OUTRAIL
Hike farther, plan smarter — free calculators for hiking time, calories, pack weight, water, trail difficulty, and daylight, plus trail guides and a museum of great trails, parks, and peaks.
From estimating time on trail and calories burned to dialling in pack weight, water, and a safe turnaround before dark, OutRail pairs free hands-on hiking calculators with plain-English trail guides and an illustrated museum of great trails, parks, and peaks. Plan the day, hike it well, and get home in the light.
Hiking Tools & Calculators
Free tools for the numbers behind a hike — time on trail, calories burned, pack weight, water to carry, trail difficulty, and a safe daylight turnaround.
Hiking Time Calculator
Turn distance and elevation gain into a realistic time on trail with Naismith's rule and a Tobler cross-check, scaled for your pace
Hiking Calorie Burn Calculator
Estimate the energy a hike costs from your weight, pack, speed, grade, and terrain using the Pandolf load-carriage equation
Backpack Weight Calculator
Split your load into base weight and consumables, see it as a share of body weight, and check where your kit lands from ultralight to traditional
Hiking Water Needs Calculator
Work out how much water to carry from the hours out, the temperature, and your effort — with a nudge on when to add electrolytes
Trail Difficulty Rating Calculator
Fold distance and climb into one Shenandoah difficulty number, plus Petzoldt energy miles as a second read on the effort
Daylight Turnaround Calculator
Find the hour you must turn back from your start time, sunset, and hike time, so a slow ascent never leaves you finishing after dark
Trails & Peaks Museum
Step into an illustrated museum of the outdoors — the great long-distance trails, the national and state parks that protect them, the world’s high peaks and the mountaineers who climbed them, and the gear and craft of walking wild country, each in its own gallery. Get to know the places and people behind the miles you hike.
Tour the museum →From the Trail Journal
Fresh guides on trail planning, backpacking and gear, hiking fitness and nutrition, and the national and state parks worth the drive, plus plain-language tips for hiking farther and safer.
Hiking at Altitude: What the Calculators Cannot See
None of the formulas here knows how high the trail is. How to adjust the hiking time, turnaround and water estimates for high ground, and the signs of altitude illness that mean going down.
Planning a Day Hike With All Six Calculators
One hypothetical 14 km summit day, planned start to finish: difficulty, time, turnaround, water, pack weight and food, each number feeding the next, and the checks no calculator makes.
Why the Way Down Takes Longer Than Naismith Says
Naismith's rule adds nothing for descending, so it says a 6 km descent takes 1h 12m. Why real descents are slower, and how the return-slowdown setting moves your turnaround time.
Thunderstorms and Exposed Ridges: Planning to Be Down Early
On storm-prone days the deadline is not sunset but the afternoon build-up. A 14 km summit route planned backwards from a 13:00 off-the-ridge time, and what to do when clouds build early.
Energy Miles Explained: Petzoldt's Rule for Hiking Effort
Distance plus a mile for every 1,000 feet of climb. Five routes with similar energy miles but very different ratings and times, and how much each method charges for climbing.
Stepping Up to a Strenuous Hike: A Four-Hike Progression
From a 70-rated moderate walk to a 235-rated very strenuous day in four steps. How to use the difficulty rating and hiking time to build up, and what to check between steps.
Keep Learning
Plain-language explainers on day hiking and backpacking, trail navigation and safety, the national and state parks, and the high peaks and mountaineering — everything you need to plan a bigger day on the trail with confidence.
Visit the Learn hub →