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125 Best Hiking Quotes, Captions + Puns

125 Best Hiking Quotes, Captions + Puns

This collection of hiking quotes is meant to motivate you to hit a new trail and explore the great outdoors. We hope to help you find the perfect caption for your next social media post from this adventure.

We’ve organized this guide featuring quotes about hiking into various topics so you can easily search for a particular theme.

1. “It’s not the mountain we conquer, but ourselves.” – Sir Edmund Hillary

2. “Climb mountains, not so the world can see you, but so you can see the world.” – David McCullough Jr

3. “Walking is a man’s best medicine.” – Hippocrates

4. “Between every two pines there is a doorway to a new world.” – Henry David Thoreau

the journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step

5. “The journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.” – Lao Tzu

6. “Because in the end, you won’t remember the time you spent working in the office or mowing your lawn. Climb that goddamn mountain.” – John Kerouac

7. “There are no shortcuts to any place worth going.” – Beverly Sills

8. “Fall down seven times and stand up eight.” – Japanese Proverb

9. “It does not matter how slowly you go as long as you do not stop.” – Confucius

10. “Do not follow where the path may lead. Go instead where there is no path and leave a trail.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson

Two roads diverged in a wood, and I took the one less traveled by

11. “Two roads diverged in a wood, and I took the one less traveled by, and that has made all the difference.” – Robert Frost

12. “I’d rather be hiking in the rain, than sitting inside at a desk on a sunny day.” – Unknown

13. “Only those who risk going too far can possibly find out how far they can go.” – T.S. Eliot

14. “If you’re going through hell, keep going.” – Winston Churchill

15. “Everywhere is within walking distance if you have the time.” – Steven Wright

hiking quote about only those who risk going too far

16. “Getting to the top is optional. Getting down is mandatory.” – Ed Viesturs

17. “Adventure is worthwhile in itself.” – Amelia Earhart

18. “Remember to look up to the stars, not down to your feet.” – Stephen Hawking

19. “Not all who wander are lost.” – JRR Tolkien

20. “Leave the road, take the trails.” – Pythagoras

Funny Hiking Quotes

21. “If you think you’ve peaked, find a new mountain.” – Anonymous

22. “Cover the earth before it covers you.” – Dagobert D. Runes

cover the earth before it covers you hiking quote

23. “You need special shoes for hiking and a bit of a special soul as well.” – Terri Guillemets

24. “It’s easier to go down a hill than up it but the view is much better at the top.” – Henry Ward Beecher

25. “I like being near the top of a mountain. One can’t get lost here.” – Wislawa Szymborska

26. “I have two doctors, my left leg and my right.” – G.M. Trevelyan

27. “Backpacking: An extended form of hiking in which people carry double the amount of gear they need for half the distance they planned to go in twice the time it should take.” – Unknown

28. “There is no such thing as bad weather, only inappropriate clothing.”– Sir Ranulph Fiennes

29. “Sleeping bags are the soft tacos of the bear world.” – Bears

30. “Mountains have a way of dealing with overconfidence.” – Hermann Buhl

31. “DEET is nature’s cologne.” – Every Hiker

32. “Hiking’s not for everyone. Notice the wilderness is mostly empty.” – Sonja Yoerg

33. “Trails are like that: you’re floating along in a Shakespearean Arden paradise and expect to see nymphs and flute boys, then suddenly you’re struggling in a hot broiling sun of hell in dust and nettles and poison oak… just like life.” – Jack Kerouac

where the signposts end, the trail begins

34. “Where the signposts end, the trail begins.” – Marty Rubin

35. “There is always an adventure waiting in the woods.” – Katelyn S. Bolds

36. “The closer you are to nature the further you are from idiots.” – Unknown

37. “Hiking is just walking where it’s okay to pee.” – Demetri Martin

38. “Bring a compass.  It’s awkward when you have to eat your friends.” – Unknown

39. “You need mountains, long staircases don’t make good hikers.” – Amit Kalantri

40. “If the winter is too cold and the summer is too hot, you are not a hiker.” – Unknown

Inspirational Hiking Quotes

41. “Carry as little as possible, but choose that little with care.” – Earl Shaffer

42. “It’s impossible to walk in the woods and be in a bad mood at the same time.” – Unknown

43. “You never climb the same mountain twice, not even in memory. Memory rebuilds the mountain, changes the weather, retells the jokes, remakes all the moves.” – Lito Tejada-Flores

hardest part of long distance hiking quote

44. “Returning home is the most difficult part of long-distance hiking. You have grown outside the puzzle and your piece no longer fits.” – Cindy Ross

45. “After a day’s walk, everything has twice its usual value.” – G.M. Trevelyan

46. “I took a walk in the woods and came out taller than trees.” – Henry David Thoreau

47. “Look deep into nature and you will understand everything better.” – Albert Einstein

48. “Walking: the most ancient exercise and still the best modern exercise.” – Carrie Latet

49. “The experienced mountain climber is not intimidated by a mountain he is inspired by it.” – William Arthur Ward

50. “I found far more answers in the woods than I ever did in the city.” – Mary Davis

51. “The more you know, the less you need.” – Yvon Chouinard

52. “We live in a fast-paced society. Walking slows us down.” – Robert Sweetgall

53. “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

54. “Nature is not a place to visit. It is home.” – Gary Snyder

55. “No matter how sophisticated you may be, a large granite mountain cannot be denied – it speaks in silence to the very core of your being.” – Ansel Adams

hiking is not escapism, it's realism

56. “Now I see the secret of making the best person, it is to grow in the open air and to eat and sleep with the earth.” – Walt Whitman

57. “I would never have started this trip if I had known how tough it was, but I couldn’t and wouldn’t quit.” – Ben Montgomery

58. “If you are on the right path, it will always be uphill.” – Henry B. Eyring

59. “The earth has music for those who listen.” – William Shakespeare

60. “Without new experiences, something inside of us sleeps. The sleeper must awaken.” – Frank Herbert

if you are on the right path, it will always be uphill

61. “People do not decide to become extraordinary. They decide to accomplish extraordinary things.” – Sir Edmund Hillary

62. “The best thing one can do when it’s raining is to let it rain.” – Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

63. “We don’t stop hiking because we grow old. We grow old because we stop hiking.” – Finis Mitchell

64. “The world reveals itself to those who travel on foot.” – Werner Herzog

65. “If you are seeking creative ideas, go out walking. Angels whisper to a man when he goes for a walk.” – Raymond Inmon

Further Reading: Best hiking apps to use

Hiking With Friends Quotes

66. “In life, it’s not where you go, it’s who you travel with.” – Charles Schulz

67. “Some women want diamonds… others just want a hammock, a campfire and some peace & quiet.”

in life, it's not where you go, it's who you travel with

68. “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

69. “Hiking with friends: where the adventure begins.”

70. “Life is better with friends and trails.”

71. “True friends don’t let you hike alone.”

72. “Life was meant for good friends and great adventures.”

good company in a journey makes the way seem shorter

73. “Good company in a journey makes the way seem shorter.” – Izaak Walton

74. “Hiking is the only slightly less ugly stepsister of running.” – Lindy Hughes

75. “What on earth would I do if four bears came into my camp? Why, I would die of course. Literally sh** myself lifeless.” – Bill Bryson

76. “A journey is best measured in friends rather than miles.” – Tim Cahill

77. “In the mountains, there are no strangers, only friends you haven’t met yet.”

78. “It’s not how many miles you walk, it’s how many smiles you share.”

A journey is best measured in friends quote about hiking

79. “A good friend listens to your adventures. A best friend makes them with you.” – Anonymous

80. “We are all travelers in the wilderness of the world and the best we can find in our travels is an honest friend.” – Robert Louis Stevenson

John Muir Hiking Quotes

John Muir was a Scottish-born American naturalist whose writings were extremely influential in preserving landscapes, specifically near Yosemite National Park and the Sierra Nevadas.

In 1901, Muir published Our National Parks which attracted the attention of President Theodore Roosevelt. Then in 1903, Roosevelt visited Yosemite with Muir and this became the inspiration for Roosevelt to create America’s National Park system.

Here are a few famous John Muir quotes:

81. “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

Of all the paths you take, make sure some a few of them are dirt

82. “Of all the paths you take in life, make sure a few of them are dirt.” – John Muir

83. “In every walk with nature, one receives far more than he seeks.” – John Muir

84. “And into the forest I go, to lose my mind and find my soul.” – John Muir

85. “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

86. “Keep close to Nature’s heart… and break clear away, once in a while, and climb a mountain or spend a week in the woods.” – John Muir

87. “The clearest way into the Universe is through a forest wilderness.” – John Muir

88. “Sheep, like people, are ungovernable when hungry.” – John Muir

the mountains are calling and i must go

89. “The mountains are calling and I must go.” – John Muir

90. “How glorious a greeting the sun gives the mountains!” – John Muir

91. “Between every two pines there is a doorway to a new world.” – John Muir

92. “Only by going alone in silence, without baggage, can one truly get into the heart of the wilderness. All other travel is mere dust and hotels and baggage and chatter.” – John Muir

93. “The practical importance of the preservation of our forests is augmented by their relations to climate, soil and streams.” – John Muir

Further Reading: Where to stay in Yosemite

Hiking Puns For Instagram

94. “There’s snow place like the mountains.”

95. “Actions peak louder than words.”

96. “Don’t get your slopes up.”

97. “These boots were made for hiking.”

what were you saying? I lost my terrain of thought hiking pun

98. “What were you saying? I lost my terrain of thought.”

99. “Don’t be a pine in the ass!”

100. “Be sure to leaf your worries behind.”

101. “Hiking puns are hill-arious!”

102. “Maybe she’s born with it. Maybe it’s maple leaves.”

103. “Hiking with my birches.”

104. “Main-stream.”

105. “Two’s company, trees a crowd.”

if you're feeling bad, you better change your attitude hiking pun

106. “If you’re feeling bad, you better change your altitude.”

107. “Canyon help me out?”

108. “I love hiking — I don’t take it for granite.”

109. “Woke up feeling pine.”

110. “Woke up feeling pine.”

Further Reading: Best National Parks in the US

Fall Hiking Quotes

111. “I cannot endure to waste anything so precious as autumnal sunshine by staying in the house.” – Nathaniel Hawthorne

I cannot endure to waste anything so precious quote about hiking

112. “He found himself wondering at times, especially in autumn, about the wild lands…” J.R.R. Tolkien

113. “It’s the first day of autumn! A time of hot chocolatey mornings, and toasty marshmallow evenings, and, best of all, leaping into leaves!” – Winnie The Pooh

114. “Autumn shows us how beautiful it is to let things go.” – Anonymous

115. “Fall has always been my favorite season. The time when everything bursts with its last beauty, as if nature had been saving up all year for the grand finale.” – Lauren DeStefano

116. “Autumn carries more gold in its pocket than all the other seasons.” – Jim Bishop

autumn carries more gold in its pockets than all other seasons

117. “Winter is an etching, spring a watercolor, summer an oil painting, and autumn a mosaic of them all.” – Stanley Horowitz

118. “I would rather sit on a pumpkin, and have it all to myself, than be crowded on a velvet cushion.” – Henry David Thoreau

119. “It looked like the world was covered in a cobbler crust of brown sugar and cinnamon.” – Sarah Addison Allen

120. “Autumn leaves don’t fall, they fly. They take their time and wander on this their only chance to soar.” – Delia Owens

121. “I cannot endure to waste anything so precious as autumnal sunshine by staying in the house.” – Nathaniel Hawthorne

I'm so glad i live in a world where there are Octobers quote

122. “I’m so glad I live in a world where there are Octobers.” – L.M. Montgomery, Anne of Green Gables

123. “Autumn is a second spring when every leaf is a flower.” – Albert Camus

124. “It was a beautiful bright autumn day, with air like cider and a sky so blue you could drown in it.” – Diana Gabaldon

125. “Autumn leaves falling down like pieces into place. And I can picture it after all these days.” – Taylor Swift

Further Reading: New England Fall road trip

More Quotes

More Hiking


We hope this guide featuring the best hiking quotes helps with inspiring your next outdoor trip!

Please let us know if you have any questions about hiking quotes or any upcoming trip in the comments below.

Happy Hiking,

Mark and Kristen

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