Trekking

Trekking info, ideas, and photos

Back from Annapurna Base Camp
Photo: Magical-World, through a Creative Commons Attribution License

Trekking is a form of hiking and distance walking generally characterized as walking over a period of days or weeks from hut to hut or village to village in an effort to gain a deeper understanding of a country than can be had by vehicle.

The first trekking expeditions were expeditions of Himalayan climbers like Mallory, Tilman, Shipton, and Hillary who had to trek to get to remote climbs in the early and mid 20th century. Trekking was popularized for the general hiking audience in the 1960's in Nepal, by Jimmy Roberts a British expat living in Nepal, who developed the Annapurna Circuit and other treks and founded the company, Mountain Travel Nepal in 1964, the genesis of all modern adventure travel.

Trekking can involve huts or camping. Trekking can be either solo or with an outfitted group. Trekking can be very simple, arranged on a whim, or expensive, complicated expeditions. Trekking does not necessarily mean wilderness, as some of the best treks in the world are in heavily populated but beautiful areas. In New Zealand, they call trekking, "tramping," and in the U.S. we generally use the word "backpacking" instead.

We've worked hard to provide a source page for trekking ideas to get you thinking about places for trekking that you might not have thought of.

Trekking in Nepal is by far the best trekking in the world. More trekkers trek in Nepal each year than in any other country. Located at the edge of the central Himalayas, Nepal has claim to 8 of the 10 highest mountains in the world, including Everest. Combine that with high rainfall during the summer monsoon season that has cut thousands of the deepest canyons in the world. This extreme topography and the extreme poverty of Nepal has made road development difficult. Many villages are accessible only by foot. As a result trekking is the only way to really see much of the country. Trekking has developed in a big way. Porters, guides, and teahouses rely on trekking business, the largest source of hard currency for Nepal.

Nepal boasts some of the most well-known trekking areas, including Trekking in the Annapurna Region on The Annapurna Circuit and on the Annapurna Sanctuary Trek, and the Everest Trek to base camp. Lesser-known trekking destinations in Nepal that you should know about include trekking in the Mustang area of Nepal where Tibetans live, and trekking to Gokyo, which has the best views of Everest and Lhotse.

Trekking in Western Nepal is more feasible now that the maoists are in power- the Dolpo, Mugu, and Api/Saipal areas see almost no western visitors.

Trekkers looking to combine a trek with a climb suitable for novice climbers (with a guide) should check out Island Peak and Mera Peak in the Everest Region.

Pakistan is a great trekking alternative to Nepal, when the political situation is right. Trekking to Concordia and K2 Base Camp in Pakistan takes trekkers to one of the world's most amazing mountain views, Concordia where a series of 3 glaciers meet and one can see 7 of the 20 highest mountains in the world, including Gasherbrum II, III, and IV, Broad Peak, and K2 .


Trekking in India is diverse. Ladakh in northern India takes trekkers over high passes over 5,000 meters to Buddhist villages forgotten by time in a surreal desert mountain moonscape. Trekking in East India in Sikkim affords amazing views of high mountains and deep rhododendron hardwood forests. Singalila Trek provides great views of Kanchenjunga, the 3rd highest mountain in the world. The tea plantations in the Kodari area southwest of Bangalore make an exotic, lowland trekking destination.


Trekking in Tibet offers many possibilities, including treks to the rarely visited Kangshung Face of Everest, trekking around the unclimbed Mount Kailash, one of the holiest mountains in the world, trekking to beautiful Nam tso Lake, and jungle treks in eastern Tibet near Namche Barwa. A great trek exists in Eastern Tibet to Milarepa's tower, a recently restored stone tower, built, and rebuilt by the Buddhist Saint, Milarepa.

China's four holy mountains, notably Emei Shan in Sichuan, make excellent short trekking destinations. In Southern China, Trekking in Xishuangbanna on the Burmese border, it is now possible to cross into Burma with the right outfitter. Western Sichuan has great trekking in thousands of square miles of little-explored mountains. Fantastic trekking exists in Northwest Yunnan in the Dali Area and through Tiger Leaping Gorge. The Chang Tang and Kekexilli areas of Western China are larger than many countries and remain virtually unexplored.

While technically a mountain, the 3-day trek up Mount Kinabalu in Borneo, is one of the great trekking experiences in the world. Kinabalu is a gigantic granite dome dominating the landscape. The summit area of Kinabalu is a seeming endless field of granite with views of hundreds of miles in each direction. Mount Kinabalu Trekkers stay in a lodge halfway up the mountain on the first night to acclimatize. On day two, trekkers summit Kinabalu and return to the mid mountain lodge. On day three, trekkers descend.


To Trek New Zealand is a dream for many travelers. The wilderness areas of the south Island are cris-crossed with trails and sophisticated hut systems. New Zealanders call trekking "tramping" and instead of trails, in New Zealand you "tramp" on "tracks."

The most well-known hut system in New Zealand for trekking is the Milford Track. Trekking on the Milford Track is big business and some backcountry trekking huts have all the amenities of a 3 star hotel. Many travelers report that the real trekking gem of New Zealand is another hut system called the Routeburn Track.

Africa has a great variety of trekking. The most popular trek in Africa are routes to the summit of Kilimanjaro, Africa's highest peak. Kilimanjaro is a huge mountain with a great diversity of ecosystems and has at least 7 major treks on it's flanks.

There's good Trekking in Morocco, including village to village trekking in the Atlas Mountains. Gorilla Trekking to see Mountain Gorillas on the Rwanda/Uganda border in Virunga National Park is an unforgettable experience.

The trekking areas of the islands of Madagascar and Reunion in the Indian Ocean, while well-known to French speakers, are unheard of by most of the rest of us. Other areas of Africa are in their infancy for trekking but have great potential including South Africa, Ethiopia, and Tanzania.

South America is becoming a major trekking destination. is the most popular area in South America for trekking. The most popular trekking destination in Peru is the Inca Trail. The 4-day Inca Trail trek to the fabled city of Machu Picchu is the most popular trek in South America. This is no surprise to anyone who's seen the sun rise at Machu Picchu's Sun Gate.

Other destinations for trekking in Peru include high altitude treks in the Peruvian Andes in the Cordillera Blanca and Cordillera Huayhuash in Peru.

Another option for Trekking the Andes would be trekking the Paine Circuit in Argentine Patagonia, around the Torres del Pain. Other treks in Patagonia are getting more popular as well.

The regular route on Aconcagua, the highest point of the Americas is essentially an extremely high altitude trek as well.

Europe has a lot of trekking options. While not as exotic as some other destinations, some truly outstanding trekking of all kinds, dots the European landscape.

Some great long village-to-village treks exist in the Spanish countryside. Trekkers are doing Switzerland's famed-Haute route ski tour as a summer hike from hut to hut past Mont Blanc and the Matterhorn. Trekking Italy's Cinque Terre, Amalfi Coast, or Dolomites are popular. The mountains of the Czech Republic, Slovenia, and northern Greece have some great trekking.

The Mediterranean has some great island and coastal trekking with multi-day routes both on the island of Crete and for hundreds of kilometers along the Lycean Way on the coast of Southern Turkey.

Deciding where to go trekking can be difficult. Perhaps this will help-- by far the four most popular treks in the world are, The Annapurna Circuit, The Inca Trail to Machu Picchu, Everest Base Camp, and Kilimanjaro's Marangu Route.

The popular treks aren't always the best trekking choices. The Annapurna Circuit has a road around much of it now, but with careful planning you can do some extraordinary trekking into Mustang, Nar/Phu, or over the Namun Banjang. Trekking the Inca Trail is great but crowded, but people love the Salkantay variation. Trekkers generally prefer the view of Everest from Gokyo Ri on the Gokyo trek than from Kala Patar on the Base Camp trek. People rave about the Rongai Route as the best route on Kilimajaro.

Be careful when trekking with a group at altitude. Most life-threatening cases of Acute Mountain Sickness, HAPE, or HACE, come from the peer pressure of trying to keep up with a group and not heeding the warning signs. Trekking independently is actually safer for this reason.

When you're booking your Nepal Trek, make sure you understand the difference between a camping trek and a teahouse trek. Unless you're going to be trekking somewhere primitive, go for the teahouse trek, you'll be much more comfortable.

Be careful when trekking alone. It is actually quite common for solo trekkers to disappear in the Himalayas. Attacks on solo women trekkers have occurred recently in the forests of Annapurna and Everest. A trekker was apparently pushed to her death after being attacked along the Gokyo route a few years ago. Gareth Koch was also lost and never found in the Everest region.

Project Himalaya is leading some excellent creative off-the beaten path treks

High Asia Exploratory are the people to talk to for exploratory trekking

Mountain Travel Sobek practically invented trekking

Wilderness Travel continues to innovate great trekking routes

Adventures Within Reach Have a Ton of Experience with trekking Kilimajaro

Trekking Atlas of the World by Jack Jackson

The World's Great Adventure Treks by Jack Jackson

The Altitude Experience: Successful Trekking and Climbing Above 8,000 Feet by Mike Farris

Top Treks of the World by Steve Razzetti ed.

The Big Open: On Foot Across Tibet's Chang Tang by Rick Ridgeway

Blog: Trekking, Kayaking, and Cooking in Nepal

TreksandClimbs.com Preparing for Trekking

Preparation for Trekking in Nepal

Gym Preparation for Hiking and Trekking

Trekking to Machu Picchu

GORP's Top 10 Treks

Trekking in Argentina

Stranded while Trekking in Nepal

Article on Trekking Options Around the World