The terms seem to be used interchangeably on many travel websites and books. It gets even more confusing when some companies sell their boots as ‘walking boots’ and then claim they can be worn on long hikes. And when is a walk a walk and when a walk? It gets even more confusing when the word trekking it is used to refer to the ascent of a mountain, such as Island Peak or Mera Peak in Nepal, both of which are over 6000 m and require the use of technical climbing equipment. How can they be called ‘trekking peaks’?
The term ‘hiking’ is often used to refer to day hikes in natural surroundings, on clearly marked trails. It is carried out for leisure, recreation and exercise purpose. A small backpack is used to carry water, light fleece, and snacks. In places like Canada and New Zealand, the term is often used interchangeably with climber, hiking gold wandering.
‘Trekking’, by contrast, is considered more strenuous, covering greater distances across different terrain and requiring camping overnight and carrying heavy backpacks with food, sleeping bags and equipment. The term is actually derived from work in Afrikaans, trekkingwhich comes from the Dutch word, trecken, referring to a long and arduous journey over great distances and often unknown terrain. It is often associated with the migration of people across land from one area to another.
Does this then mean that if a day’s hike is difficult, over rough terrain and through thick forest with no trails, it is a walk? In Australia, they would call this bushwhackingand in other places they call it print. When you visit the mountain gorilla in Rwanda or Uganda, it is a day’s hike, but through dense forest, over very uneven and difficult terrain. No wonder there is so much confusion.
But let’s not end the confusion there. Anyone who has tried to buy travel insurance to cover their ‘trekking’ or ‘hiking’ trip will have discovered that these activities are often labeled ‘dangerous pursuits’. In fact, some insurance companies even lump together terms like hiking and mountaineering, as they can be used interchangeably or are linked together. There are other companies that classify any hike above 2,000 m in altitude as mountaineering. Sorry Scotland, but that means its famous peak, Ben Nevis (1,352m), isn’t a mountain after all, just a hiking peak.
Perhaps the best way to look at it is that a trek is usually completed over several days and consists of walks, hill walks, walks and walks.
At the end of the day, does it really matter? It is about semantics and interpretation. The most important thing is that you enjoy it.