Calories burned hiking calculator
What a hike burns for your body, from an amble through the fields to a day out with a pack.
Updated
Your result
For 2 hours of hiking (normal pace, no load) at 65 kg:
570extra kcal
On top of the 110 kcal you’d burn anyway in that time. In total it uses about 690 kcal.
In your TDEE it counts as about 410–570 kcal. The low end allows for the body offsetting about 28% of exercise calories, the average in a study of 1,754 adults.
Calories burned hiking: the key numbers
- 2 hours of hiking adds about 370 to 910 extra kcal for a 65 kg person, depending on your pace and what you carry.
- An hour of hiking (normal pace, no load) adds about 290 extra kcal at 65 kg and 440 at 100 kg.
- The figures come from 4 rows of the 2024 Compendium of Physical Activities, from 3.8 to 7.8 METs: each from published studies.
- Done on purpose, it counts in your TDEE at 72 to 100% of these extra calories, because the body offsets part of what exercise uses (Careau, 2021).
Counting it in your TDEE
If you do this on purpose, add it as exercise on the TDEE calculator. It counts there at 72 to 100% of these extra calories, because the body offsets part of what exercise uses.
For your body and time
| Activity | Extra kcal | Compendium value |
|---|---|---|
| Slow, through fields and hills | 370 | 3.8 METs, Compendium code 17081 |
| Normal pace, no load | 570 | 5.3 METs, Compendium code 17082 |
| Cross-country hiking | 670 | 6 METs, Compendium code 17080 |
| With a daypack | 910 | 7.8 METs, Compendium code 17012 |
| Walking: Moderate (3 mph, 5 km/h) | 370 | 3.8 METs, Compendium code 17190 |
Each figure uses the activity’s cost from the 2024 Compendium of Physical Activities, which gives it in METs of oxygen use per kg of body weight, so the extra scales with your weight. Only the part above resting counts as extra. What you’d burn anyway comes from your own resting rate (Mifflin-St Jeor), not the standard 1 MET: in 769 adults, measured resting burn averaged 0.84 kcal per kg an hour against the standard 1 (Byrne, 2005).
Compare every activity on the calories burned calculator.
More activities: walking, running, lifting weights, swimming, cycling, elliptical, treadmill, sleeping, standing, yoga, Pilates, climbing stairs, dancing, rowing, gardening, golf, cleaning.
Short answers
How many calories does hiking burn?
It depends on your pace and what you carry, and on your weight. For a 65 kg woman, 2 hours adds about 370 kcal (slow, through fields and hills) up to about 910 (with a daypack) on top of what she’d burn anyway. For a 100 kg man it’s about 570 to 1,390.
Does hiking burn more than walking?
Yes, for the same time. A 2-hour hike at a normal pace adds about 570 kcal for a 65 kg woman, against about 370 for 2 hours walking at a moderate pace on the flat.
Does carrying a backpack burn more?
Yes. Hiking with a daypack adds about 910 kcal in 2 hours for a 65 kg woman, against about 570 without a load.
Should I eat back the calories from hiking?
Partly. In a study of 1,754 adults, the body offset about 28% of the calories burned through activity, on average (Careau, 2021). So when 2 hours of hiking adds about 570 kcal for a 65 kg woman, count about 410–570 of it.
Sources
Checked against each source on 22 and 23 October 2026
- Herrmann SD, et al. (2024). 2024 Adult Compendium of Physical Activities: a third update of the energy costs of human activities. J Sport Health Sci 13(1):6–12. PMID 38242596
- Byrne NM, et al. (2005). Metabolic equivalent: one size does not fit all. J Appl Physiol 99(3):1112–9. PMID 15831804
- Careau V, et al. (2021). Energy compensation and adiposity in humans. Curr Biol 31(20):4659–66. PMID 34453886
- Mifflin MD, St Jeor ST, et al. (1990). A new predictive equation for resting energy expenditure in healthy individuals. Am J Clin Nutr 51(2):241–7. PMID 2305711