Most Instagrammable hiking routes

With America offering so many unique natural viewpoints and awe-inspiring panoramas, hiking is a great way to see the country’s stunning scenery. From the rugged shorelines of Maine to Arizona’s Grand Canyon, the trails and hikes on offer are a great way to keep active and be at one with nature.

But which hikes and the resulting vistas are we venturing out to the most? We’ve analyzed Instagram hashtag data of 265 hikes and trails to see which are the most popular. We’ve also studied Google search volumes, and the top sights you can find along the way to see which attractions are helping us land the perfect picture.

Most trail hashtags

Clocking in at a staggering 2,200 miles and passing through 14 states, the Appalachian Trail is the most Instagrammed overall with 925,000 hashtags. California’s John Muir trail is in second place with 86,800 hashtags. The 211-mile trail offers stunning views of the Sierra Nevada Mountain range. Hawaii’s Kalalau Trail also proves popular with 63,100 hashtags. With breath-taking sunset views of the Pacific Ocean and the surrounding beaches and valleys, its no surprise that hikers are turning to Instagram to document the 11 mile journey.

Georgia, North Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia, West Virginia, Maryland, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New York, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Vermont, New Hampshire, and Maine
Appalachian Trail
No. of trail hashtags
925,000
California
John Muir Trail
No. of trail hashtags
86,800
Hawaii
Kalalau Trail
No. of trail hashtags
63,100
California
Rubicon Trail
No. of trail hashtags
45,900

Most Instagrammed trails per state

With a 174% increase in hikes logged in 2020 as opposed to 2019 according to alltrails.com, it’s clear to see the rising appetite and popularity for this type of activity, but with an estimated 1,244 existing trails in America today, which are worth the saying - “no pain, no gain”?

We have created an interactive map using Instagram hashtags and search data to allow you to discover the most popular trails from each state along with the total distance. And with some trails having sights and locations just as popular as the hike itself, we’ve also highlighted some of the most Instagrammed attractions.

Select a state from the map

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Master table

For the eager hikers that have already visited their local trails and are now looking to venture forth to something new, our table includes a further 100 trails to help you plan your next expedition. If you’re looking for information by state, trail name or some of the top sights, use the search bar below.

State
Hike
Top trail hashtag
No. of trail hashtags
Top location hashtag
No. of location hashtags
Search vol. (location)
Top sight on the trail
Total searches
Total hashtags
Distance
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Length varies

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Methodology

We collated a list of 265 hikes and trails from across America, to see which are being Instagrammed most by the nation’s walkers. We also pulled Google search data, along with hashtag data for some of the most popular attractions and sights along the routes.

Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.