HikeSpan
HikeSpan · Pace

Hiking pace calculator

Minutes per mile or kilometer, and speed

A hiking pace calculator converts between three numbers: distance, moving time, and pace. Give it two and it returns the third, in miles or kilometers. Pace here is moving time only. Breaks, photo stops, and the extra time hills take are not inside the division. Add those yourself, or use Naismith’s rule when the climb is the thing you need to budget.

Inputs

Pace is per mile if the distance unit is miles, and per kilometer if it is kilometers.

Result

Enter a distance and either a time or a pace.

Disclaimer: Moving-time arithmetic only. It is not a prediction of how fast you will hike, and it ignores stops and terrain.

The drive is a separate cost. Estimate fuel on the ClearQuip trip gas cost calculator. Cold or heat at the trailhead is the wind chill and heat index calculator.

How to use

  1. Choose whether you already timed a hike or you want to apply a pace to a distance.
  2. Set miles or kilometers, then enter the distance.
  3. Enter hours and minutes, or pace minutes and seconds. A 20-minute mile is 20 minutes and 0 seconds.
  4. Press Calculate. Speed is shown in miles per hour and kilometers per hour. Reset clears the form.

How it's calculated

Pace (min per mile) = moving minutes ÷ miles
Speed (mph) = miles ÷ (minutes ÷ 60)
1 mile = 1.609344 kilometers

The division is exact for the numbers you type. The mile–kilometer factor is the international mile, 1.609344 km. If you enter a pace per kilometer, the page converts it to a per-mile pace before it multiplies by the distance in miles, so a 10 km hike at 6 minutes per kilometer is 60 minutes.

Hills are not in this formula. Naismith’s rule, on the Naismith calculator, adds time for ascent. Whether you will finish before sunset, once you have a pace, is the finish-before-dark planner.

Worked example

Six miles in 2 hours is 120 minutes ÷ 6 = 20 minutes per mile, which is 3.0 miles per hour. The same effort over 10 kilometers is a bit more than 6.2 miles. At a 20-minute-mile pace that distance takes about 2 hours and 4 minutes. A pace of 12 minutes per kilometer on a 5 km walk is 60 minutes, or 5 km/h.

Assumptions and sources

Pace is moving time divided by distance. It is not Naismith time and it is not a race predictor. The kilometer conversion uses the international mile defined as 1.609344 km. Breaks you took while the watch was running are inside the time you type; this page cannot see them. Grade is a separate measurement on the trail grade calculator.

FAQ

Does pace include lunch stops?

Only if those minutes are in the time you enter. If you want moving pace, subtract the stops before you type the time.

What is a minute-per-mile pace in speed?

Sixty divided by the pace in minutes. A 20-minute mile is 3 miles per hour. A 15-minute mile is 4 miles per hour.

Why do miles and kilometers both appear?

So a map in one unit and a watch in the other still match. The factor is 1.609344 kilometers per mile.

Can pace tell me about a climb?

No. A flat pace and a climbing pace are different efforts. Add ascent with Naismith’s rule if you want a time budget that includes height.

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