Day Hiking 101

Picture of hiking under Matterhorn by Esme_Vos

Whether it's the highlight of a camping outing or just a standalone weekend activity, day hikes are one of my favorite ways to spend time outdoors. They're a great way to get good exercise while seeing some incredible things in nature.

We'll be going on a day hike at Point Mugu in a few week now, so I figured we could go over some basic advice  for day hiking including places to find a good day hike, rules you should follow, and what you need to pack.

Finding a Place to Hike

I have a bunch of sites I use to find day hikes with a couple favorites, although the best hikes are often found by word of mouth from fellow hikers. 

• Backpacker.com- My favorite site to find trails. The hikes are well documented with reviews, difficulties, directions to the trailhead, maps for the hike, and detailed directions for the hike.
• LocalHikes- My second favorite site to find good hikes. Although text organized and centered around certain locations, you can find some pretty incredible trails on this website (if you're in the correct area). The trails have a summary, directions to the trailhead, best times to go, and reviews.
• Sierra Club Trails- A limited number of trails, with text directions. This is just another place to find locations to hike for me.
• Trails.com-  Requires a paid subscription for detailed directions, but I use it to find new places to hike as it's database is really large. Once you find the new place, you can search the web for a trail guide or directions. They also offer free topographic maps that you can save as images. 
• Yelp- I often use Yelp to see if there is a page for the hike I've found above and how the reviews are for that site
• NWF- Only shows parks, but will often give you a good idea of places that will likely have good trails to hike. 

While there are a lot of different resources, it only takes one of them to find an awesome hike, so pick one and see if you find something you like! Let me know in the comments if you have a different favorite site!

Rules You Should Follow while on a Day Hike 

1. Always let someone know where you're hiking and when. This way, if something goes terribly wrong, at least one person back in civilization knows where you were last. This narrowing of a search grid can help a search party find stranded hikers in a fraction of the time they would with no leads.
2. Always check the weather before you head out. Bad weather can sneak up on you in the wild, but modern radar often has the upper-hand in spotting malicious weather patterns far before the skies turn all dark and gloomy. Checking the weather also helps you bring along the appropriate extra layers or rain gear, if needed.
3. Dress in layers. Even on a cool day, you can really heat up while hiking, and being able to strip off extra layer while remaining appropriate for the trail can make a hike far more enjoyable.
4. Bring extra water. Although you may have calculated the exact amount of water you may need, you should always be prepared to spend more time on the trail or consume more water than expected. Rationing water is also a good idea when out on a longer hike.
5. Don't be rude. Follow general hiking etiquette and don't be those annoying people on the trail.
6. Research the hike beforehand. No one likes to go out on a hike just to realize that a section of the tides have come in and covered your path home for the next 3 hours or that the hike required a bit of climbing and you wore your hiking heels.

Gear (and other stuff) to bring on a Day Hike

• Backpack- Any comfortable backpack with some carrying capacity will do.
• My old school backpack from years ago
• Map of the Area
• As mentioned early, you can use Trails.com to download topo maps or print out a google map
• Compass
• Silva Polaris 2801100 - Compass- My old boy scout compass which has served me well for over 10 years 
• Water Bottle- disposable or reusable (greener!)
• Nalgene Tritan Wide Mouth BPA-Free Water Bottle- My indestructible Nalgene bottle (threw it off a couple cliffs to see if it really was indestructible)
• Flashlight- something light, but bright for signalling or finding your way at night
• I use a small Cree LED flashlight I got years ago. Any light will do, but LEDs will last much longer and shine brighter than any incandescent on the same battery 
• Water Purification Tablets- if worst comes to worst, these can be literal 'life savers'
• Potable Aqua Water Purification Tablets with PA Plus- these purify water AND make it not taste so terrible
• Food Containers- to hold snacks of course!
• Rubbermaid Easy Find Lid Food Storage Set- I got a smaller set of this on sale, but these stack really well inside the bag and stay sealed
• Sunscreen- sleeping on the ground is FAR worse when sunburnt
• Extra Layers- as mentioned earlier
• First Aid Supplies- More safety precautions!
• Johnson & Johnson All Purpose First Aid Kit- have an older one of these
• Lighter or Matches- in a waterproof bag.. Another precaution in case things go awry

Hopefully this article gives you a good idea on how to find a place to go on a day-hike, guidelines to keep in mind, and the gear and items you should bring along. Let me know in the comments if there's anything big that I missed!

In the interest of full disclosure, although I've listed items that I own above, I am an Amazon Affiliate, so anything you purchase through my links will get me a small commission. this will hopefully be enough eventually so I can get a REAL domain! Thanks for stopping in!