Category: lists

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top 10 coastal hikes worldwide?

by site editor Rick McCharles

updated April 2016

But what are the best coastal hikes anywhere?

Top-10#1) West Coast Trail, BC Canada
#2) Otter Trail, South Africa
#3) Abel Tasman Track, New Zealand
#4) Lost Coast Trail, California
#5) Thorsborne Trail, Australia
#7) Kalalau Trail, Kauai, Hawaii
#8) Pembrokeshire Coast Path, U.K. 
#9) South Coast Track, Tasmania
10) Great Ocean Walk, Australia

Leave a comment if you have more to add to this list.

Canada’s West Coast Trail is so popular that many other alternatives have been developed nearby:

What about Canada’s east coast?

I’ve still yet to hike all of the Shipwreck Coast Trail (Rialto Beach to Shi Shi Beach) in Washington State.

Hiking is so popular and so well developed in the U.K. that there are many alternatives to the Pembrokeshire:

  • South West Coast Path
  • Cleveland Way
  • Norfolk Coast Path
  • Fife Coastal Path
  • Arran Coastal Way
  • Ayrshire Coastal Path
  • Anglesey Coastal Path
  • Causeway Coast Way
  • Lecale Way

In Italy there are some classic short walks suggested by Andrea:

Other recommended in the past:

Australia must have more coastal hiking than any nation in the world. There are many good candidates including:

Personally, I liked the Queen Charlotte Track in New Zealand even better than the Abel Tasman.

And the Fisherman’s Trail, Rota Vicentina, Portugal is high on my personal life list.

Waterloo Bay Beach, Australia

related – Adventure Junkies – TOP 11 BEST COASTAL HIKES FROM AROUND THE WORLD TO ENJOY IN 2016

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wikiexplora Best Hikes of the World

wikiexplora reviewed 9 top hiking books:

  • Book 1: A Journey along the World’s Great Treks by Jeff Salvage and Kirk Markus

Top-10

From those, they arrived at their own top 10:

1 Chile Torres del Paine Trek, Patagonia
2 Perú Inca Trail
3 Tanzania Mt. Kilimanjaro
4 France-Italy-Switzerland Haute Route
5 Nepal Everest Base Camp
6 New Zealand Routeburn track, Fiordland-Mount Aspiring Nationals Parks, South Island
7 Pakistan Snow Lake/Biafo-Hispar/Lupke La Region
8 Pakistan Baltoro glacier / Concordia
8 India Zanskar river, Ladakh
10 USA Kaibab trail, Grand Canyon (Rim-to-Rim), Arizona

I wouldn’t consider their methodology foolproof. Just because the Inca Trail is famous, doesn’t mean it’s one of the top hiking experiences of the world.

Only the Haute Route and Everest are on our top 10 list.

Still, it’s worth clicking through. Check the next 40 hikes as well as honourable mentions.

Best Treks and Hikes of the World, Top 100 (Methodology)

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Michael Lanza’s top 10 U.S. hikes

#1 A Grand Tour of Yosemite

#2 Northern Glacier National Park

#3 Teton Crest Trail

#4 Zion’s Narrows

#5 John Muir Trail

#6 Royal Arch Loop, Grand Canyon

#7 The Southern Olympic Coast

#8 Spider Gap-Buck Creek Pass Loop, Glacier Peak Wilderness

#9 Idaho’s Sawtooth Mountains

#10 Timberline Trail, Mount Hood

DETAILS

Tet16-40-Death-Canyon-Shelf-Grand-Teton-NP-copy
Death Canyon Shelf, Teton Crest Trail

Michael Lanza was for many years was the Northwest Editor of Backpacker Magazine. He edits The Big Outside hiking blog.

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besthike views and visitors

Looks like 2015 will see the most traffic ever to this site.

besthike views visitors

The goal, however, is not to generate the most page views. But rather to maintain a list of the best hikes in the world. This is a resource for hikers planning future adventures.

Check two other best hike lists:

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hiking glossary

mother nature – examples:

dirtbag — a subculture consisting of ski bums, vagabonds and climbers well practiced in the ways of avoiding work, while spending as much time as possible pursuing their outdoor passions. …

holloway — a sunken path worn down due to foot traffic, rain and erosion that has fallen significantly below the vegetative banks on each side. …

krummholz — bent, stunted trees found in mountainous and arctic regions, twisted by steady winds and short growing seasons. …

verglas — a thin coating of ice that forms on rocks overnight, or when snow melts and then refreezes. …

A beginner’s glossary to hiking and camping

cairn
cairn
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Jasper vs Banff: Alberta National Park Showdown

Intrepid Escape:

If there’s one thing Alberta Canada is known for, its the stunning National Parks in the Rocky Mountains, an area surprisingly accessible to the UK and Europe. In one corner of the ring we have Jasper, the smaller town but larger National Park, with over 11,000 square kilometres of intrepid wilderness. And in the other it’s Banff, with 6,600 square kilometres to explore, but rich in history and a larger more vibrant town. Both Jasper and Banff are UNESCO World Heritage sites, but which one is best? …

Jasper vs Banff National Park, Alberta Canada
Jasper vs Banff National Park, Alberta Canada

Jasper-vs-Banff-Intrepid-Escape-3.jpg-nggid03962-ngg0dyn-0x0x100-00f0w010c010r110f110r010t010

Click here to see the winner. 🙂

Hiking wise, I’d say Banff is superior. Scenery is slightly better in Jasper. But access and logistics are superb from Banff townsite. It’s the jumping off point for one of our top 10 hikes in the world – Sunshine to Assiniboine.

Thanks Alison.

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Top Australian bushwalks

From mountain traverses to sand islands and outback tracks, these are the best long Aussie bushwalks. As chosen by Australian Geographic in 2010.

1. LARAPINTA TRAIL

Larapinta
Larapinta

2. THORSBORNE TRAIL

3. AUSTRALIAN ALPS WALKING TRACK

4. FRASER ISLAND GREAT WALK

5. WILDERNESS COAST WALK (Mallacoota to Wonboyn)

6. OVERLAND TRACK

7. EASTERN ARTHUR RANGE

8. WESTERN ARTHUR RANGE TRAVERSE

9. CAPE TO CAPE TRACK

10. SOUTH COAST TRACK

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top 10 trekking peaks

We’ve updated our top 10 section. With input from Kraig Becker, of the Adventure Blog. He’s recently back from his second climb of Kili. 🙂

Top-10#1) Mt. Kilimanjaro, Tanzania 5895m
#2) Cotopaxi, Ecuador 5897m <wiki><pb><sp>
#3) Island Peak, Nepal 6189m <wiki><pb><sp>
#4) Mera Peak, Nepal 6476m <wiki><pb><sp>
#5) Stok Kangri, India 6153m <wiki><pb><sp>
#6) Huayna Potosí, Bolivia 6088m <wiki><pb><sp>
#7) Misti Volcano, Peru 5822m
#8) Mt. Toubkal, Morocco 4167m <wiki><pb><sp>
#9) Mt. Rainier, USA 4392m <wiki><pb><sp>
#10) Mont Blanc, France 4810m <wiki><pb><sp>

Aconcágua, Argentina 6,960.8m can be a walk-up. But not many would be willing to call it a trekking peak. 🙂

Trekking peaks are mountains under 7,000 metres (22,970 ft) climbable by anyone with a moderate amount of mountaineering experience and minimal gear.

Others considered for the top 10:

  • Chimborazo, Ecuador 6,268m <wiki><pb><sp>
  • Khüiten Peak, Tavan Bogd, Mongolia 4374m <wiki><sp>
  • Mt. Elbrus, Russia 5642m <wiki><pb><sp>
  • Lhakpa Ri, Tibet 7045m <pb>

Leave a comment if your favourite walk up peak is not listed.

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South Coast Track, Tasmania

We’ve added an information page for those wanting to organize for the famed South Coast Track in Tasmania, one of our top 10 coastal hikes in the world.

World → Austalasia → Australia → South Coast Track

The South Coast Track is a challenging walk in a region of Tasmania exposed to harsh weather conditions. There are no huts along the track. Track conditions are often difficult. Walkers must be fully self-sufficient, well-equipped and experienced.

New Harbour Lagoon

TasmaniaAT A GLANCE

  • surreal, unique Tasmanian seascapes
  • entirely within Southwest National Park
  • flying in, walking out, the standard route is 82km (51mi)
  • 6-8 days Melaleuca to Cockle Creek
  • best months December to March

tastrails SCT map

South Coast Track information page