Hiking North America

When to hike North America

In September, all 63 destinations clear our recommendation criteria. The area is quietest in January, with 11 of 63.

Averaged across the destinations, July is the warmest month at 20 degrees in the hiking window and January the coldest at -2.

How far apart the destinations are

The selected grid cells run from 495 metres at Cape Breton Highlands to 3,477 metres at Maroon Bells, with a median of 1,761 metres. Cape Breton Highlands clears the criteria in 6 months (from May to October), Maroon Bells in 3 months (from July to September).

The longest season belongs to 10 destinations, including Chiapas Highlands and Copper Canyon, at 12 months each; the shortest to Garibaldi and Whistler, at 2 months each.

What closes the missing months

Where a destination loses months, a critical climate component falls below the threshold at which we stop recommending a month. The main reason is snow cover for 48 of the 63 destinations and heat for 5. 10 are recommendable in all twelve months.

In January, the quietest month, 52 of 63 destinations are closed, 51 of them by snow cover.

Not counted here is one further destination for which we publish no recommendation. It is listed below with the reason.

Conditions in September

September is when the open destinations score highest on average. Hiking-window temperature then runs from 3 degrees at Denali to 26 at Grand Canyon, and rain falls on 11 to 99 percent of days depending on the destination.

What these figures cover

Each destination is described by one selected ERA5-Land grid cell, averaged over 1991 to 2025. The figures above summarise those 63 cells. They are not a map of the whole area or of any route, and they are not a forecast.