🔥 Hiking Calorie Calculator
Enter your body weight, pack weight, how long you'll be out, and the terrain to estimate the calories you'll burn — a handy starting point for planning trail food and snacks.
🧮 Estimate Your Burn
What is a Hiking Calorie Calculator?
It estimates how much energy a hike costs. Using the MET value for your chosen terrain and your combined body-plus-pack weight, it works out roughly how many calories you'll burn over the time you're on trail, and breaks it down to a per-hour figure too.
That number helps you pack enough food without overloading, plan snack timing on a big day, and understand why steeper ground and heavier packs leave you hungrier. Individual burn always varies, so use it as a guide and listen to your body on the move.
❓ Frequently Asked Questions
How many calories does hiking burn?
It depends on your weight, your pack, the terrain, and how long you're out. As a rough guide, a hiker of around 70 kg with a light pack burns several hundred calories an hour, rising sharply on steep ground. This tool uses terrain-based MET values and your combined body-plus-pack weight to give an estimate.
What is a MET and how does it work?
MET stands for Metabolic Equivalent of Task — a multiple of your resting energy use. Hiking on flat ground is around 5.3 METs, hilly terrain about 6.5, and steep or mountainous ground about 8.0. Calories burned are roughly MET × total kilograms (body plus pack) × hours.
Does carrying a heavier pack burn more calories?
Yes. Because the estimate scales with total weight, a heavier pack raises the calories you burn for the same distance and terrain. That extra energy cost is one more reason to keep pack weight in check on long or steep routes.
How accurate is a hiking calorie estimate?
Treat it as a planning figure, not a precise measurement. Real burn varies with pace, fitness, altitude, temperature, and how efficiently you move. Use the number to plan how much food to carry, then adjust based on how you actually feel on the trail.