How to Find Awesome Hiking Trails Near You

In a recent post, I talked about how to increase your motivation to work out. One of my tips was to go exploring.

Exercise can (and SHOULD!) be fun. It’s a time to forget about your worries, refresh your mind, and appreciate your body by moving it.

What better way to exercise than by getting out in nature? Go somewhere new and explore your area on a hiking trail!

The crazy thing is that many of us don’t realize there are awesome hiking trails essentially in our backyards.

When I lived just outside of Philly, it took a full year before I found out about a beautiful park only 20 minutes away. I had one of my most enjoyable workouts while exploring the 5 mile trail loop and marveling at the fact it had always been right there. I just hadn’t known it.

So today I’m going to give you the resources to find awesome hiking trails near you.

And since quality hiking gear is equally as important, I’m also excited to share a sale on The North Face items at Macy’s. But more on that later!

Please note: there may be affiliate links in this post. For details please visit my Disclosure page. Thank you!

Go Straight to These Sites

1. Hiking Project

My favorite on this list, Hiking Project is a part of the REI co-op. For the record, there’s also a Trail Run Project if you’re specifically looking for those!

I was super impressed when I stumbled across this site.

When you search your city or area, TONS of information is instantly available to you.

The Hiking Project lists all the hiking trails in your area and their length. It also shows the number of trails within each park, gives you the best featured hikes, and provides the hidden “gems” around you.

It’s also a big overachiever by showing your location’s weather averages for each month.

Definitely my go-to for hiking trails!

2. AllTrails

A close second, this is the first site that appears when you search for hiking trails on Google.

With this one, I was impressed by the sheer number of trails it included.

I also love the many options you can use, refining your search to find that “perfect” hiking trail. It takes into account the trail’s difficulty, length, elevation, amount of traffic, whether it’s dog-friendly, and even what you want to see while hiking: beach, wildflowers, you name it.

This site is second on the list because if you search around too much, it eventually forces you to make an account if you want to continue using it. Kind of like with Glassdoor, it doesn’t like giving all it’s info for free without an email as payment.

3. TrailLink

TrailLink is another popular site to find hiking trails near you.

This one is not quite as “fancy” as the other sites, but it will still get the job done.

The particular things I like about this site include it’s good pictures (not sure why, but they’re better in my area than on other sites), the fact that it includes a trail’s specific surface type, and that you can keep searching as long as you want without having to create an account.

The only time I’ve found it request a sign-up is if you want to view the trail map. Then a pop-up appears, and you can’t see the map unless you give ’em your info.

4. stateparks.org

I can’t believe I didn’t discover this one sooner! This site does exactly what it says: helps you find state parks in your respective state.

Once you click on your state, it lets you search for state parks in your area. Depending on the state, it will have varying amounts of information on the hiking trails near you. But once you find a state park nearby, you could always go back to one of the other sites above and look for hiking trails within them.

5. Other Options to Find Hiking Trails Near You

When I first moved to Austin, I also found out about parks and hiking trails from these various places:

• Coworkers
• Newsletters
• Fitness magazines
• Facebook groups

All of these are great options to start with because the recommendations will likely come from first-hand experiences and be more reliable.

Meetup is another good option if you’re looking for people to go hiking with. You can sign up for a hiking group and all you have to do is show up when they have an event. It’s a great way to meet new people who you instantly have something in common with. I know someone who did this and loved it!

Retailer events are another fun option! A lot of retailers host events and challenges, and you can easily find them by searching on their sites. Many will include walks or runs on some pretty cool trails.

The North Face Endurance Challenge

The North Face has lots exciting events as part of their Endurance Challenge. They list a few events over the year in large cities. Each event takes place in a awesome park or along a trail and has a tons of different running races available.

While a lot of running events offer only 2-3 distances, I wanted to share this one with you because it has 8! I’m a big fan of races that provide options for every fitness level.

Gear-up! The North Face Sale at Macy’s

Every great hike needs some great gear behind it.

I love The North Face because it captures the essence of exploration, which I think is the best way to get exercise. The North Face has high quality clothes and gear for both hikes and trail runs.

And fortunately, they’re having a sale right now on the Macy’s website. The majority of their products are 25% off through Monday, April 22. Although some exclusions apply, a lot their higher-priced items are included.

Personally, I’m eyeing these:

Click here to shop the sale before 4/22/19!

If you’re reading this after that date, don’t worry – there are still great sales going on at Macy’s throughout the rest of April (and anytime, really!). It’s not too late!

I hope you found this post helpful and are inspired to hit some hiking trails near you! Let’s get exploring!

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Do you love to hike or go on trail runs? Do you have a favorite memory of a hike/trail run? Share in comments below!