Hiking is one of our favourite ways to explore the world. Here we have gathered all our favourite hiking quotes in one place. So if you are looking for inspirational hiking quotes, funny hiking quotes, hiking with friends quotes, hiking quotes for couples, trail quotes, mountain hiking quotes, trekking quotes, hiking adventure quote, quotes about hiking and nature or maybe just one of the short hiking quotes, we have you covered.
Whether you are using it for hiking quotes for Instagram posts or for inspiration scroll on down and find one of the trail quotes that speaks to you.
We quit our jobs over 10 years ago and have been travelling and hiking ever since. We make a point of finding hikes in any of the countries we visit whether they are a short wander, a strenuous day hike or even multi-day treks. I have included pictures from our hikes with the quotes on hiking that inspire us or make us think a little more. And let’s face it, there is nothing but time to think while hiking.
Hiking Quotes
These are a few of our favourite hiking quotes that always inspire us to get out for the next hike.
“In the mountains, there are only two grades: You can either do it, or you can’t.” – Rusty Baillie
“It is the mountain that has been calling me, and it’s time to answer.” – Susan Jagannath
“The woods are lovely, dark and deep. But I have promises to keep, and miles to go before I sleep.” – Robert Frost
“Good company in a journey makes the way seem shorter.” – Izaak Walton
“There are no shortcuts to any place worth going.” – Beverly Sills
“Leave the road, take the trails.” – Pythagoras
“Some beautiful paths can’t be discovered without getting lost.” — Erol Ozan
Funny Hiking Quotes
Some of the best hiking quotes are the ones that include humor. These are our favourites from our list of the best funny quotes about hiking. These following funny hiking sayings will add some levity to any hike.
“Never follow someone else’s path unless you’re in the woods and you’re lost, and you see a path. By all means, you should follow that.” — Ellen DeGeneres
“Hiking side effects include sweating, euphoria and general awesomeness.”
“I don’t get it. The trail looked so flat on the map.”
“Bring a compass. It’s awkward when you have to eat your friends.“
“Let’s wander where the WiFi is weak.”
“Hiking is the only slightly less ugly stepsister of running.” – Lindy Hughes
“Always hike with someone in worse shape than you. The bears out there will know.“
“What on earth would I do if four bears came into my camp? Why, I would die of course. Literally sh** myself lifeless.” – Bill Bryson
“The closer you are to nature, the further you are from idiots.”
“The view up here is breathtaking, and I know it’s all downhill from here.”
“Hiking—much like drinking—is something that sounds more fun to the uninitiated than it actually is.” – Mindy McGinnis
“I hike to burn off the crazy.”
“Sleeping bags are the soft tacos of the bear world.”
“It’s all fun and games until you hear a twig snap behind you.”
“Hiking’s not for everyone. Notice the wilderness is mostly empty.” – Sonja Yoerg
“I will go hiking here or there, I will go hiking everywhere.”
“Someone told me to ‘take a hike,’ so I did.”
“Hiking is just walking where it’s okay to pee.” – Demetri Martin
“Trails are like that: you’re floating along in a Shakespearean Arden paradise and expect to see nymphs and flute boys, then suddenly you’re struggling in a hot broiling sun of hell in dust and nettles and poison oak…just like life.” – Jack Kerouac
“I have a therapist. Her name is hiking.”
Hiking with Friends Quotes
Hiking with friends always makes the hike go faster and these quotes about hiking with friends explain why that is. Good conversations and shared memories add to any hiking experience and friendship. So if you are looking for hiking with best friends quotes or hiking buddy quotes this section is for you. Check out our list of Short Friendship Quotes.
“I just wanna kick it in the woods with my birches.”
“Happiness is hiking with friends.”
“We are all travelers in the wilderness of the world and the best we can find in our travels is an honest friend.” – Robert Louis Stevenson
“It’s not how many miles you walk, it’s how many smiles you share.”
“Let’s travel together and get lost in beautiful places.”
“In life, it’s not where you go, it’s who you travel with.” – Charles Schulz
RELATED POST: Short Quotes About Life
“Happiness is hiking with friends.”
Short Hiking Quotes for Instagram
Sometimes you are just looking for something short and sweet. You don’t always need lengthy quotes about hiking trails to get your point across. These short hiking quotes for Instagram are perfect for your next post and your followers will love them. If you are looking for a caption for your next hiking Instagram post we also have a lists of Short Hiking Quotes and hiking captions for Instagram list. If you like quotes that are short check out our list of the Best Short Quotes.
“I love places that make you realize how tiny you and your problems are.”
“Always take the scenic route.”
“Take only memories, leave only footprints.” – Chief Si’ahl
“Wander often. Wonder always.”
“Not all who wander are lost.” – JRR Tolkien
“Always take the scenic route.”
“Hiking is my cardio.”
“The mountains are calling and I must go.” – John Muir
“The world reveals itself to those who travel on foot” – Werner Herzog
“There is always an adventure waiting in the woods.” – Katelyn S. Bolds
“Life is better in hiking boots.”
“It feels good to be lost in the right direction”
“Remember to look up to the stars, not down to your feet.” – Stephen Hawking
“Coffee, Mountains, Adventure.”
“Leave the road, take the trails.” – Pythagoras
“Do more things that make you forget to check your phone.”
“Where the signposts end, the trail begins.” – Marty Rubin
“Happiest wherever I can wear hiking shoes.”
“The mountains were there and so was I.” – Maurice Herzog
“Anywhere is ‘within walking distance’.”
“The journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.” – Lao Tzu
“Move the body, still the mind.”
Hiking Quotes for Couples
We almost always hike as a couple, sometimes by ourselves and sometimes in a larger group. Hiking with your loved one can bring you closer together or can strain your relationship. These hiking couple quotes cover both of these scenarios. Pick one of the hiking together quotes for your hiking picture or to help convince your loved one its time for a hike!
“Camping is not a date; it’s an endurance test. If you can survive camping with someone, you should marry them on the way home.” — Yvonne Prinz
“It’s not where you go, but who you go with.”
“A journey is like marriage. The certain way to be wrong is to think you control it.” – John Steinbeck
“The perfect pair of hiking boots brings you safely through thrumming rivers and broken rocks; the perfect partner is walking right beside you.”
“The best gift you could have given her was a lifetime of adventures.” – Lewis Carroll
“I’ve fallen in love with adventures, so I begin to wonder, if that’s why I’ve fallen for you.” – E. Grin
“The right companion makes memories last a lifetime.”
“What we find in a soulmate is not something wild to tame, but something wild to run with.” – Robert Brault
“Who stands beside you on the journey is more important than where the trail leads to.”
“In life, it’s not where you go; it’s who you travel with.” – Charles Schulz
“There’s no one I’d rather walk the trails with than you.”
“Here’s to all the places we went. And here’s to all the places we’ll go. And here’s to me, whispering again and again and again and again: I love you.” — John Green
“Let’s find some beautiful place to get lost together.”
“There is no WiFi in the forest, but I promise you will find a better connection.”
“Never go on trips with anyone you do not love.”
“You keep me safe, I’ll keep you wild.”
Trail Quotes
Some of the best quotes on hiking are trail quotes. Check out our favourite quotes about the trail.
“I will not follow where the path may lead, but I will go where there is no path, and I will leave a trail.” – Muriel Strode
“Walk on a rainbow trail; walk on a trail of song, and all about you will be beauty. There is a way out of every dark mist, over a rainbow trail.” – Robert Motherwell
“I could never resist the call of the trail.” – Buffalo Bill
“I don’t like following in people’s footsteps; I like making my own trail.” – The Miz
“A tourist follows a trail; a mountaineer finds one.” – Reinhold Messner
“Whenever the pressure of our complex city life thins my blood and numbs my brain, I seek relief in the trail; and when I hear the coyote wailing to the yellow dawn, my cares fall from me – I am happy.” – Hamlin Garland
“If you do not expect the unexpected you will not find it, for it is not to be reached by search or trail.” – Heraclitus
“A trail through the mountains, if used, becomes a path in a short time, but, if unused, becomes blocked by grass in an equally short time.” – Mencius
“I remember a hundred lovely lakes, and recall the fragrant breath of pine and fir and cedar and poplar trees. The trail has strung upon it, as upon a thread of silk, opalescent dawns and saffron sunsets.” – Hamlin Garland
Mountain Hiking Quotes
Some hiking trails are flat and easy and some are up mountains. If you have chosen the hiking trail that leads up the mountain these quotes about hiking mountains are for you. Some of our best hikes have been in the mountains. The views almost always make the effort worth it. If you are looking for Quotes About Climbing Mountains we also have you covered.
“Over the mountains and through the woods, down the river and up the valley, over the boulders and through the stream to nobody’s house I go.”
“Chasing angels or fleeing demons, go to the mountains.” – Jeffrey Rasley
“Climbing is as close as we can come to flying.” – Margaret Young
“I can’t understand why men make all this fuss about Everest — it’s only a mountain.” – Junko Tabei (the first women to summit Everest)
“Each fresh peak ascended teaches something.” – Sir Martin Conway.
“It’s not the mountain we conquer, but ourselves.” – Sir Edmund Hillary
“Those who travel to mountain-tops are half in love with themselves and half in love with oblivion.” – Robert MacFarlane
“Because in the end, you won’t remember the time you spent working in an office or mowing the lawn. Climb that goddamn mountain.” – Jack Kerouac
“Mountains are the beginning and the end of all natural scenery.” – John Ruskin
“Mountains have a way of dealing with overconfidence.” – Hermann Buhl
“If you think you’ve peaked, find a new mountain.”
“The higher you climb on the mountain, the harder the wind blows.” – Sam Cummings
“Thousands of tired, nerve-shaken, over-civilized people are beginning to find out that going to the mountains is going home; that wildness is a necessity.” – John Muir
“You need mountains, long staircases don’t make good hikers.” – Amit Kalantri
“Let’s not mince words: Everest doesn’t attract a whole lot of well-balanced folks. The self-selection process tends to weed out the cautious and the sensible in favor of those who are single-minded and incredibly driven. Which is a big reason the mountain is so dangerous.” – Jon Krakauer
“I love to sit on a mountain top and gaze. I don’t think of anything but the people I care about and the view.” – Julian Lennon
“It isn’t the mountain ahead that wears you out; it’s the grain of sand in your shoe.” – Robert W. Service
“When preparing to climb a mountain – pack a light heart.” – Dan May
“Every mountain top is within reach if you just keep climbing.” – Barry Finlay
Long Distance Trekking Quotes
We have done many long-distance treks and there is something about the simplicity of having your choices taken away from you that separates you from outside world. Each day all you have to do is get up and hike. We have also put together a complete list of trekking quotes but here are a couple of our favourites that encapsulate this feeling, as well as the strength of will that is necessary to get you though a long-distance trek.
“Returning home is the most difficult part of long-distance hiking. You have grown outside the puzzle and your piece no longer fits.” – Cindy Ross
“I slow down when hiking. The rhythm of nature is more leisurely. The sun comes up, it moves across the sky, and you begin to synchronize to that rhythm.” – John Mackey
“Days of slow walking are very long: they make you live longer because you have allowed every hour, every minute, every second to breathe, to deepen, instead of filling them up by straining the joints.” – Frédéric Gros
“The long-distance hiker, a breed set apart, from the likes of the usual pack. He’ll shoulder his gear, be hittin’ the trail; long gone, long ‘fore he’ll be back.” – M.J. Eberhart
“I would never have started this trip if I had known how tough it was, but I couldn’t and wouldn’t quit.” – Ben Montgomery
Hiking Adventure Quotes
Sometimes your hike may go according to plan, and sometimes it may be a touch “adventurous”. Or maybe that was the plan all along. If so, these adventurous quotes about hiking are for you.
“May your trails be crooked, winding, lonesome, dangerous, leading to the most amazing view. May your mountains rise into and above the clouds.” – Edward Abbey
“You must go on adventures to find out where you truly belong.” — Sue Fitzmaurice
“The danger of adventure is worth a thousand days of ease and comfort.” – Paulo Coelho
“Real adventure is defined best as a journey from which you may not come back alive, and certainly not as the same person.” – Yvon Chouinard
“If happiness is the goal – and it should be, then adventures should be top priority.” – Richard Branson
“You must go on adventures to find out where you truly belong.” – Sue Fitzmaurice
“Everyone needs someone who will call and say, ‘Get dressed. We’re going on an adventure.’”
“Blessed are the curious, for they shall have adventures.” – Lovelle Drachman
“Jobs fill your pocket. Adventures fill your soul.” – Jaime Lyn Beatty
“There is always an adventure waiting in the woods.” – Katelyn S. Bolds
Quotes for Hiking
We love these quotes for hiking that made us stop and think a little.
“We don’t stop hiking because we grow old. We grow old because we stop hiking.” – Finis Mitchell
“Almost everything will work again if you unplug it for a few minutes, including you.” — Anne Lamott
“Complete freedom is not what a trail offers. Quite the opposite; a trail is a tactful reduction of options.” – Robert Moor
“Hiking is the answer. Who cares what the question is.”
“If you can find a path with no obstacles, it probably doesn’t lead anywhere.” – Frank A. Clark
“When everything feels like an uphill struggle, Just think of the view from the top.”
“Do not follow where the path may lead. Go instead where there is no path and leave a trail.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson
“The best thing one can do when it’s raining is to let it rain.” – Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
“I always wonder why birds stay in the same place when they can fly anywhere on the earth. Then I ask myself the same question.” – Harun Yahya
“When life gives you mountains, put on your boots and hike.”
“I considered my options. There were only two and they were essentially the same. I could go back in the direction I had come from, or I could go forward in the direction I intended to go.” – Cheryl Strayed
“Getting to the top is optional. Getting down is mandatory.” – Ed Viesturs
“It does not matter how slowly you go as long as you do not stop.” – Confucius
“You need special shoes for hiking—and a bit of a special soul as well.” – Terri Guillemets
“There is no such thing as bad weather, only inappropriate clothing.” – Sir Rannulph Fiennes
“You can’t climb up a mountain with downhill thoughts.”
“If you’re on the right path it will always be uphill” – Henry B. Eyring
“There are no shortcuts to any place worth going.” – Beverly Sills
Inspirational Hiking Quotes
There are hiking motivational quotes and inspirational quotes that will make you want to get out and hike. Check through this list of inspirational hiking quotes to find the one that inspires you. You might also like our list of Short Inspirational Quotes.
“May your dreams be larger than mountains and may you have the courage to scale their summits” – Harley King
“The moment my legs begin to move, my thoughts begin to flow.” – Henry David Thoreau
“I was no longer following a trail. I was learning to follow myself.” – Aspen Matis
“Of all the paths you take in life, make sure a few of them are dirt.” – John Muir
“A walk in nature walks the soul back home.” – Mary Davis
“I found far more answers in the woods than I ever did in the city.” – Mary Davis
“My father considered a walk among the mountains as the equivalent of churchgoing.” – Aldous Huxley
“I took a walk in the woods and came out taller than trees.” – Henry David Thoreau
“If you face the rest of your life with the spirit you show on the trail, it will have no choice but to yield the same kind of memories and dreams.” – Adrienne Hall
“Hiking is a bit like life. The journey only requires you to put one foot in front of the other…again and again and again. And if you allow yourself the opportunity to be present throughout the entirety of the trek, you will witness beauty every step of the way, not just at the summit”
“If everyone in the world took care of each other the way folks do out on the trail, and if everyone approached each day with as much hope and optimism as hikers do, the world would be a better place.” – Jon Tullis
“Hiking is not escapism; it’s realism. The people who choose to spend time outdoors are not running away from anything; we are returning to where we belong.” – Jennifer Pharr Davis
“You can’t find happiness at the end of your journey if you didn’t bring it with you all along.” – Katrina Mayer
Nature Hiking Quotes
Most hikes bring you closer to nature. These quotes celebrate both hiking and nature. If you are looking for something else about nature we have other lists of quotes and captions about nature including waterfalls, sunsets, rivers, lakes, trees, mountains, the sea and sunsets and sunrises.
“If we were meant to stay in one place, we’d have roots instead of feet.” — Rachel Wolchin
“I slow down when hiking. The rhythm of nature is more leisurely. The sun comes up, it moves across the sky, and you begin to synchronize to that rhythm.” – John Mackey
“Moments of solitude with Mother Nature is sunshine to a soul.” — Anthony Douglas Williams
“I go to nature to be soothed and healed, and to have my senses put in order.” – John Burroughs
“Trails enabled me to better see the world, to notice fine aspects invisible from an airplane, the most basic things we miss. Seeing life at a pace at which you can actually observe nuance, the speed of stepping, the beautiful inspiring texture of “plain” reality becomes visible—God smiling in the detail.” – Aspen Matis
“Nature is not a place to visit. It is home.“ – Gary Snyder
“To walk in nature is to witness a thousand miracles.” – Mary Davis
“In every walk with nature, one receives far more than he seeks.” – John Muir
“Look deep into nature and you will understand everything better.“ – Albert Einstein
Wilderness is not a luxury but a necessity of the human spirit, and as vital to our lives as water and good bread.” – Edward Abbey
“The wild woman has a deep love of nature; a love for the ancient mother. Though possibly misunderstood, it has always been in her. When she goes into the wilderness, a part of her soul is going home.” — Shikoba
“Sometimes, nature is all you need.” — Shikoba
Hiking in the Woods Quotes
There is somethings so calming about walking in the forest. These hiking in the woods quotes come from our longer list of Forest Quotes.
“I love walking in the woods, along the trails, by the beaches. I love being part of nature. I love walking alone. It is therapy. One needs to be alone, to recharge one’s batteries.” – Grace Kelly
“I love being in the woods, when I can just walk barefoot in the grass and just sit down and breathe. I love that so much.” – Jessie Reyez
“If you’ve ever walked a mile into a virgin forest – you know, like a deep forest where trees have been uncut – the energy is totally different from the shopping mall.” – James Redfield
“Going for a leisurely walk in the forest feels like getting a big ol’ hug from Mother Nature.” – Jamie Erwine
“I took a walk in the woods and came out taller than trees.” — Henry David Thoreau
“I love the fact that we are surrounded by this spectacular natural beauty that routinely strikes us dead. Hikers walk off into the woods and are never seen again. And still we tug on our fleece and skip off into the wilderness, not a care in the world.” – Chelsea Cain
“I understood at a very early age that in nature, I felt everything I should feel in church but never did. Walking in the woods, I felt in touch with the universe and with the spirit of the universe.” – Alice Walker
“I found far more answers in the woods than I ever did in the city.” — Mary Davis
Quotes about Hiking From Famous Authors
Sometimes you need to look to books to find the quote that you want. Here are a smattering of quotes about hiking from books you’ve read or may want to consider reading.
“You’re off to great places, today is your day. Your mountain is waiting, so get on your way.” – Dr. Seuss
“I was amazed that what I needed to survive could be carried on my back. And, most surprising of all, that I could carry it.” – Cheryl Strayed: Wild
“It had nothing to do with gear or footwear or the backpacking fads or philosophies of any particular era or even with getting from point A to point B. It had to do with how it felt to be in the wild. With what it was like to walk for miles with no reason other than to witness the accumulation of trees and meadows, mountains and deserts, streams and rocks, rivers and grasses, sunrises, and sunsets. The experience was powerful and fundamental. It seemed to me that it had always felt like this to be a human in the wild, and as long as the wild existed it would always feel this way.” – Cheryl Strayed: Wild
“A significant fraction of thru-hikers reach Katahdin, then turn around and start back to Georgia. They just can’t stop walking, which kind of makes you wonder.” – Bill Bryson: A Walk in the Woods
“Jumping from boulder to boulder and never falling, with a heavy pack, is easier than it sounds; you just can’t fall when you get into the rhythm of the dance.” – Jack Kerouac, The Dharma Bums
“Ignore the outside voices telling you you’re doing it wrong; there is no “wrong.” But also watch out for wanting to fit in so badly that you start hiking someone else’s hike” – Ben Crawford, 2,000 Miles Together: The Story of the Largest Family to Hike the Appalachian Trail
“I hate hiking with convicts carrying machetes.” – Susan Orlean, The Orchid Thief: A True Story of Beauty and Obsession
“Hike your own hike to health.” – Harken Headers, Health & Not Screwing It Up
“All that is required of you is a willingness to trudge. There is no point in hurrying because you are not actually going anywhere. However far or long you trod you are always in the same place – in the woods. It’s where you were yesterday, where you will be tomorrow.” – Bill Bryson, A Walk in the Woods
Walking Quotes
Here are our favorite quotes from our list of Best Walking Quotes.
“Walking gets the feet moving, the blood moving, the mind moving. And movement is life.” – Terri Guillemets
“Walking is man’s best medicine.” – Hippocrates
“I love walking because it clears your mind, enriches the soul, takes away stress, and opens up your eyes to a whole new world.” – Claudette Dudley
“It is quite possible to leave your home for a walk in the early morning air and return a different person – beguiled, enchanted.” – Mary Ellen Chase
“To be refreshed by a morning walk or an evening saunter… these are some of the rewards of the simple life.” – John Burroughs
“An early-morning walk is a blessing for the whole day.” – Henry David Thoreau
“Thoughts come clearly while one walks.” – Thomas Mann
“Walking brings me back to myself.” – Laurette Mortimer
“All truly great thoughts are conceived by walking.” – Friedrich Nietzsche
“We live in a fast-paced society. Walking slows us down.” – Robert Sweetgall
“It is not talking but walking that will bring us to heaven.” – Matthew Henry
“If you are in a bad mood, go for a walk. If you are still in a bad mood, go for another walk.” —Hippocrates
“Perhaps the truth depends on a walk around the lake.” – Wallace Stevens
“The best remedy for a short temper is a long walk.” – Jacqueline Schiff
“Me thinks that the moment my legs begin to move, my thoughts begin to flow.” – Henry David Thoreau
“He who limps is still walking.” – Stanislaw J. Lec
“We all walk in different shoes.”- Kenneth Cole
“Yours are the only shoes made to walk your journey.” – Charles F. Glassman
“Walking together. Creating memories.” – Surabhi Rai
“Walking is the great adventure, the first meditation, a practice of heartiness and soul primary to humankind. Walking is the exact balance between spirit and humility.” – Gary Snyder
Hiking Captions
These are a couple of our favourite captions about hiking from our lists of the best hiking captions and funny hiking captions.
Hiking my own hike
My mantra is: hike more worry less
Taking things one step at a time
This hike really peaked my interest
Needed a change of altitude
I don’t get it. The trail looked so flat on the map.
I prefer the scenic route
When life gives you mountains, put on your boots and hike
So many hikes so little time
Hiked it, liked it
Step after step, mile after mile, day after day
Living my hiking life
And there you have it. Quotes on hiking that fit every situation, picture and post. Let us know if we missed one that we should add to the list!
We also have other lists of quotes and captions about hiking including mountain quotes, hiking captions for Instagram, climbing mountains quotes, funny hiking quotes, funny hiking captions, Walking Captions and Running Captions and trekking quotes. Check them out!
If you like spending time in the outdoors you might also like our camping quotes and fishing quotes.
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