WTA’s Hike Recommender Can Help You Plan Your Winter

As the temps drop and the days get shorter, hiking changes a bit, too. You'll need extra layers and warm treats in your pack. If what you need is trail inspiration, WTA’s hike recommender can help you out!

What is this thing?

It’s basically a personal matchmaker for you and your next hike. Head over to your My Backpack account and click on the "My Hikes & Recommendations" tile.

The recommender presents you three hikes at a time based on your trip reports and saved hikes. The more you like, the better the recs.

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Hike recommendations are personalized and determined by a number of factors. These include hikes you have written trip reports for (yet another reason to write those reports!) as well as hikes you have saved to your My Backpack. The more hikes you have saved in your My Backpack account, the better our recommender is at suggesting hikes you might like, so be sure to keep track of your hiking history for the best results. 

Writing trip reports helps the recommender tailor its suggestions too, and has the added benefit of helping others know what to expect if they head to the same trail, which is particularly useful during the winter months when snow can cause unsafe conditions. 

New This Year: Seasonal Recommendations

Hiking in the wintertime can be very different from hiking during any other time of the year, with shorter days and possible added risk whenever there is snow on the ground.

Your hike lineup for winter is probably different from your summer one — our recommender can help you out! Photo by Terra Compton.

Last year, we turned the recommender off over the winter, and used the time to improve the database with seasonal information. Now the year-round recommendations take into consideration external factors like the season, as well as mileage and elevation gain, so you'll get hikes with stats you like, as well as ones that will be enjoyable no matter the season you're hiking in.

And before heading out, check out our resources for winter hiking, which include information on how to be safe while hiking in wintry conditions and more recommendations for great hikes during the season.