Moderate Hiking Trails
16 trails classified as moderate — one of four hiking difficulty levels we use sitewide: easy, moderate, hard, and expert. Some elevation gain or longer distance. Requires basic fitness.
How we classify moderate trails
Some elevation gain or longer distance. Requires basic fitness.
Classification uses OpenStreetMap sac:scale (Swiss Alpine Club grade), mtb:scale (mountain-bike technical grade), trail visibility, and trail length. Long backcountry routes push into harder buckets even without explicit grade tags — a 20+ mile day-hike route counts as Expert regardless of terrain.
Top states for moderate trails
States with the most moderate-rated mapped trails. Click a state for the full filtered list.
Sample moderate trails
A cross-state sample of named moderate trails. 16 shown of 16 indexed.
Frequently Asked Questions
What are the hiking difficulty levels?
We classify every trail into one of four hiking difficulty levels: Easy (Gentle terrain, well-marked. Suitable for all ages and fitness levels.), Moderate (Some elevation gain or longer distance. Requires basic fitness.), Hard (Steep, technical, or long. Requires good fitness and experience.), and Expert (Long backcountry routes (20+ miles), alpine grades, via ferrata, or extremely technical terrain. For experienced hikers with proper conditioning, navigation skills, and gear.)
How is trail difficulty calculated?
We combine OpenStreetMap sac:scale (Swiss Alpine Club grade) and mtb:scale (mountain-bike technical grade) tags with trail length and visibility data. Long backcountry routes are bumped into harder buckets even without an explicit grade tag — a 20+ mile day-hike route counts as Expert regardless of terrain.
What makes a trail "moderate"?
Some elevation gain or longer distance. Requires basic fitness.
Are difficulty ratings the same as the SAC hiking scale?
Not exactly — our four-level system (easy/moderate/hard/expert) is a simplified version built on top of the SAC scale plus distance and elevation data. See our guide on how the SAC hiking scale works for the full technical breakdown.
From the OutsideAtlas Blog
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