Walking speeds

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.

I've been doing a lot of walking lately. It's pretty hard to exceed 4mph, even when you are working yourself hard. To get up to speeds of 4.5-5 mph requires a special movement technique. Walking athletes call it "power walking", and the British military refers to it as "tabbing". Basically, you need to throw your hips forward each time you take a step - thereby lengthening your stride by a few inches. You can train yourself to do it. It still counts as walking because your heels hit the ground before the ball of the foot ... but the average spectator might think you were almost jogging.

I would agree that a steady pace of 3 mph is more practical for the vast majority of people, esp. over varied terrain (but with solid footing).

Pete 2

You are quite right. I can get up about a 4.5 mph walking pace as I did yesterday. However as also mentioned yesterday, I could not keep this pace for hours. 3 mph is much more realistic pace for most everyone on fairly easy terrain.

I did some crude measuring. When I'm walking into work on Monday morning, my average speed is 1.25 MPH. When I'm walking out of work on Friday afternoon, my speed is 9.75 MPH.

I would like to see the afterburners on those shoes that you wear home on Fridays!

"When I'm walking out of work on Friday afternoon, my speed is 9.75 MPH."

Hahahaha !!!
Good one :-)
I could probably boost my speed if I were heading towards happy hour at the local pub too.

Pete2

I am old and fat so walk pretty slow. On level easy trails a little over 2 mph. On trails that includes some picture taking time and time for the beagle to get in some creek time and some good sniffs.

The other day we were on more rugged up and down terrain. We did 5.1 miles in 3 hours and ten minutes. About 1.6 MPH.

We did another trail last week )or maybe it was the week before) that was 11.7 miles back and forth in just under 6 hours. Level and easy trail though.

By the way, why would a beagle be chicken of chickens? She is not chicken of other birds. She has been up close to wild geese, turkeys, crows, and ducks, and never seemed to care. When we were out a week or so ago, we ran across about 20 chickens on the trail. She wanted absolutely nothing to do with them. She tried to go back where we came from on the trail. I had to have a very serious chat with her to get her moving past the chickens.

Olympic walkers are averaging more than 10 mph (less than 6 min/mi). Most fit people cannot RUN a mile that fast. So, 6 mph may be fast for a normal person, but it's well below the bragging rights pace for the sport of walking.

For me, 6 mph (10 min/mi) is a light jogging pace. A max walk speed for me is somewhere around 4.5 mi/hr. I could walk at 5 mph for a short burst. I don't think it's possible for me to walk at 10 mph even for a short burst, and I'm not interested in risking an injury to try!

Not sure about the beagle, but I knew a tuna who was chicken of the sea!

My rule of thumb for planning purposes in most conditions is 3 km per hour, or about 1.9 mph. That gives plenty of leeway for the unexpected (heavy terrain, heavy pack, unfit person in the group or the group just feels like strolling about, chatting and having a good time).

A fit person can comfortably walk as fast as 5-6 km per hour (3.1-3.7 mph) on very easy terrain (firm paths, relatively flat). I don't think it is realistic to plan for anything faster than that. Your mileage will vary, but 6 km (3.7 mph) is where I stop enjoy walking. (Depending on company and situations I sometimes just have to stop whining and endure a faster pace than I like). I have friends with longer legs that comfortably can walk faster, but they are a minority.

So - most of the time I use 2 mph, but I'll use 3.7 as an upper limit if conditions justify it (paved path, easy terrain, known participiants).

Running is a totally different story.

the army, who may or may not know a thing or two about walking, says the average is 4 km / hr. which according to the tubes is 2.48 mph.

army

see graph at "dismounted movement".

that's flat terrain.

now if you are going uphill or downhilll - my favorite - see same chart for added or subtracted times.

for me, they can be very close to reality when planning for a hike.

pack weight can influence speed / times as well - as does everything else mentioned in previous posts.

good topic.

On a paved surface and not really any stops, I figure about 3-4 mph - 4 if I push myself a bit, 3 if I don't. On an uneven trail maybe 2 mph or even less if there are things to stop and see. I know that backpacking, we're a lot happier at 6-8 miles a day which gives plenty of time to sight-see and set up camp in the daylight.

Well i do not think that i can have walking speed of 6 miles per hour . It is beyond my walking speed . I can hardly walk for 8 km/hour .

Have you never come across Naismith's rule? Perhaps it is just a British thing.

Naismith's Rule

3mph on average, myself.

On a side note: In my research for a trip to New Zealand, I found it interesting that many hiking trails (known as "tramping tracks") have signs that are marked in times, not distances. Interesting, no?

Wow, some of my mid-hike naps are longer then that!