This is a strange list. Hikes are not uniformly distributed among states. It almost feels sacriligeous to boil states like Washington or Utah or Colorado down into a single "best" hike (Yellow Aster Butte? When the Enchantments exist? Really???) so unless you're a pathological box-checker I don't understand the point of this article.
The only thing this article really shows is that every state has a nice place to go hiking. Aside from that, there are many factors that make a hike enjoyable, and criteria are not the same for different people.
Personally, I just try to make the most of any place I'm in, and appreciate it for what it is. Even if it's the local trail that I've hiked a hundred times, it is never exactly the same experience. And that's what makes it fun (to me).
And finding beauty in what would ordinarily pass as a "mundane" trail is precisely what makes the exceptional places so awe-inspiring.
Yellow Aster Butte is a reasonably accessible day hike that can be completed by just about anyone who's fit enough to hike. Yes, the last pitch to the butte is a bitch, but just about anyone can do it. The Enchantments, on the other hand, is a permit only area (for overnight trips), that is not easily completed in a day long thru-hike - which from the Stuart trailhead is 18 miles with 4500ft of elevation gain. Even experienced hikers struggle with the Aasgard Pass scramble. This list strikes me as not just best in terms of views and landscape, but also accessibility.
I totally agree the Enchantments are more spectacular, but they require some serious commitment and are not likely to be enjoyed by the vast majority casual hikers.
Fair enough, however the I would counter that the JMT can be sectioned, though not necessarily as day hikes. Other than the permit requirement it is way more accessible and less difficult than the Enchantments (don't get me wrong, they're both hard). I agree the JMT is the best hike in CA. I see how Yellow Aster could be considered the best hike in WA, the Enchantments is just different and special in its own unique way.
It's to generate clicks, because people will wonder if their favorite hike is on the list.
Just like when you see a magazine wants to increase readership or clicks from a particular region, it may publish a top ten list specific to that region.
It's the hiking equivalent of "See girls looking for love in localhost!"
The point is to generate clicks and ad revenue. Listicles like this are great for clicks. Even better if they make unconventional / controversial choices.
Not everyone lives near Washington or Utah or Colorado, but everyone lives in a state with nice hikes, so this article is still useful. And even though I do live in Washington, I'd never been to (or even heard of) the "Yellow Aster Butte" hike -- the wealth of nice hikes nearby has kept me from branching out to hikes in other parts of the state.
State may not be the perfect way to break things up (I can easily drive across connecticut in a couple hours, not so much in Texas or California), but there's no other commonly used grid system to break up the country.
I think it's just supposed to be a conversation starter. Everyone knows lists are silly. I don't think anyone is suggesting that you must do these and only these hikes.
I think it's good for people who have only hiked one region and might do some image searches and see something they like in another part of the country. But I agree, picking one hike for Texas is pretty silly since if you're in Houston in east Texas you won't want to drive ten hours to their pick in the far western corner.
It is subjective anyway. I don't think it is meant to be taken that serious...
I found it helpful since I often just want a rough list of hikes to look into further. Other resources focus on specific areas, so I like how broad this one is.
I'm not even scratching the surface here, and many may disagree about any of these being the "top 10", but here are some longer day hikes I did, that are near Denver, and that I thoroughly enjoyed and would do again:
1. Cascade Creek Trail to Crater Lake near Tabernash, CO (starts on the southern side of Lake Granby)
2. East Inlet Trail to Lake Verna (starts on the northern side of Lake Granby)
3. Jasper Lake Trail (near Nederland CO, can take a shuttle from the town to the trailheads)
4. Chicago Lakes Trail by Mt. Evans
Those all fall into a category of hike that you can complete by early-mid afternoon if you start around 7 or 8 AM.
Then there are ton that are 2+ days to complete. The most famous one is the Maroon Bells loop, which I haven't done yet. But one I loved was near Aspen, taking the Maroon Snowmass trail up to Snowmass Lake, camping overnight, and heading back. Most folks extend the trip and summit Snowmass Mountain the next morning.
There are ton of much shorter hikes a very short distance away from Denver that are good to do most of the year. Pretty much anything in Evergreen (Alderfer Three Sisters Trail), Apex Trail near Morrison, Walker Ranch loop by Boulder. Hanging lakes is farther away, but next to Maroon Bells as one of the most famous and highly trafficked hikes.
I've only been here a year and a half and have a lot more to explore.
I've lived in Boulder for six years now, favorite hike is Long's Peak but it's ridiculously long and strenuous. Some good gems that are not as crazy and out of the national park are the Brainard lake area and the Arapahoe glacier trail if you like meadows above treeline.
A lot of states have way too many hikes, and it can take hours (sometimes days) of research to figure out what "best one" to take. This list is for people who aren't from that state and just want to go on one good hike. It won't work for everyone, for example because most people will never go to Kauai.
Of course, some states have more to offer than others, and choices like these are often subjective (also, it looks like they preferred less-known and less-overrun locations), but I think pointing out that there is also some beautiful scenery in the less touristic states also has some merit...
I live in Massachusetts and I had to look it up. I figured it was maybe in the Berskshires somewhere--which I'm also not that familiar with but as it is no wonder I hadn't heard the name before. Any list like this is going to be a bit idiosyncratic but this is more random than most.
Bash Bish is scenic but it is way too crowded in the summer with NY tourists. Id recommend googling for other Western Mass trails a little rather from NY.
I grew up very near Bash Bish and–while always a popular local spot–it has really succumbed to the the instagram must-have-selfie phenomenon in recent years. There are thankfully plenty of other beautiful places nearby!
Sleeping Bear Dunes is beautiful, but my #1 hiking spot would be Pictured Rocks in the Upper Peninsula. The rock formations are astounding, there are hikers-only campsites that are super cool to stay in, and there's lots of stuff to do there whether you're there for a day or a week. I'd say its worth visiting Michigan from out of state just to see.
As a native from Michigan that likes to hike; Pyramid Point is not what I would have picked. But I guess in contrast to what the other states have to offer, our dunes on the lake probably stand out as unique to the traveler even though I'm used to them to the point where I'm bored with them. Interesting.
As a fellow Michigander, it baffles me that Pyramid Point was picked here too. Especially given all of the trails in the Upper Peninsula and the Huron Mountains.
It's a little strange. Since most people will just hike straight out and back, it's barely a mile-long hike. However, there are some beautiful trails nearby to the East off the end of W Lake Michigan Rd, and of course the Bay View trail system just to the West. If you get creative you can link them all up, and that might be a worthy contender for best hike in Michigan.
I bicycled across Kansas as part of a larger bike trip. The scenery in most of the state is a different kind of stunning, especially in the fall. Imagine being halfway between two towns that are 20 miles from each other, and being able to see the grain elevator in each. In the fall, the ground is golden and the skies are blue, and it's magnificent, and it looks like it'll never end.
Eastern/Southeastern Kansas, on the other hand, looks nothing like that, and if you've just put a couple hundred miles in crossing the western and central parts of the state, it'll blow your mind that it's that different (and work your legs for the first time since the Rockies).
A sad fact of Kansas trails is that most of them wind through narrow stands of trees ringing artificial lakes, instead of traversing the prairies that actually make Kansas unique and cool instead of a lame Ozarks knockoff. Going through trees and over little limestone ledges is fun especially on a bike but it would be a lot more interesting to intersperse that with weaving through 8 foot tall prairie grasses and some views over the plains and big sky.
Napali coast - where their recommended Hawaii hike takes you. If you go, definitely do some hikes, but I'd highly recommend a snorkel trip to that side of the island too, the coast is just as beautiful from afar.
For Alabama, there are plenty of beautiful hikes. Rivers: Coosa, Cahaba, Tennessee, Paint Rock, Elk; Mountains: Cheaha, Noccalula, Oak Mountain, Monte Sano, Red Mountain; Beaches: Gulf State Park, Daphne, Orange Beach; ;Lakes: Guntersville, Perry Lakes, Lake Martin. We have waterfalls, rock climbing, and canoeing too - which always involve hiking when I go!
Like any other state, Alabama can most certainly not be filtered down into a "best of" list, because we're all from different parts.
I imagine writing about the great outdoors is a challenge. There's nothing like the real thing!
Not sure why this is downvoted, it's true. Go try and post a hike to one of the CO subreddits (/r/colorado, /r/denver, etc) and if you post a location for anything other than the super common hikes with your photo you'll immediately eat a huge wave of downvotes. With the explosion of backcountry skiing, the apps crowdsourcing spots have drawn a lot of ire from the locals as well.
While I don't like the elitism, I can appreciate the fact that it challenges you to do your own scouting and find your own cool places.
There's one canyon in Death Valley that's like that. I think you can actually find its location online these days but it's not even included in the two massive tomes that are pretty much the bible of death valley hiking.
I find myself on the opposing side of this debate. I am fine with hiding local gems from the frothing online masses. I don't want to one day go on a favored hike of mine, which has always been deserted and hard to get to, only to find it swamped with gumbies because someone posted it online. I would especially resent it if I were to find that the newcomers were all tourists or out-of-towners.
Locals put time, money, and effort into outdoor locals and communities, often in the form of trail or crag restoration/cleanup days. It is completely understandable that they don't want to see, for example, their favorite "hidden" trails ruined from the impact of a 10x increase in traffic and the associated littering, defecating, urinating, drones, off-leash dogs, loud children, etc. Locals deserve to reap the rewards of their efforts. Give to Caesar what is Caesar's.
I, personally, have found some boulders that I cleaned and developed for bouldering. Never in my life will I put their location on mountainproject or a similar crowd-sourcing site. The risk for idiots blasting music or littering is too great.
Is it elitist? Yes. I think this is an issue where elitism is fine.
"Elitism is bad unless it is my brand of elitism". Isn't this your own version of NIMBYism.
Is it safe to assume from your comments that you have never traveled to exprience the great outdoors in your life?
I never denied that it was NIMBY-ish or elitist. I get it. It's elitist and its exclusive. But shit, I've put in effort and my own time,sweat,gas money, etc. to improve and maintain trails and crags. I don't like it all getting wrecked by inconsiderate jerks who litter. Furthermore, elitism regarding hiding local trails from crowd-sourcing sites is vastly different than, oh idk, elitism about college applicant acceptance or some such.
As for traveling to experience the outdoors, you are so far off the mark that it's not even funny. I've been to and hiked/backpacked/camped in, uhh hold on while I count... 16 different national parks and monuments, 7 state parks, 2 national preserves, and 8 national forests across 6 states, and that's just in the past 3 years.
I've climbed in Bishop, Josh, Yos, Red rocks, Tahoe, Squish, "the Creek", NRG, and the Gunks, among many other smaller crags. Why would you even make the assumption I've never traveled?
> The likelihood is slim of ever getting a lottery permit to hike the super-popular Wave
This makes me feel even more lucky that we entered this lottery (the "remote" version) around 10 years ago and won two permits. Looks like the popularity hasn't decreased much since? We had to adapt our travel plans a lot to be there on the date we got assigned, but it was worth it - although I guess the Wave is a bit over-hyped because of the perceived "exclusivity" and other areas are just as beautiful (albeit sometimes even harder to reach). We had actually considered Buckskin Gulch as an alternative for having to participate in the "on-premise" lottery and not getting permits.
Buckskin Gulch was amazing. I went about 8 miles in, and saw like 2 other people the whole time. But it was a weekday in November, so maybe it’s always like that then? Such a beautiful canyon...
To add to the list of state-specific complaints: there is no chance that the best hike in PA is in Delaware Water Gap. Maybe that should win the category of "best hike within 2 hours of NYC", but all the nicer parts of the state are further west.
"IMAX-sized views of New Jersey"? Pass.
I bet the most common choice would be the Falls Trail in Ricketts Glen, but I'd rather be on the Black Forest trail or somewhere on the Midstate.
Can't argue with the Texas choice of McKittrick Ridge, but the hike up via McKittrick Canyon instead of Dog Canyon is even more beautiful if you can handle the brutal climb.
It's at least a couple of hours driving from the Texas trailheads to the New Mexico trailhead, so it's worth considering both directions depending on your fitness and what direction you're coming from.
I was curious what they'd choose for Arizona and I hadn't even put the Grand Canyon as option in my head (although it's pretty obvious). Still, I was hoping for maybe a deeper cut then that since the Grand Canyon sort of wins by default if it's included in a bucket list type article like this.
Same. I've never heard of that place either. I grew up in Searcy and Fayetteville and went to Heber many, many summers. It's very pretty and worth the trip. Picking just one place in Arkansas is too hard. I went on a lovely backpack hike and camping trip near Aux Arc. Definitely recommend.
The JMT in Cali may be the quintessential trail in the high Sierra but I could name a number of equally magnificent hikes throughout the state including the north coast, Death Valley, Channel Islands, Joshua Tree, as well as other Sierra hikes that, while not as long or famous, will also take your breath away (figuratively and literally). But then, I suppose those in other states have their own list of hikes as well. That's what makes articles like this one so subjective.
Hmm, I dunno, I've done it many times (lived in Oak Ridge for a few years), and while the the stretch from the trailhead to Alum Cave can be busy during the peak season, if you're off of that in any way it tends to not be very bad. Also, the parking can look full enough to suggest a much busier trail than I've typically encountered. Typical avoiding crowds stuff is good though (go earlier in the day, try to avoid a holiday weekend, etc., it is a very popular hike).
The Smokies is a very car-friendly park (see the people just circling Cades Coves in their car amazed at some deer or a turkey) since it has no entrance fees, is the most visited park, and in an extremely car-dependent part of the country, but that means that I often found trails much, much lighter on people than places like Yosemite, which feel much more heavily traveled.
If you do this hike, go past the lodge on LeConte all the way to Myrtle Point. Better views than Cliff Tops and enough people stop at the lodge that it winnows down the people making it there even further. Most I've ever seen out there is maybe 5-6 other people, and typically it's only a 1-3 with some time totally alone if its off season or a weekday.
The most unique Smokies experience is surely the synchronous fireflies, which I've been lucky enough to see twice (once through the lottery, once through hiking in from the main road) and highly recommend.
Alum Cave to LeConte is my favorite hike in the Smokies though, even did it another time with my partner when we came back to TN to get married.
Good tips. Yeah, that sounds consistent with my experience. Got there early, had a great hike up to the lodge, but didn't go far past it. Then ran into huge crowds on the way down between the cave and the trailhead.
This is 100% clickbait for lazy people. I can't believe this is on the front page of HN when plenty of independent trail developers build awesome tools for finding new hikes and have shared those tools in the past on HN.
Zion is great, but it gets pretty touristy in the spring and summer. I was there in April and there was an actual line to get up Angels Landing. I didn't even bother with The Narrows because there were so many people. If you prefer fewer people, Bryce Canyon is quite close and significantly less peopled.
I would love to see this list expanded to at least provide a choice in each category of moderate, intermediate, and overnight. That said, it's a great conversation starter.
Silver Falls is a nice family-friendly and easy hike (and pretty touristy as a result), but I personally wouldn't put it at the top of Oregon hikes. My #1 would be Neahkahnie Mountain, probably followed by your choice at Crater Lake and then Angels Rest in the Gorge. Of course, Oregon has a stupid amount of good hiking so it's hard to go wrong.
