Walking Time Calculator

Estimate walking time including ascent using Naismith’s rule.

About Walking Time Calculator

Ascent costs time independently of distance, which is why Naismith’s rule adds an hour for every 600 metres climbed. A hilly route can take half again as long as its distance suggests. Underestimating hill-walking time is the most common cause of finishing in darkness, which is why mountain rescue services promote the rule.

Formula

Walking Time

Naismith’s rule: one hour per 5 km plus one hour per 600 m of ascent

Naismith’s rule: The classic hill-walking time estimate from 1892
pack penalty: Heavy loads slow progress roughly one per cent per kilogram above five

Worked example

With the default values below, Walking Time Calculator returns Total Walking Time of 4.799. Change any input above and every figure here is recalculated in your browser.

Inputs used

Distanceminimum 0 km: 14 km
Total ascentminimum 0 m: 600 m
Walking speed on the flatminimum 0.01 km/h: 4.5 km/h
Rest minutes per houraccepts 0–60 min: 8 min
Pack weightminimum 0 kg: 8 kg

Results

Total Walking Time: 4.799 h
Time for the Horizontal Distance: 3.204 h
Additional Time for Ascent: 1.030 h
Rest Time: 0.565 h
Effective Speed: 2.917 km/h

Step by step

1Values used
2Walking Time
3Total Walking Time= 4.799 h
4Time for the Horizontal Distance= 3.204 h
5Additional Time for Ascent= 1.030 h
6Rest Time= 0.565 h
7Effective Speed= 2.917 km/h

Assumptions and limits

The result is derived only from the 5 inputs listed above. Anything not among them is not part of the calculation.
In particular, this calculator does not take inflation, tax, fees or charges or compounding frequency into account.
Figures are rounded for display to 3 decimal places, so totals built from several rounded parts can differ slightly from the unrounded arithmetic.

How these calculators are built and tested is described on the Methodology page. If a figure looks wrong, please report it.

Frequently Asked Questions

How is Walking Time calculated?

Naismith’s rule: one hour per 5 km plus one hour per 600 m of ascent Ascent costs time independently of distance, which is why Naismith’s rule adds an hour for every 600 metres climbed. A hilly route can take half again as long as its distance suggests.

Why does Walking Time matter?

Underestimating hill-walking time is the most common cause of finishing in darkness, which is why mountain rescue services promote the rule.

What values do I need to enter?

This calculator takes 5 inputs: Distance, Total ascent, Walking speed on the flat, Rest minutes per hour, Pack weight. The pre-filled defaults are a realistic starting point — replace them with figures from your own environment for a result you can act on.