Future of hiking
Soap box
A little over six years ago we released a podcast episode on the future of hiking and I’d been meaning to release the written version as a follow up but for some reason never quite go around to it! Over the years since I have continued to take an interest in changes to how we hike and the outdoor industry in general. These trends continue to evolve and this has often been prompted by articles popping up in my news feed on a regular basis so I thought it was time to do this written update.
In this article we look at where the future of hiking is heading and discuss what it means for hikers, including changes we’re likely to see in trail design and use, the impacts of social media on the trail, notable gear trends, and the use of technology on the trail, both good and bad. Much of this discussion involves generalisations based on what I am seeing online, as well as on-trail and which you may, or may not agree with.
Who's hiking?
So who is the typical hiker these days? Hikers come in all shapes, all sizes, and all demographics but from an age perspective it tends to be younger and older adults who make up the bulk of those we see on the trail. These two particular groups have in common an availability of time and by that I mean they don’t have family commitments that parents with young children have. Once children start leading independent lives, parents gain the free time to get back into hiking again.
There is an old saying that goes ‘We don’t know what we don’t know’. Like any other activity, this is true for hiking. In the ‘good old days’ our introduction to hiking was often based around clubs, scouts, or through family outings and while for many this is still the case, there are more and more hikers who just take the leap.
When we first start hiking we all know very little so will often require help to get out bush and that drives us to look for guidance on options.
I’m old enough to remember life as an adult pre-internet and at that stage sporting based clubs, including hiking clubs, were the go-to destination if you wanted help getting into the outdoors. In the ‘old days’ these clubs would meet on a regular basis and were social outlets just as much as sporting clubs.
While traditional sporting clubs e.g. netball, football etc still continue to thrive but non-traditional sporting clubs such as hiking clubs are waning. The internet has now become a source of readily available information and many of us now prefer to ‘wing it’ after doing our own research.
The other issue with any activity in general is that people need to be able to picture themselves taking part in an activity. As a generalisation, hiking clubs tend to represent an older demographic with limited cultural diversity. In addition as Australia’s cultural make up continues to evolve from its historic anglo base, we are slowly seeing a change in those who are on-trail, but it’s a slow process. While there is diversity, less often do I see a non-caucasian face on-trail. It really doesn’t matter but most people need to be able to picture themselves doing an activity and without a range of diverse demographic and cultural images being shown in mainstream media, it’s a slow change. The phrase ‘you can’t be, what you can’t see’ is equally relevant in hiking.
This is not to say that clubs don’t have a place anymore, far from it, but for them to thrive and grow they need to diversify. Before the angry mobs turn up at my door with pitchforks and fire brands, I do believe that hiking clubs have a very important future to play in hiking but they need to change or else risk falling by the wayside.
Today’s modern version of hiking clubs tend to be the meet-up groups. These groups often target specific audiences such as ‘young’ hikers, urban hikers, and the LGBTQIA+ community. These option are seen as the more modern version of hiking clubs and suit more targeted demographic groups. Meet-ups are often seen as less of a time commitment given you can drop in and out as your time allows without being involved in any organisational processes.
We need to get people of all ages, all genders, and all nationalities into hiking
Glamping
When most people think about hiking they develop a picture in their mind about what that means. Often this image includes carrying a heavy pack, sleeping in a small tent, digging a hole to go to the toilet, and eating dehydrated or freeze dried food. While this describes most of my hikes, it’s not everyone’s idea of a good time.
More and more ‘glamping’ (glamour camping) is becoming an option as commercial operations set up huts and fancy accommodation that provides real beds, chef cooked meals, modern toilet facilities, along with the option to carry a small relatively lightweight pack which makes the whole experience enjoyable for a wider range of people.
These privately run camping options are slowly popping up all over the country. Typically, they are often required to meet strict environmental conditions before they can proceed however this is one of the biggest causes of concern by traditional hikers who feel their opportunities are being limited.
From my perspective, anything that allows a wider range of Australians to get out bush is a good thing.
One of the hut set ups on the Three Capes Track in Tasmania. This is a a bit of a halfway point towards ‘glamping‘ but is defiantly a step above ‘roughing it’
Long distance hiking
I first discovered long distance hiking in around 2006 and the idea that you could walk for weeks, or even months just appealed to me. This is starting to get serious and really only includes a relatively small subset of hikers. Some of the best hiking experiences I’ve had are when I’ve challenged myself to push that little bit extra on these longer hikes.
Having said that, long distance hiking isn’t for everyone. But it is however a great way to decompress from modern life.
Tim on the last day of his 2018 Bibbulmun Track hike
Private trails
One of the recent changes to hiking has been the development of private hiking trails. In this instance trails and shelters are set up on private land and the experiences are managed as guided hikes or self supported hikes. The quality and experience may vary.
A good example of this is the Uluru Lodge Walk which is set in the Iconic Ulura Kata Tjuṯa National Park in the Northern Territory and is set to open in 2025. This four day guided trail is on Indigenous land and in areas not currently accessible to the general public. This walk will provide a new and unique hiking opportunity for hikers who participate.
This type of trail is becoming more common and while being a paid experience, provides another option to help get people into hiking.
Uluru at sunrise
Commercialisation of parks and trails
More and more trails are being set up with commercial investment (see ‘Private trails’ above) and while this concept is relatively new in Australia, it is a trend that is accelerating, but why?
National parks are funded by state or territory governments which is limited so one option is commercialisation of these parks to add additional resources and amenities. Options can include allowing private trails, providing space for private lodges, naming rights, leasing land or premises to adventure companies or restaurants and cafes.
The options are only limited by imagination with one very controversial option is selling naming rights to national parks.
This type of approach is more developed in the USA and is a sign of the direction we’re heading. For more detail see some of the public/private partnerships in place in the USA at https://www.nationalparks.org/about-foundation/partnerships/corporate-partnerships.
Regulation of hiking trails
It used to be that you turned up to your hiking trail of choice and just tarted walking. It didn’t matter too much which dirt that you were travelling on when you started. However these days while this still describes the majority of trails, a number of our more popular trails are being regulated. This includes:
- Requiring trail permits
- Many of our more popular trails such as the Overland Track are being ‘loved to death’ which has resulted in permits being issued to ensure that the environment isn’t being trashed by increasing numbers and to ensure hikers also have a good on-trail experience
- Mandated travel direction
- In addition to limiting the number of hikers on the Overland Track, the direction of travel has also been mandated during the permit period. This means that that everyone travels in the same direction and campsites are managed to cope with a given number of people each day. During the off-season you can travel either direction
- The travel direction enforcement is becoming more common world wide e.g. https://www.timeout.com/news/italy-has-implemented-a-one-way-system-for-some-hiking-trails-042424
Overland Track Pass displayed on our pack. The rangers check trail users
Our changing purchase patterns
Now let’s move away from the on-trail experience to purchasing of hiking gear. For many years your local outdoor store was the go-to destination for all your gear purchases. These days the internet has greatly changed our purchasing patterns, not just in hiking but overall.
For outdoor stores to survive they need to provide knowledgeable, friendly advice but also need to provide online purchasing options. For a number of years the importers and manufactures tried to avoid impacting the revenue from their bricks and mortar partners, but as the retail stores cherry-picked ranges and ignored stocking the full range of gear from brands, suppliers are now selling the wider ranges of gear we didn’t previously have access to. This includes brands from both Europe and the USA in particular that previously had never made their way to Australia. This has driven manufacturers to sell their gear through online retailers such as Amazon that again we previously didn’t have access to.
Another big trend in hiking gear over the past decade has been the ‘normalisation of ultralight gear.
This is a trend that has had a series of swings and roundabouts initially focusing on the lightest gear we could find but now shifting towards the lightest gear that also provides the features we want. As part of this trend new materials are being created that from a physical standpoint may not appear very different but which perform so much better and have the potential to be so much more durable at a fraction of weight of older materials.
The other trend in hiking gear is the shift towards environmentally friendly production methods and materials that at its peak try where possible, to repurpose old gear rather than throwing it into landfill.
Technologies on the trail
The impact of technology on our outdoor adventures continues to grow. It used to be that we could totally disengage from technology but with the advent of StarLink and other satellite internet providers we can be connected even as hikers.
Our mobile phones now also allow us to access emergency services in some instances and this will be a technology that continues to change and improve over the next few years.
One service that has been available for a number of years is phone-based mapping services such as Far Out. These types of services have changed the way we navigate on designated trails.
Personal locator beacons are also changing and have moved away from just being a press button activation to now including two way satellite communication which provides a greater degree of connection with those at home and friends who worry about you when you go remote.
Garmin GPSMap 66i GPS Handheld and Satellite Communicator
Final thoughts
Like any hobby hiking is an evolving activity, sometimes the changes are small and incremental being hard to notice and at other times the changes are major, changing the way we see, do, and think, about things with GPSs being one such example.
The gear we use and the hiking practices we are familiar with are still valid with these new practices and technology helping to improve outdoor experiences. Having said that we don’t have to change what we do but we do need to acknowledge that newer generations becoming involved in outdoor adventures will use these newer, more modern products as well as newer technologies.
Love it or hate it, time marches on and we need to keep up.