Trails, urban hikes, and stair spots, ranked by effort miles.
Routes marked “estimated” haven't been checked in person yet, so their numbers may be a little off.
Climbing is what makes a hike hard, and flat miles hide it. So every 500 feet of climbing counts as one extra mile (in kilometres: about 95 m of climbing per extra km).
A flat 6-mile (9.7 km) walk is 6.0 effort miles (9.7 effort km). Little Si — 3.7 miles, 1,300 ft up (6.0 km, 395 m) — is 6.3 (10.1). Your legs already knew those two are about the same amount of work.
How the numbers work — the rules behind your plan.
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Stair spot · Seattle metro
0.04 mi · 70 ft up (0.1 km · 20 m up) · 0.2 effort mi (0.3 effort km)
Stair spot · Seattle metro
0.04 mi · 82 ft up (0.1 km · 25 m up) · 0.2 effort mi (0.3 effort km)
Stair spot · Seattle metro
0.05 mi · 88 ft up (0.1 km · 25 m up) · 0.2 effort mi (0.4 effort km)
Stair spot · Seattle metro
0.05 mi · 93 ft up (0.1 km · 30 m up) · 0.2 effort mi (0.4 effort km)
Stair spot · Seattle metro
0.05 mi · 105 ft up (0.1 km · 30 m up) · 0.3 effort mi (0.4 effort km)
Stair spot · Seattle metro
0.06 mi · 134 ft up (0.1 km · 40 m up) · 0.3 effort mi (0.5 effort km)
Stair spot · Seattle metro
0.08 mi · 158 ft up (0.1 km · 50 m up) · 0.4 effort mi (0.6 effort km)
Stair spot · Seattle metro
0.08 mi · 171 ft up (0.1 km · 50 m up) · 0.4 effort mi (0.7 effort km)
Stair spot · Seattle metro
0.1 mi · 214 ft up (0.2 km · 65 m up) · 0.5 effort mi (0.8 effort km)
Stair spot · Seattle metro
0.1 mi · 230 ft up (0.2 km · 70 m up) · 0.6 effort mi (0.9 effort km)
Trail · Piney Woods · needs a car · opens elsewhere
1.13 mi · 24 ft up (1.8 km · 5 m up) · 1.2 effort mi (1.9 effort km)
Trail · Houston metro · needs a car · opens elsewhere
1.4 mi · 10 ft up (2.3 km · 5 m up) · 1.4 effort mi (2.3 effort km)
Trail · Houston metro · needs a car · opens elsewhere
1.44 mi · 0 ft up (2.3 km · 0 m up) · 1.4 effort mi (2.3 effort km)
Trail · Piney Woods · needs a car · opens elsewhere
1.55 mi · 29 ft up (2.5 km · 10 m up) · 1.6 effort mi (2.6 effort km)
Trail · Dutch dunes & forests
1.89 mi · 115 ft up (3.0 km · 35 m up) · 2.1 effort mi (3.4 effort km)
Trail · Piney Woods · needs a car · opens elsewhere
2.17 mi · 73 ft up (3.5 km · 20 m up) · 2.3 effort mi (3.7 effort km)
Urban hike · Houston metro
2.22 mi · 67 ft up (3.6 km · 20 m up) · 2.4 effort mi (3.8 effort km)
Trail · Dutch dunes & forests
2.29 mi · 33 ft up (3.7 km · 10 m up) · 2.4 effort mi (3.8 effort km)
Trail · Piney Woods · needs a car · opens elsewhere
2.42 mi · 129 ft up (3.9 km · 40 m up) · 2.7 effort mi (4.3 effort km)
Urban hike · Seattle metro
2.05 mi · 350 ft up (3.3 km · 105 m up) · 2.8 effort mi (4.4 effort km)
Trail · Dutch dunes & forests
2.91 mi · 43 ft up (4.7 km · 15 m up) · 3.0 effort mi (4.8 effort km)
Urban hike · Seattle metro
2.15 mi · 450 ft up (3.5 km · 135 m up) · 3.0 effort mi (4.9 effort km)
Urban hike · Houston metro
2.76 mi · 148 ft up (4.4 km · 45 m up) · 3.1 effort mi (4.9 effort km)
Urban hike · Houston metro
3.03 mi · 34 ft up (4.9 km · 10 m up) · 3.1 effort mi (5.0 effort km)
Trail · I-90 corridor · needs a car · opens elsewhere
2.4 mi · 500 ft up (3.9 km · 150 m up) · 3.4 effort mi (5.5 effort km)
Urban hike · Amsterdam metro
3.31 mi · 78 ft up (5.3 km · 25 m up) · 3.5 effort mi (5.6 effort km)
Urban hike · Seattle metro
2.62 mi · 500 ft up (4.2 km · 150 m up) · 3.6 effort mi (5.8 effort km)
Urban hike · Amsterdam metro
3.85 mi · 29 ft up (6.2 km · 10 m up) · 3.9 effort mi (6.3 effort km)
Urban hike · Amsterdam metro
3.79 mi · 76 ft up (6.1 km · 25 m up) · 3.9 effort mi (6.3 effort km)
Urban hike · Seattle metro
2.65 mi · 800 ft up (4.3 km · 245 m up) · 4.3 effort mi (6.8 effort km)
Urban hike · Seattle metro
3.39 mi · 450 ft up (5.5 km · 135 m up) · 4.3 effort mi (6.9 effort km)
Urban hike · Seattle metro
3.29 mi · 600 ft up (5.3 km · 185 m up) · 4.5 effort mi (7.2 effort km)
Urban hike · Seattle metro
3.29 mi · 700 ft up (5.3 km · 215 m up) · 4.7 effort mi (7.5 effort km)
Trail · Dutch dunes & forests
4.78 mi · 45 ft up (7.7 km · 15 m up) · 4.9 effort mi (7.8 effort km)
Trail · Piney Woods · needs a car · opens elsewhere
4.77 mi · 296 ft up (7.7 km · 90 m up) · 5.4 effort mi (8.6 effort km)
Urban hike · Amsterdam metro
5.45 mi · 34 ft up (8.8 km · 10 m up) · 5.5 effort mi (8.9 effort km)
Urban hike · Seattle metro
4.56 mi · 500 ft up (7.3 km · 150 m up) · 5.6 effort mi (8.9 effort km)
Trail · Dutch dunes & forests
5.7 mi · 74 ft up (9.2 km · 25 m up) · 5.8 effort mi (9.4 effort km)
Urban hike · Amsterdam metro
5.93 mi · 46 ft up (9.5 km · 15 m up) · 6.0 effort mi (9.7 effort km)
Trail · I-90 corridor · opens elsewhere
3.7 mi · 1,300 ft up (6.0 km · 395 m up) · 6.3 effort mi (10.1 effort km)
Trail · I-90 corridor · needs a car · opens elsewhere
4 mi · 1,160 ft up (6.4 km · 355 m up) · 6.3 effort mi (10.2 effort km)
Trail · Dutch dunes & forests
6.6 mi · 194 ft up (10.6 km · 60 m up) · 7.0 effort mi (11.2 effort km)
Trail · Dutch dunes & forests
6.78 mi · 125 ft up (10.9 km · 40 m up) · 7.0 effort mi (11.3 effort km)
Trail · Piney Woods · needs a car · opens elsewhere
6.91 mi · 428 ft up (11.1 km · 130 m up) · 7.8 effort mi (12.5 effort km)
Trail · Highway 2 corridor · needs a car · opens elsewhere
5.6 mi · 1,300 ft up (9.0 km · 395 m up) · 8.2 effort mi (13.2 effort km)
Trail · Piney Woods · needs a car · opens elsewhere
7.3 mi · 467 ft up (11.7 km · 140 m up) · 8.2 effort mi (13.3 effort km)
Urban hike · Amsterdam metro
8.29 mi · 78 ft up (13.3 km · 25 m up) · 8.4 effort mi (13.6 effort km)
Trail · I-90 corridor · opens elsewhere
5.6 mi · 1,585 ft up (9.0 km · 485 m up) · 8.8 effort mi (14.1 effort km)
Trail · I-90 corridor · needs a car · opens elsewhere
5 mi · 2,100 ft up (8.0 km · 640 m up) · 9.2 effort mi (14.8 effort km)
Trail · North Cascades · needs a car · opens elsewhere
5.4 mi · 2,300 ft up (8.7 km · 700 m up) · 10.0 effort mi (16.1 effort km)
Trail · I-90 corridor · opens elsewhere
6.5 mi · 2,000 ft up (10.5 km · 610 m up) · 10.5 effort mi (16.9 effort km)
Urban hike · Amsterdam metro
10.32 mi · 103 ft up (16.6 km · 30 m up) · 10.5 effort mi (16.9 effort km)
Trail · I-90 corridor · needs a car · opens elsewhere
7.2 mi · 1,800 ft up (11.6 km · 550 m up) · 10.8 effort mi (17.4 effort km)
Urban hike · Amsterdam metro
12.02 mi · 64 ft up (19.3 km · 20 m up) · 12.1 effort mi (19.6 effort km)
Trail · Highway 2 corridor · needs a car · opens elsewhere
8.2 mi · 2,000 ft up (13.2 km · 610 m up) · 12.2 effort mi (19.6 effort km)
Trail · I-90 corridor · opens elsewhere
8 mi · 3,150 ft up (12.9 km · 960 m up) · 14.3 effort mi (23.0 effort km)
Trail · I-90 corridor · needs a car · opens elsewhere
8.6 mi · 3,800 ft up (13.8 km · 1,160 m up) · 16.2 effort mi (26.1 effort km)
Trail · I-90 corridor · needs a car · opens elsewhere
12 mi · 2,600 ft up (19.3 km · 790 m up) · 17.2 effort mi (27.7 effort km)
Trail · I-90 corridor · needs a car · opens elsewhere
9.4 mi · 4,000 ft up (15.1 km · 1,220 m up) · 17.4 effort mi (28.0 effort km)
Trail · Piney Woods · needs a car · opens elsewhere
17.86 mi · 718 ft up (28.7 km · 220 m up) · 19.3 effort mi (31.1 effort km)
Trail · I-90 corridor · opens elsewhere
13 mi · 3,800 ft up (20.9 km · 1,160 m up) · 20.6 effort mi (33.2 effort km)