Besthike.com is an index of the best hikes, treks and tramps in the world.
Our mission is simply catalogue the best hikes. Walks that can change your life.
The West Coast Trail in Canada, for example.
The Besthike blog is a day-to-day update on what’s happening with the site. And what’s happening around the world.
Remember that this is a blog. It’s opinion, not journalism. We have no fact checkers nor lawyers. If you see a mistake we are happy to fix it. If you have a contrary opinion, we are happy to post it.
Guest posts:
- Information of interest to independent hikers.
- Things that are NEW. DIFFERENT. ORIGINAL.
- Insider information not available elsewhere.
- Hikes in parts of the world not well covered on the internet now: Africa, China, Russia, etc.
- Technology / Apps being used by hikers
The more succinct, the better. But include visuals: graphics, photos, videos.
Send an email to BestHike editor RickMcCharles (a) gmail.
Most of our recommended hikes are challenging, multi-day adventures. But we also include the very best day hikes: the Tongariro Crossing (New Zealand) & Zion Narrows (USA), for example. We do not (yet) include off-trail scrambles or climbs.
The best guidebooks are listed to help you plan. (Be sure to get the most recent edition.)
Currently we are researching the best hikes on Earth adding an information page overview for each.
The site editor is Rick McCharles from Canada. The blog should be supporting our list of best hikes but sometimes verges on self-indulgence.
Our home page photo is by Tim Tiedemann who shared it on Unsplash.
Questions? Suggestions? This is a work in progress. Do you know of a fantastic hike that is not yet listed on this site? Did you notice any errors? Please contact us.
besthike.com 
Here’s a great hike – Ricketts Glen Falls Trail in Pennsylvania – http://www.dcnr.state.pa.us/stateParks/parks/rickettsglen/rickettsglen_trails.aspx
Falls Trail: 7.2 miles, difficult hiking
The full loop of this trail is 7.2 miles if hiking both the upper and lower sections. To see most of the waterfalls, a 3.2-mile loop can be taken by going on Highland Trail and the Glen Leigh and Ganoga Glen sides of the trail. The trails follow along 21 beautiful waterfalls ranging in heights from 11-feet to 94-feet. The scenery is well worth the effort, however, the terrain is rocky, can be slippery, and descends steeply on both the Ganoga and Glen Leigh sides. Hikers should take extra precautions with trail conditions, wear proper footwear, stay on the trail, and be in good physical condition.
The Falls Trail is closed in the winter except for properly equipped ice climbers and hikers.
Hello,
I’m a portuguese anthropologist that loves to walk and I’m doing my PhD research in Madeira Island about the levadas, which are water cannals used to irrigation, and simultaneously, and have a path used by tourists to gaze nature, especially Laurel Forest (World Heritage site by UNESCO).
My suggestion in that You’ve have any link to that touristic product, since it is visited daily by many twalkers/hikers. You could check my blog to have some informations about it. And since you have informations about the best hikes, tramsp in the world, you shoul have it.
Best regards,
Filipa
Thanks Filipa,
We did mention it in 2007:
https://besthike.wordpress.com/2007/03/06/hiking-madeira-island/
Your website has a lot of information. What’s the best page for the hiking on the island?
Hello from Madeira island, Portugal.
Thanks for the reply and the given informations.
Here we have several websites whose informations is really interesting, and some are from individuals or local groups/associations, and others from local entreprises that organizes walks/hikes to the levadas and veredas.
But here are some examples:
http://www.madeirawandern.com/
http://lugaresmadeira.blogspot.com/
http://www.walkingmadeira.com/insel
http://www.madeiraislandswalkingfestival.com/
http://www.madeira-levada-walks.com/
I can give you more details if you want to. Keep in touch.
Best regards,
Filipa
Hi Rick,
My name is Greg Lynch and I represent a Canadian Adventure site called http://www.ScenicTravelCanada.ca . I love your site and how it documents hikes from all over the world. My site focuses just on Canada.
Would you like to do some online cross promotion? We can exchange links & Canadian hiking articles (i.e. The “best day-hike” in the Canadian Rockies is in Waterton Lakes National Park – http://scenictravelcanada.ca/alberta/hiking-waterton-lake-national-park ).
I’m gathering hiking posts from across the country and provide content for your site… not all are THE BEST but you can choice. If you have content, feel free to post on my site ( http://scenictravelcanada.ca/user/register ). Post photos and links back to your site.
Let me know,
Greg Lynch
403-650-2461
talk@scenictravelcanada.ca
June 17, 2010
Merry Christmas!
May your holiday season be as beautiful as a Winter Wonderland!
*see Christmas Eve in Poland – 2010. /Version english, french, polish/ *see – http://bit.ly/gNi71F
Thanks for a phenomenal blog! You should really include Norway in your Europe section, what an unbelievable paradise for hiking!
Comment: Hey Rick, stumbled across the site and have been stoking my hiking dreams as the snow continues to fall outside my window today. In case you haven’t already come across it, I’ve got a number of hiking routes in Kyrgyzstan detailed on my travel blog at http://www.monkboughtlunch.com/category/countries/central-asia/kyrgyzstan/ that might be of some interest to your readers?
Thanks Stephen.
I’ll check out your site.
Not knowing anything about Kyrgystan hiking, what would you consider the best routes for a foreign visitor like myself?
Would you advise going with Trekking Union guides?
P.S. I saw two snow leopards in Ladakh in September. Very cool.
Hey Rick,
This is an amazing list, I love the fact that you included many non-mainstream routes which are equally impressive (and in my opinion, the mainstream ones are far from being the best ones). I am curious, what is your favourite trek from the list?
Personally, my best hike was the Huayhuash Circuit in Peru.
It’s much more popular now. Not nearly as dangerous as it once was.
My 4 West Coast Trail hikes were awesome, as well.
But does the Peruvian circuit have apple pie?Louise
I like your travel writing style!