Adventure and hiking often go hand by hand. For many, going for a hike is an exciting opportunity to connect with nature, reach our mental and physical limits, test our endurance and reward ourselves with an amazing view. So, it should come as no surprise that many of the best hiking quotes are actually inspirational.
Our minds are often so busy that it’s hard to find activities that free us from the hassle of modern times, or at least for more than a couple of minutes. That’s why a lot of people look forward to spending a weekend hiking, so much so that it became a passion and nearly a lifestyle.
If you love hiking but haven’t gone for a while. Here are some of the best inspiring hiking quotes that will persuade you to go soon. Some of my favorites are about how hiking can bring to light the best part of us and how it allows us to reconnect with life and our inner self. These quotes are totally inspirational!
Inspiring Hiking Quotes
The next inspiring hiking quotes are a reminder that nature is the ticket to greater things and hiking is a way to exercise not only the body but the soul.
“I’d rather be in the mountains thinking of God than in church thinking of the mountains.” – John Muir
“The more you know, the less you need.” – Yvon Chouinard
“After a day’s walk, everything has twice its usual value.” – G.M. Trevelyan
“If everyone in the world took care of each other the way folks do out on the trail, and if everyone approached each day with as much hope and optimism as hikers do, the world would be a better place.” – Jon Tullis
Thousands of tired, nerve-shaken, over-civilized people are beginning to find out that going to the mountains is going home; that wildness is a necessity.” – John Muir
“It is not the mountain we conquer, but ourselves.” – Sir Edmund Hillary
Why I love this quote: Going for a hike is often seen as a challenge you need to prepare for beforehand, we need to go there and conquer the wilderness or it will be the other way round. But that’s also life. If we don’t conquer ourselves, our emotions, and behaviors then life will conquer us.
“Hiking is not escapism; it’s realism. The people who choose to spend time outdoors are not running away from anything; we are returning to where we belong.” – Jennifer Pharr Davis
“No hiking boot fits right until you’ve taken it on many hikes to become familiar, comfortable and protective.”
“For hiking is one of those things that you can only do when you have the determination in you.”
“Walk away quietly in any direction and taste the freedom of the mountaineer. Camp out among the grasses and gentians of glacial meadows, in craggy garden nooks full of nature’s darlings.” – John Muir
“You need special shoes for hiking—and a bit of a special soul as well.” – Terri Guillemets
“How you climb a mountain is more important than reaching the top.” – Yvon Chouinard
Quote Interpretation: This refers to life as a journey and not a destination. Clearly when you go walking or hiking you are looking forward to seeing the view, but hiking is also about finding nature charms, socializing, breathing, and reconnecting. In life, when you get to the top, you often have more questions than answers, so enjoy the climb. For similar quotes, read my blog about the best quotes about climbing mountains.
“We live in a fast-paced society. Walking slows us down.” – Robert Sweetgall
“Hiking is a bit like life: The journey only requires you to put one foot in front of the other…again and again and again. And if you allow yourself the opportunity to be present throughout the entirety of the trek, you will witness beauty every step of the way, not just at the summit.”
“Reading about nature is fine, but if a person walks in the woods and listens carefully, he can learn more than what is in books, for they speak with the voice of God.” – George Washington Carver
Why I love this Quote: Like many nature walk quotes, this quote is about how valuable being surround by nature’s beauty really is.
“Mountains are not stadiums where I satisfy my ambition to achieve, they are the cathedrals where I practice my religion.” – Anatoli Boukreev
“You have to hike up the mountain path to reach the summit. Thinking won’t get you there.” – Marty Rubin
“There are two kinds of climbers, those who climb because their heart sings when they’re in the mountains, and all the rest.” – Alex Lowe
“An early morning walk is a blessing for the whole day.” – Henry David Thoreau
Why I love this quote: I’m a huge fan of walks and early morning ones are my favorite, as I feel it oxigane my brain, relaxes my muscles and gives me a positive perspective for the rest of the day.
Of all the paths you take in life, make sure a few of them are dirt.” – John Muir
“Oh, how can I put into words the joys of a walk over country such as this; the scenes that delight the eyes, the blessed peace of mind, the sheer exuberance which fills your soul as you tread the firm turf? This is something to be lived, not read about.” – Alfred Wainwright
“Hike Your Own Hike.”
The best journeys in life are those that answer questions you never thought to ask.” – Rich Ridgeway
“I love walking in the woods, along the trails, by the beaches. I love being part of nature. I love walking alone. It is therapy. One needs to be alone, to recharge one’s batteries.” – Grace Kelly
“You can visit the same trail twice but you’ll never take the same hike.”
Quote interpretation: Even if you take the same path every time, the experience will never be the same because you are not the same person. To that point, you have lived different experiences that make each hike a totally different journey.
Climb the mountains and get their good tidings. Nature’s peace will flow into you as sunshine flows into trees. The winds will blow their own freshness into you, and the storms their energy, while cares will drop away from you like the leaves of Autumn.” – John Muir
“Although I deeply love oceans, deserts, and other wild landscapes, it is only mountains that beckon me with that sort of painful magnetic pull to walk deeper and deeper into their beauty.” – Victoria Erikson
“When we walk into a grove of trees or under an open sky the magic of nature takes over and the heaviness of life lifts a little.” – Natassia Cassinero
“Getting to the top is optional. Getting down is mandatory.” – Ed Viesturs
Why I love this Quote: This is funny hiking quote is so true – once you’re at the top of a mountain, you absolutely have to figure out how to get down! I think this inspiring mountain quote could also be take as a metaphor…what do you think?
“I slow down when hiking. The rhythm of nature is more leisurely. The sun comes up, it moves across the sky, and you begin to synchronize to that rhythm.”- John Mackey
“On a hike, the days pass with the wind, the sun, the stars; movement is powered by a belly full of food and water, not a noxious tankful of fossil fuels. On a hike, you’re less a job title and more a human being. A periodic hike not only stretches the limbs but also reminds us: Wow, there’s a big old world out there.” – Ken Ilgunas
“Walking in solitude fixes nothing, but it leads you to the place where you can identify the malady—see the wound’s true form and nature—and then discern the proper medicine.” – Aspen Matis
Why I love this quote: Walking is medicine. It helps me to recharge my batteries and carry on. Walking on my own is like meditation, I can get to places and realize things that otherwise the life hassle wouldn’t allow me to see.
“Hiking and happiness go hand in hand or foot in a boot.” – Diane Spicer
In every walk with nature, one receives far more than he seeks.” – John Muir
“We must walk consciously only part way toward our goal, and then leap in the dark to our success.” — Henry David Thoreau
“If you are seeking creative ideas, go out walking. Angels whisper to a man when he goes for a walk.” – Raymond Inmon
“A walk in nature walks the soul back home.“ – Mary Davis
Somewhere between the bottom of the climb and the summit is the answer to the mystery why we climb.” – Greg Child
“You need mountains, long staircases don’t make good hikers.” – Amit Kalantri
Quote interpretation: A lot of people go hiking because of the exercise and the physical challenge. But then if they go for that reason, it’s tempting to just go to the nearest gym and exercise. You are then losing all the rewards of fresh air and nature, as hiking exercises not only the body but the soul. Read my blog about fresh air quotes to really understand the important of getting outside and breathing in that fresh air!
“I took a walk in the woods and came out taller than trees.” – Henry David Thoreau
And into the forest I go, to lose my mind and find my soul.” – John Muir
“As a result of my hike, I am much more inclined to “do” things. I will have fewer “should have done”s even if it means incurring some “wish I hadn’t’s.” – David Miller
“It’s not how many miles you walk, it’s how many smiles you share.”
“You need special shoes for hiking—and a bit of a special soul as well. – Terri Guillemets
Nobody climbs mountains for scientific reasons. Science is used to raise money for the expeditions, but you really climb for the hell of it.” – Sir Edmund Hillary
“All truly great thoughts are conceived by walking.” – Friedrich Nietzsche
Why I love this quote: This inspiring mountain quote remind us to treat minds like Bethooven used to go “get lost” in nature to write their most popular masterpieces, as nature is a ticket to greater things.
“It had nothing to do with gear or footwear or the backpacking fads or philosophies of any particular era or even with getting from point A to point B.
It had to do with how it felt to be in the wild. With what it was like to walk for miles for no reason other than to witness the accumulation of trees and meadows, mountains and deserts, streams and rocks, rivers and grasses, sunrises and sunsets. The experience was powerful and fundamental. It seemed to me that it had always felt like this to be a human in the wild, and as long as the wild existed it would always feel this way.” – Cheryl Strayed
“In my afternoon walk, I would fain forget all my morning occupations and my obligations to society.” – Henry David Thoreau
“The mountains are calling and I must go.” – John Muir
“The perfect pair of hiking boots brings you safely through thrumming rivers and broken rocks; the perfect partner is walking right beside you.”
“We don’t stop hiking because we grow old, we grow old because we stop hiking.”
“You never know if you’re in the right place until you reach it. Keep walking.”
Why I love this quote: We will never know what our passions are if we don’t try them first. How would you know that you love singing if you have never tried it before? You need to try things in life, be active and go for it. Just like when walking, if you feel lost, keep walking and you will eventually arrive at where you meant to be. It’s an inspiring quote about hiking and life!
You won, this time. But you are as big as you are ever going to get. And I’m still growing.” – Sir Edmund Hillary
“I understood at a very early age that in nature, I felt everything I should feel in church but never did. Walking in the woods, I felt in touch with the universe and with the spirit of the universe.” – Alice Walker’
“In every walk with nature, one receives far more than he seeks.” – John Muir
“To walk in nature is to witness a thousand miracles.” – Mary Davis
“Hiking is not escapism; it’s realism. The people who choose to spend time outdoors are not running away from anything; we are returning to where we belong.” – Jennifer Pharr Davis
To travel, to experience and learn: that is to live.” – Tenzing Norgay
“The trek uphill makes you wish for the future; the view up top anchors you to the present.”
Quote Interpretation: Sometimes, I’ve been walking for so long and I’m so tired that all I want is to rest or get to the top. Same in our everyday lives. We’re working so hard towards our goal that we’re aiming for nothing but that moment of celebration and when it comes, we can finally say we live in the present. You can read more similar quotes about mountains in my blog!
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I love inspiring hiking quotes as they reminds me how it feels to be in contact with nature, spend time with friends and reconnect with my own self. Hiking for me means several things and I’ve written about them all.
If you liked this blog, then you might also like to read about 40 funny hiking quotes or 199 EPIC Quotes about Mountains that you’ll absolutely love. I even have blogs about the best mountain captions for Instagram and funny quotes about mountains – check them out!