Hiking Nutrition

Article Library for Hikers, Backpackers, and Thru-hikers

Here you’ll find info on everything about hiking nutrition, from calorie requirements for hiking, trail specific calorie calculators, protein and carbohydrate timing for high exertion hikes, fluid, electrolyte and vitamin requirements, to ideas about supplements to improve your hiking performance.

Hiking Calorie Requirements and Calorie Calculators

The first thing you'll want to know about hiking nutrition is hiking's energy requirements, i.e. calorie requirements. Hiking can require a higher amount of calories than your normal activities of daily living.

Of course this is wholly dependent on the length of your hike and the amount of exertion you perform on it. A one hour walk on the flat woodland around Trippet Ranch, Topanga State Park, CA, with water bottle in your hand, will burn a lot less calories than strapping a 30 lb pack to your back and walking 10 to 15 miles per day, on the John Muir Trail, in the Sierra Nevada Mountains.

It's important for hikers and backpackers to understand their energy requirements on the trail, not just for the sake of calorie counting for general health reasons, but more so to know how much food to pack for the trail. So how do you start to understand your calorie needs on the trail?

Calories burned on the trail per hour

Firstly, you can estimate your hourly calorie needs on the trail, using averages for given trail conditions and body types. A male day hiker, using a pack weighing less than 10 lbs, may on average burn about 360 calories per hour, for a variety of trail conditions. His female counterpart may burn 270 calories on average.

These numbers come from my own calculations published in my article How Many Calories Are Burned When Hiking?

Backpackers burn even more calories since they are lugging heavy packs up and down hills and mountains. A male backpacker may burn around 480 calories, with a 30 lb pack on their back, for again, a variety of trail conditions. A female backpacker with a 25 lb pack may burn 350 calories.

Trail specific hiking and backpacking calorie calculators

The hiking calorie numbers I've quoted are based on models. If you want a more accurate calorie count for your body and your hike, I've designed multiple hiking calorie calculators to help you. All you have to do is put in your age, weight, height, and time spent on a variety of trail conditions (flat, moderately sloped uphill, steep uphill, etc.) to get an estimate of the calories you'll burn on the trail.

Further, my backpacking calculators require that you put a pack weight in. And my daily calorie count calculators require you pick a few more options, like how much your slept, or how active you are, in the time spent the rest of your day, outside your hike.

Day hiking calorie calculators

My day hiking, light pack 'calories burned on the trail' calculator simply provides how many calories you'll burn on trail. Like all my other calculators, I've made a men's version, and a women's version, so that you get the most accurate basal energy expenditure (i.e. your underlying metabolism) calculation, with which to create calorie counts for different trail conditions.

Expanding that particular calculator, I created a day hiking, light pack, total daily calories calculator, which is very similar, but let's you chose what type of day you're having outside of your hike, and estimates your full day's calorie requirements. You can pick if you're having an active day, or more relaxed day, and how many minutes you spent on a variety of trail conditions, and the calculator will give you its estimate.

Backpacking and thru-hiking calorie calculators

My first backpacking and thru-hiking calories calculator is similar to my day hiking 'calories burned on the trail' calculator, except I've added in the ability to input your pack weight. Once you add all your information in, it will tell you how many calories you will burn with that pack on your back, for similar trail condition parameters as the other calculators.

I actually did make a simpler version of this calculator, just to make sure I was getting the mathematics correct with the pack weight and MET multiplier relationships in the model. So if you like simple, check that one out.

Finally, for the multi-day backpacker or thru-hiker, I've created a total daily backpacking calorie counter, which again lets you add in your info, the trail info, and pack weight, but further lets you add in how many hours you slept in your tent, and from that figures out your total daily calories. This one is helpful for planning how much food to bring for a multi-day section or full journey.

Day Hiker's Total Daily Energy Needs Calculator

Input your age, weight, height, time spent on different trail conditions, and activity level off the trail to estimate your daily energy needs.

Day Hiking, Light Pack Calories Burned on the Trail Calculator

Input your age, weight, height, and time spent on different trail conditions to find your calories burned on the trail.

Day Hiking, Light Pack Calories Burned on the Trail Discussion

Calories per hour summaries for different trail conditions, with tables and discussion. (Scroll to middle of article to see kcal/hr burned.)

Thru-Hiking Total Daily Calories Calculator Based on Trail Conditions

Enter your age, weight, height, pack weight, hours of sleep, and minutes spent on a selection of trail conditions in the calculator to get an estimate of the number of calories you burned the entire day of your hike. Can be used for thru-hiking or simple, weekend hike-in excursions.

Trail Conditions Specific Thru-Hiking Calories Burned on the Trail Calculator

Enter your age, weight, height, pack weight, and minutes spent on a selection of trail conditions in the calculator to get an estimate of the number of calories you burned on the trail. Can be used for the entire hike, or just a particularly tough section.

Simple Thru-Hiking Calories Burned On The Trail Calculator

Enter your age, weight, height, pack weight, and minutes spent on flat, uphill or downhill trail conditions to get an estimate of the number of calories you burned on the trail.

Los Padres National Forest flat hiking for my calories burned hiking article

How Many Calories Are Burned When Hiking?

Goes through how many calories are burned when hiking for men and women under different trail conditions. Breaks down backpacking and day hiking.

Hiking Fluid and Electrolytes

As a hiker or backpacker, you should have a good understanding of fluid and electrolytes. This is because the venture obligates you to plan out your body's needs, and pack them on your back, away from the convenience and safety of civilization. What is on your back is what you have to keep you alive.

Hydration on the trail and sweat rate

How much fluid you need on the trail is mostly dictated by your sweat rate. However, as is often the case, you might not be able to drink the exact same amount of fluid you lose through sweating on the trail, in that moment. But that's okay. Your main objective when in the act of hiking, regarding fluids, is to 1) avoid dehydration, 2) take in enough fluids to continue your natural thermoregulation, and 3) if on a multi-day backpacking trip or thru-hike, avoid over hydration, and hypervolemic hyponatremia.

Go ahead and check out my articles on how to calculate your sweat rate, tips for measuring your sweat rate on the trail, and take a look at my sweat rate calculator. The first in this set also goes over how to work with your sweat rate data to avoid dehydration, and over hydration.

Total daily fluid needs and baseline metabolic fluid needs

And your main objective, post day-hiking or while backpacking, is to take care of your total daily fluid needs. Therefore, knowing not only your sweat rate, but your baseline metabolic fluid needs is also something you should be thinking about. Basically these two things - your metabolic needs and your sweat rate - will dictate your total daily fluid requirements.

For day hikers, its less of a concern. Whatever fluid deficit you walked off the trail with can be dealt with, via recovery hydration, and titrating your intake to lightly colored urine. But for backpackers and thru-hikers, you have to have that recovery fluid on your back. And for it to be on your back, you should have planned out your pack's fluid capacity, long before you hit the trail.

Check out my article 'How Much Water Do You Need For Hiking?' which goes over fluid requirements for the trail and for the day. Also take a look at my handy chart showing the weights of different water bottles and bladders, for your pack weight planning needs.

Electrolytes, minerals and vitamins for hiking

Going hand in hand with fluid input on the trail, are electrolytes. The most important of which is sodium.

Sodium replacement on the trail is vital to keeping your nerves and muscles working properly. If sodium levels in your blood drop too low, too fast, that becomes a medical emergency. So if you're on a multi hour hike, you need to pack sodium with you, either through salty snacks, or electrolyte solutions and powders. Salty snacks have the advantage in that they contain sodium chloride, and chloride is another electrolyte that is significantly lost through sweat.

Check out my article on sodium replacement and hiking, that goes over normal sodium concentrations in sweat, contains a small list of salty foods and meals for the trail and backpacking, and touches on how you feel and how to tell when your sodium is low. Day hikers may also want to check out my article on the post-exercise recovery solution called Gatorlyte, which does actually have some chloride in it, like an oral rehydration solution would.

Long distance thru-hikers also need to be concerned about vitamin losses through sweat. If you're a thru-hiker, and are planning to have a hot section on the trail, check out my Sweat, Mineral and Micronutrient Losses Related to Hiking at Higher Temperatures article. Then follow that one up with my guide to assessing yourself for malnutrition on the trail, when thru-hiking.

Basic Fluid Requirements and Water Bottle Weights

Table on different water bottle and water bladder weights, as well as a discussion on calculating your fluid requirements on the trail.

Sweat, Mineral, and Micronutrient Losses Related to Hiking at Higher Temperatures

Calculating your sweat rate, and examining loss ranges for electrolytes, vitamins and minerals.

Gatorlyte Rapid Rehydration Drink - Your Questions Answered

Everything you want to know about Gatorlyte: What's in it? What's it used for? How to use it. When to use it.

Water in hiking pictures with H2O graphic

How Much Water Do You Need For Hiking?

How much water you need to bring on the trail. Simple calculations and more dedicated problem solving involving your sweat rate and metabolic water needs. Preventing dehydration & over hydration.

Sodium Chloride symbol hovering in field

How Much Sodium Do You Lose Through Sweat?

Normal range of sodium concentration in sweat, how to replenish salt after sweating, list of salty foods for the trail, and how you feel when your sodium is low.

Paradise Falls Summertime for hiking nutrition library

How to Measure Your Sweat Rate When Hiking

Tips for collecting your sweat rate data during a hike. How your hiking sweat rate may be different than your sweat rate from other exercises.

Sweat Rate Calculator

Plug in your weight in pounds, and your fluid intake and urine output in fluid ounces and the calculator will give you your hourly sweat rate in ounces.

Hiking Lake Gregory, CA. Pic for my sweat rate calculation article, and hiking nutrition library

How to Calculate Your Sweat Rate

Step by step guide on how to calculate your sweat rate, using standard CDC equation. Discussion on normal sweat rates, sweat rate variability, and interpreting your sweat rate to minimize risk of dehydration and over hydration.

Pedialyte Sport - Your Questions Answered

Abbott Lab's Pedialyte Sport is still relatively new on the market. Naturally people have a lot of questions about this product, and I answer them...

Hiking Protein

Protein Requirements for Hikers and Backpackers

Hikers and backpackers require more protein per day than the general public, on the days around when they are participating in their sport.

The International Society of Sports Nutrition, through their 2007 statements on endurance exercise, infers that hikers should get around 1 to 1.6g/kg of protein per day, divided up every 3 to 4 hours, or 4 to 6 times per day. They further state that 0.25g/kg per meal, or an absolute value of 20 to 40 grams, is what is needed for optimal muscle protein synthesis around exercise. Also, directly after an intensive bout of hiking, the hiker should take in 0.25 to 0.5g/kg of protein, alongside 1 to 1.5g/kg of carbohydrates to repair exercise induced muscle damage, and replete glycogen stores.

Thus, if you are just participating in a casual, low energy hike, with little elevation gain, and which is only an hour or two in duration, you likely will only need about 1g/kg. However, if you are backpacking with a 35 pound pack, up a steep pass, over the course of 4 hours, you will likely need 1.6g/kg or more.

And once you start having to adjudicate large talus or steps, with a heavy pack, such that you are performing resistance type lunges for a significant period of time, then you could even go up to 2g/kg of protein to help build leg muscle mass, and ensure positive levels of amino acids are in your blood, during the critical 24 hour period after such a big hike, when your muscles are open to taking in larger amounts of them.

Related: Click here to check out my article on protein requirements for day hiking, which could also be applicable to backpackers, except my protein examples include non-backpacking type foods. The article also goes over what types of proteins to eat, and how to quantify the different qualities of proteins. Lastly it goes over safety issues, regarding adding larger amounts of protein in your diet.

Protein Requirements for Older Hikers and Backpackers

Further, older healthy adults with no kidney disease, participating in hard hikes, need even more protein than their younger counterparts. They may need 1.4 to 2g/kg on the days around when they hike to ensure they do no suffer age related muscle wasting. They should also shoot for larger amounts of protein per meal, with the ISSN recommending 40g per meal.

Protein Supplements for Hiking and Backpacking

Protein supplements help a hiker or backpacker, who has trouble meeting their daily protein needs through the use of high quality, whole food sources.

And because protein and carbohydrates work in a synergistic fashion, when you consume them directly after exercise, I've found that mass building protein supplements are the way to go after a high exertion hike, since they have both these components, with enough essential amino acids and leucine to ensure muscle protein synthesis.

If you would like to know the details on how much essential amino acids and leucine you should be taking in after hiking, click this link to read my article on the best protein supplement to use after hiking. After that, I also have my personal review of the recommended product (Naked Mass Chocolate) here.

Protein Requirements for Day Hiking

How much protein, when to eat protein, what type of protein, supplementation, and post hike repletion.

Best Protein Supplement to Take After Hiking

Discussion on what makes a good post hike protein supplement, and which product fits the bill.

naked mass best protein powder for hiking

What's Up With Naked Mass (for hiking and endurance exercise) - Review

Review of Naked Mass Chocolate, and why I use it, when I used it, and how much I use, with regard to hiking.

Hiking Carbohydrates

Macronutrient Timing With Consideration to Hiking

How much carbohydrates to consume, when to eat carbohydrates and loading, and post hike repletion. Reemphasizes information found in my Protein Requirements article, concerning protein timing.