Useful to know: what your walking/ hiking speed?

Mines somewhere 2-6mph depending. Good to know for planning.

Methinks pretty much everybody's walking speed falls in that range.

Also, SAR BC's estimated travel speed tables - by foot, bike, canoe, ski, and snowshoe:

http://www.sarbc.org/sarbc/speed.html

Not sure how 6 miles per hour can be construed as walking speed for the vast majority of people. At the gym and on the treadmill, at 5 to 6 miles per hour I am in a light to moderate jog.

With walking the urban concrete jungle or hiking trail, there are far too many variables to take into account such as (but not limited to): terrain, elevation gain/loss, physical and physiological condition of person, weather (heat/cold/humidity/rain/snow), weight of pack, type of footwear and so on...

The linked chart that Yelp provided is far more realistic keeping in mind that that is based on overall and generalized averages. YMMV (Your Mileage May Vary...and no pun intended.)

One of the nice things about using a GPS is that you know your walking speed precisely and it is continuously computed.

You are absolutely right - there are numerous variables. I suspect that for most people over typical, somewhat hilly terrain, 3 mph is a pretty good pace. It will range downward from there.

Thanks for posting the SAR BC speed tablesm they look about right.

Yes, 6 mph is definitely beyond walking speed for me. Thought of another way, that's a 10-minute mile pace for 6 miles straight and I can't cover a mile in 10 minutes without running.

People always overestimate their walking pace whether in the city or on a hiking trail. People also overestimate how far they can or thought they walked in a given day.

The SO and went out for a walk/run at the local park late this afternoon. She ran while I walked so I could get some updated elapsed walking pace data just for this thread.

The park trail is 1 km per lap and is a mix of gravel and loose cedar wood chips. I did 5 laps (3.1 miles) in 41.18 minutes which was a relatively easy pace for me considering the uneven, wet and spongy ground. From previous time vs laps over 10 km in this same park, it was a consistent and relative to shorter distance elapsed time for me today. I also know from experience that I can maintain a similar pace on concrete over the same 10 k distance while carrying a 10-12 lb pack as even though concrete is harder on the feet and legs, there is not as much give and softness as compared to non-concrete park trail so I find that my pace is more consistent.

Keeping the above in mind. In a true evac on foot and in an urban environment while carrying a heavier backpack, there is no way I could maintain the same pace for hours and my legs and feet are very well conditioned. I would think that a relatively slow 3 mile per hour pace on decent urban ground and proper footwear over about 8-10 hours would be at the extreme max of my limit per day.

Similar to hikemor's reply, that is why I carry a GPS. I log my hikes and then store those for later so I have some baseline data to compare to.

For those who do not have a GPS, there is also gmap-pedometer which I use for urban walking and running mileage calculations.

I'm a very fast walker in everyday urban life. While I'm just 5' 10", my normal nightly walking route of 2.9 miles is generally covered in 45 minutes. That's a tad over 3.75 mph. Of course, that's a fairly flat route with one gradual downhill slope and one very steep uphill jaunt. I'm not superfit or anything, I just walk fast. Maybe it comes from 25 years of cooking professionally.

Things are different in the bush, of course.