Trail Canyon

Nevada · United States

Distance
3.1 km
/ 2.0 mi
Elevation gain
471 m
Typical duration
1 hr 22 min
  • Mountain
  • Canyon and gorge
Marmota flaviventris - yellow bellied marmot Location: Top of Half Dome, Yosemite, CA, USA
Moderate

Half Dome Trail

California · United States

Distance
3.2 km
/ 2.0 mi
Elevation gain
653 m
Typical duration
1 hr 39 min
  • Mountain
View of Earth taken during ISS Expedition 38.
Moderate

Summit Lake Trail

California · United States

Distance
3.3 km
/ 2.0 mi
Elevation gain
117 m
Typical duration
51 min
  • Lake
  • Mountain
  • Summit push
Passing a steam train
Moderate

Ammonoosuc Ravine Trail

New Hampshire · United States

Distance
3.4 km
/ 2.1 mi
Elevation gain
704 m
Typical duration
1 hr 46 min
  • Mountain
  • Canyon and gorge
Pinus engelmannii forest (with Pseudotsuga menziesii at far left). Carr Peak Trail, Ramsey Canyon, Huachuca Mts., Cochise Co., Arizona, 31°25'23"N 110°18'05"W, 2310m altitude
Moderate

Carr Peak Trail #107

Arizona · United States

Distance
5.5 km
/ 3.4 mi
Elevation gain
620 m
Typical duration
2 hr 5 min
  • Mountain
  • Summit push
Aspen Trail, Payson, AZ 85541, USA
Moderate

See Canyon Trail #184

Arizona · United States

Distance
4.8 km
/ 3.0 mi
Elevation gain
585 m
Typical duration
1 hr 53 min
  • Lake
  • Canyon and gorge
Sierra Nevada Bighorn Sheep, Ovis canadensis sierrae, Mt. Langley Herd. Listed as threatened under California Endangered Speciaes Act since 1974. Uplisted to endangered in 1999 by Califonia Fish and Game Commission. Listed as endangered by
Moderate

Soldier Lake Trail

California · United States

Distance
4.3 km
/ 2.7 mi
Elevation gain
556 m
Typical duration
1 hr 44 min
  • Lake
  • Mountain
Snowshoeing in RMNP to Mills Lake
Moderate

Black Lake Trail

Colorado · United States

Distance
4.6 km
/ 2.9 mi
Elevation gain
41 m
Typical duration
1 hr 1 min
  • Lake
  • Mountain
Hanford; Irrigation Ditch, near Hanford, Cal.
Moderate

Golden Trout Creek Trail

California · United States

Distance
14.7 km
/ 9.1 mi
Elevation gain
32 m
Typical duration
3 hr 6 min
  • River
  • Mountain
This image was taken at the Minarets observation site ( Minaret Summit ). Most of the Minarets (peaks) have been informally named. The largest and tallest (Clyde Minaret) is identified in this image. Michael Minaret is where Norman Clyde fo
Moderate

Starkweather Lake Trail

California · United States

Distance
3.9 km
/ 2.4 mi
Elevation gain
35 m
Typical duration
52 min
  • Lake
  • Mountain
Heavy snow remained at stations along Metro-North Railroad's Waterbury Branch, preventing normal service the morning of Monday, Feb. 11, 2013.
Moderate

Beacon Falls Yellow Trail

Connecticut · United States

Distance
2.8 km
/ 1.7 mi
Elevation gain
153 m
Typical duration
49 min
  • Waterfall
  • Waymarked route
Photograph by Eli Pousson, 12 February 2015.
Moderate

Gwynns Falls Trail (Outbound)

Maryland · United States

Distance
18.0 km
/ 11.2 mi
Elevation gain
95 m
Typical duration
3 hr 59 min
  • Waterfall
  • Waymarked route
View of Earth taken during ISS Expedition 43.
Moderate

Bald Mountain Red Trail

Connecticut · United States

Distance
4.2 km
/ 2.6 mi
Elevation gain
192 m
Typical duration
1 hr 10 min
  • Mountain
  • Waymarked route
Cunningham Falls State Park : hand-stand
Moderate

Cliff Trail

Maryland · United States

Distance
1.1 km
/ 0.7 mi
Elevation gain
101 m
Typical duration
23 min
  • Coastal
  • Waymarked route
(1 in a multiple picture album) If you have seen the Colorado River where it carves the Grand Canyon, or where it cascades down towards Lake Mead near Las Vegas, you might have a hard time believing that this is the same river in the pictur
Moderate

Ditch Road

Colorado · United States

Distance
4.3 km
/ 2.7 mi
Elevation gain
457 m
Typical duration
1 hr 35 min
  • Mountain
Remains of a hydroelectric power plant foundation
Moderate

Falls Trail

Georgia · United States

Distance
1.8 km
/ 1.1 mi
Elevation gain
56 m
Typical duration
27 min
  • Waterfall
  • Waymarked route
Urbana, MD, USA
Moderate

Mountain Loop Trail

Maryland · United States

Distance
5.2 km
/ 3.2 mi
Elevation gain
210 m
Typical duration
1 hr 23 min
  • Mountain
  • Waymarked route
Computer science researcher Neil Immerman of the University of Massachusetts, Amherst at the Open Source Quality retreat, in the Seaside View room of the Dream Inn in Santa Cruz, California.
Moderate

Coastal Rail Trail

California · United States

Distance
4.7 km
/ 2.9 mi
Elevation gain
45 m
Typical duration
1 hr 2 min
  • Coastal
Mansfield Hollow Lake in Tolland County, Mansfield, Connecticut, USA. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers constructed the dam as a flood control measure. It impounds the waters of the Fenton, Mount Hope, and Natchaug Rivers.
Moderate

Nipmuck Trail - East Branch

Connecticut · United States

Distance
10.5 km
/ 6.5 mi
Elevation gain
187 m
Typical duration
2 hr 28 min
  • Waymarked route

The shortlist, side by side

The ten highest scoring routes on this page, so you can compare effort before opening any of them.

Distance, ascent, walking time and difficulty for the top routes
RouteDistanceAscentTimeDifficultyBest season
Glacier Gorge TrailColorado9.2 km263 m2 hr 19 minModerateJuly to September
Upper Cascade Falls TrailColorado4.9 km784 m2 hr 12 minModerateJuly to September
North Longs Peak TrailColorado8.7 km65 m1 hr 54 minModerateJuly to September
Timber Lake TrailColorado4.7 km443 m1 hr 38 minModerateJuly to September
Whitestone Cliffs TrailConnecticut2.2 km84 m35 minModerateApril to October
Overlook Cliff TrailMaryland1.1 km36 m17 minModerateApril to October
Lookout Mountain TrailConnecticut1.7 km84 m29 minModerateApril to October
North Summit TrailConnecticut1.3 km10 m17 minModerateApril to October
Valley Peak TrailMaine2.4 km222 m50 minModerateApril to October
Alta TrailCalifornia15.7 km177 m3 hr 33 minModerateJuly to September

If you only have time for one, start with Glacier Gorge Trail, Upper Cascade Falls Trail, North Longs Peak Trail. Those are the routes people come back to. Every route on this page links through to a full guide with the map, elevation profile, seasonal advice and what to bring.

Frequently asked questions

Related guides

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