Naismith's Rule (Hiking Time)
Also known as naismith's rule · hiking time estimate · hill walking time · trekking time formula · walking time with elevation gain
Worked example: 10 km with 600 m climb → 3 h — press Try an example to run it live, then adjust anything.
Enter your known values, leave one input blank, and solves for the missing one. Tap a variable’s symbol to see what it means, with a typical value. Try different units for next level excitement!
Time on the trail →
UniversityApplied Field Engineering
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Naismith's Rule (Hiking Time) explained
William Naismith, Scottish mountaineer, wrote the rule down in 1892 and it has survived every GPS since: allow an hour for each 5 km on the map, plus an hour for each 600 m of climb. The genius is the separation — distance and ascent are charged independently, so a flat 10 km and a steep 4 km with 720 m of up both come out near 2 hours, which matches what your legs report.
What the rule deliberately ignores: fitness, pack weight, terrain, rest stops, and descent — which is genuinely not free on steep ground but is close enough to free on gentle ground that Naismith charged it nothing. Tranter's corrections bolt fitness and fatigue onto the same skeleton when you need them. The sanity check to carry: 10 km flat is 2 hours, and every 600 m contour interval you cross adds the same hour whether it comes as one brutal wall or a long grind.
Naismith's Rule (Hiking Time) formula
- = Walking time (h)
- = Route distance (km)
- = Height climbed (m)
Missing one of these? Work it out first, then come back
- Walking time — Dead Reckoning Position, Estimated Time En Route
- Route distance — Distance from Pace Count, Ground Distance on a Slope
- Height climbed — Area of a Triangle, Body Mass Index (BMI)