Discuss what kind of hike you want to go on. Should it be hilly, mountainous, or relatively flat? Should it be long or short? Etc.
Discuss what kind of hike you want to go on. Should it be hilly, mountainous, or relatively flat? Should it be long or short? Etc.
Locate a park or natural area you want to hike in with your preferred mapping website.
Find a trail you want to walk or make your own route.
Estimate how long it will take you to complete the hike based on mileage and elevation changes. Many pre-routed trails have time estimations there already, whether it be on a hiking website like Alltrails or on the park’s website.
Decide on a day to do the hike. Make sure to get the date out at least a week in advance. It may also be a good idea to plan a rain date.
Decide on an arrival/meeting time. A helpful tip is to communicate an arrival time that is roughly 30 minutes before you actually want to start the hike, because one or more of your friends will almost certainly be late. Make sure you keep park opening/closing times in mind.
Decide on who will drive everyone to the hike and have the drivers decide on appropriate departure times based on how far they live from the hiking destination and who they need to pick up.
Remember to have everyone bring the hiking essentials: sunscreen, bugspray, proper footwear, water, etc. You, the planner, should also bring a first aid kit. Make sure you make fun of the one person that will inevitably bring nothing but their phone (not even water) so that they know to be more prepared next time.
Have everyone consider what food they will need to bring with them to the hike. If the hike will take a couple hours or more, you may want to bring snacks. If it is a really long hike, pack a lunch.
Enjoy the hike!