Hiking Trivia
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49 free Hiking trivia questions with answers — nature quiz, new questions added Aug 2026.
39 free Hiking trivia questions with answers. Hiking trivia for the trailhead, the campfire and the outdoors club quiz night. The questions cover the great long-distance trails - the Appalachian Trail's white blazes and 14 states, the Pacific Crest Trail's Forester Pass, the still-unfinished Continental Divide Trail and the Triple Crown they make up - plus the John Muir Trail, the Camino de Santiago, the Inca Trail's Dead Woman's Pass and Kilimanjaro's Coca-Cola route. There is trail lore too: who first thru-hiked the AT, the 67-year-old grandmother who did it in Keds, why a blaze is called a blaze, what a duck is, the seven Leave No Trace principles, the Ten Essentials and what people call hiking in New Zealand and Australia. Easy questions any weekend walker will get open the set; the later ones will test someone who has finished a thru-hike. Every answer has been checked against a reference page and each question shows its citation.
30 of 49 questions with answers and explanations. Play the quiz
Q 01The Appalachian Trail runs between Springer Mountain in Georgia and which mountain in Maine?
Mount Katahdin
The route is almost 2,200 miles long and passes through 14 states.
Q 02How many US states does the Appalachian Trail pass through?
14
Its highest point is Kuwohi (formerly Clingmans Dome) at 6,643 feet; its lowest is 124 feet at Bear Mountain, New York.
Q 03Which forester conceived the idea of the Appalachian Trail in 1921?
Benton MacKaye
The trail was completed in 1937 and became a National Scenic Trail under the 1968 National Trails System Act.
Q 04Who is credited with the first thru-hike of the Appalachian Trail, in 1948?
Earl Shaffer
Roughly 25% of thru-hike attempts succeed today; the walk usually takes five to seven months.
Q 05How old was Emma 'Grandma' Gatewood when she solo thru-hiked the Appalachian Trail in 1955?
67
She wore Keds sneakers, carried a homemade denim bag and slept under a shower curtain; she went on to hike the trail three times.
Q 06What footwear did Grandma Gatewood famously hike the Appalachian Trail in?
Canvas Keds sneakers
She had raised 11 children and took up hiking at 66 after reading a National Geographic article about the trail.
Q 07Roughly how many people hike some section of the Appalachian Trail each year?
3 million
The trail is maintained by 31 volunteer trail clubs alongside the Appalachian Trail Conservancy and federal agencies.
Q 08The Pacific Crest Trail runs from the Mexican border to Canada through which three states?
California, Oregon and Washington
It is about 2,653 miles long and climbs to 13,153 feet at Forester Pass in the Sierra Nevada.
Q 09What is the highest point on the Pacific Crest Trail?
Forester Pass
At 13,153 feet it sits in the Sierra Nevada; the range's highest summit is a side trip off the trail, not on it.
Q 10Which 2012 memoir, later a Reese Witherspoon film, sent a wave of new hikers onto the Pacific Crest Trail?
Wild
Cheryl Strayed hiked over 1,000 miles of the PCT in 1995; the trail was only officially completed in 1993.
Q 11Which three trails make up the Triple Crown of Hiking?
Appalachian, Pacific Crest and Continental Divide
As of late 2025, 837 hikers had completed all three since 1994.
Q 12Roughly what share of the Continental Divide Trail was actually complete in 2021?
About 70%
The gaps are filled with dirt and paved roads; the trail runs about 3,028 miles through five states from Mexico to Canada.
Q 13Which Colorado fourteener is the highest point on the Continental Divide Trail?
Grays Peak
At 14,278 feet it is the highest summit on the Divide itself; the CDT was designated in 1978.
Q 21Kilimanjaro is Africa's loftiest peak. What other superlative does it hold?
Highest free-standing mountain in the world
It rises to 5,895 m from the plains with no surrounding range; its three cones are Kibo, Mawenzi and Shira.
Q 22Which Kilimanjaro route is nicknamed the 'Coca-Cola' route for its relative ease?
Marangu
About 50,000 climbers a year attempt the mountain, with a summit success rate of roughly 70-80%.
Q 23Who made the first recorded ascent of Kilimanjaro's summit in October 1889?
Hans Meyer and Ludwig Purtscheller
Q 14The John Muir Trail ends on the summit of which peak, the highest in the contiguous United States?
Mount Whitney
It starts at Happy Isles in Yosemite Valley and shares about 160 miles with the Pacific Crest Trail.
Q 15John Muir was a founder and first president of which conservation organisation, established in 1892?
The Sierra Club
Work on the trail bearing his name began in 1915, the year he died, and finished in 1938.
Q 16What symbol marks the Camino de Santiago pilgrimage routes?
A scallop shell
The routes lead to the shrine of the apostle James in Santiago de Compostela and were listed by UNESCO in 1993.
Q 17How far must a pilgrim walk to qualify for the compostela certificate at Santiago?
At least the final 100 km
The Camino Francés from Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port is about 780 km; roughly 500,000 people completed a route in 2024.
Q 18Which 2010 film starring Martin Sheen follows a father walking the Camino after his son's death?
The Way
It was directed by Sheen's son Emilio Estevez, who also plays the son.
Q 19What is the highest point on the classic Inca Trail to Machu Picchu?
Dead Woman's Pass
Warmi Wanusqa reaches 4,215 m; the four-day trek ends at Inti Punku, the Sun Gate.
Q 20In which month is the Inca Trail closed each year for maintenance?
February
Metal-tipped trekking poles and pack animals are banned on most sections to limit erosion.
Sheila MacDonald became the first woman to summit in 1927; the ice cap has lost over 80% of its area since 1900.
Q 24What do New Zealanders call hiking?
Tramping
Australians say bushwalking, Britons often say walking or rambling, and continental Europeans use trekking for multi-day mountain trips.
Q 25Which is the oldest hiking organisation in America, established in 1876?
The Appalachian Mountain Club
Walking for pleasure grew out of the 18th-century Romantic movement; Wordsworth's 1790 walking tour is an early landmark.
Q 26What is the first of the seven Leave No Trace principles?
Plan ahead and prepare
The Leave No Trace Center for Outdoor Ethics was founded in 1994 and the seven-principle list was finalised by 1999.
Q 27Which three US agencies produced the 1987 pamphlet 'Leave No Trace Land Ethics'?
NPS, Forest Service and BLM
Park visits had jumped from 33 million to 172 million between 1950 and 1970, so agencies chose education over restriction.
Q 28The Ten Essentials list first appeared in print in the 1974 edition of which mountaineering book?
Freedom of the Hills
The Mountaineers of Seattle compiled it; the first five items handle emergencies and the second five let you survive a night out.
Q 29Which of these is NOT among the Ten Essentials listed in the 2017 Freedom of the Hills?
Trekking poles
The list is navigation, headlamp, sun protection, first aid, knife, fire, shelter, extra food, extra water and extra clothes.
Q 30What colour are the blazes marking the main route of the Appalachian Trail?
White
Blue blazes usually mark side trails; the word blaze originally meant a mark slashed into tree bark.