Over the years I’ve shared many hiking quotes here at Hiking Lady.  Hiking quotes always bring a smile to my face, which is why I have them scattered all over this site.  I guess that’s natural since I’m the Hiking Lady, but I know these hiking quotes will inspire you to get outside and hike your favorite trail or a brand new one this summer!  Enjoy!

My favorite hiking quotes

1. “Yosemite Valley, to me, is always a sunrise, a glitter of green and golden wonder in a vast ediface of stone and space.” Ansel Adams
2. “Everyone wants to live on top of the mountain, but all the happiness and growth occurs while you are climbing it.” Andy Rooney
3. “You’re off to great places, today is your day. Your mountain is waiting, so get on your way.” Dr. Seuss
4. “Deep down, at the molecular heart of life, the trees and we are essentially identical.” Carl Sagan
5. “Wilderness is not a luxury but a necessity of the human spirit.” Edward Abbey
6. “We are all travelers in the wilderness of this world, and the best we can find in our travels is an honest friend.” Robert Louis Stevenson
7. “The winds will blow their own freshness into you, and the storms their energy, while cares will drop off like autumn leaves.” John Muir
8. “I cannot endure to waste anything as precious as autumn sunshine by staying in the house. So I spend almost all the daylight hours in the open air.” Nathaniel Hawthorne
9. “It would be merciful for people not to come calling and disturb the loneliness of the mountains, to which I have returned from the sorrows of the world.” Muso Soseki
10. “It is not the mountain we conquer but ourselves.” Edmund Hillary
11. “The experienced mountain climber is not intimidated by a mountain — he is inspired by it.” William Arthur Ward
12. “Getting to the top is optional. Getting down is mandatory.” Ed Viesturs



13. “If you are seeking creative ideas, go out walking. Angels whisper to a man when he goes for a walk.” Raymond Inmon
14. “Not all that wander are lost.” Unknown
15. “If you’re walking down the right path and you’re willing to keep walking, eventually you’ll make progress.” Barack Obama
16. “I know the joy of fishes in the river through my own joy, as I go walking along the same river.” Zhuangzi (369–286 BC)
17. “There’s no such thing as bad weather, only unsuitable clothing.” Alfred Wainwright (famous British hill walker/hiker)
18. “It is our task in our time and in our generation, to hand down undiminished to those who come after us, as was handed down to us by those who went before, the natural wealth and beauty which is ours.” John F. Kennedy
19. “There is nothing so American as our nat’l parks. The scenery wildlife are native. The fundamental idea behind the parks is native.” FDR
20. “Adopt the pace of nature: her secret is patience.” Ralph Waldo Emerson
21. “I believe in God, only I spell it Nature.” Frank Lloyd Wright
22. “Nature is my manifestation of God. I go to nature every day for inspiration in the day’s work. I follow in building the principles which nature has used in its domain.” Frank Lloyd Wright
23. “Come forth into the light of things, let nature be your teacher.” William Wordsworth
24. “Do not go where the path may lead, go instead where there is no path and leave a trail.” Ralph Waldo Emerson [Hiking Lady addition: be sure to follow Leave No Trace principles! ;)]
25. “Earth and sky, woods and fields, lakes and rivers, the mountain and the sea, are excellent schoolmasters, and teach some of us more than we can ever learn from books.” John Lubbock
26. “There are no shortcuts to any place worth going.” Beverly Sills



27. “It’s not the mountain we conquer, but ourselves.” Sir Edmund Hillary
28. “Walking: the most ancient exercise and still the best modern exercise.” Carrie Latet
29. “I love to think of nature as an unlimited broadcasting station, through which God speaks to us every hour, if we will only tune in.” George Washington Carver
30. “The best thing one can do when it’s raining is to let it rain.” Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
31. “Of all the paths you take in life, make sure a few of them are dirt.” John Muir
32. “I think that I shall never see a poem lovely as a tree.” Joyce Kilmer
33. “Let the gentle bush dig its root deep and spread upward to split the boulder.” Carl Sandburg
34. “Let the rain kiss you. Let the rain beat upon your head with silver liquid drops. Let the rain sing you a lullaby.” Langston Hughes
35. “Like music and art, love of nature is a common language that can transcend political or social boundaries.” Jimmy Carter
36. “Look deep into nature, and then you will understand everything better.” Albert Einstein
37. “Now I see the secret of making the best person, it is to grow in the open air and to eat and sleep with the earth.” Walt Whitman
38. “One touch of nature makes the whole world kin.” William Shakespeare
39. “Fall down seven times and stand up eight.” Japanese Proverb
40. “The clearest way into the Universe is through a forest wilderness.” John Muir
41. “The poetry of the earth is never dead.” John Keats
42. “To me a lush carpet of pine needles or spongy grass is more welcome than the most luxurious Persian rug.” Helen Keller



43. “To sit in the shade on a fine day and look upon verdure is the most perfect refreshment.” Jane Austen
44. “To the lover of wilderness, Alaska is one of the most wonderful countries in the world.” John Muir
45. “Me thinks that the moment my legs begin to move, my thoughts begin to flow.” Henry David Thoreau
46. “In every walk with nature, one receives far more than he seeks.” John Muir
47. “Because in the end, you won’t remember the time you spent working in an office or mowing the lawn. Climb that goddamn mountain.” Jack Kerouac
48. “In all things of nature there is something of the marvelous.” Aristotle
49. “To travel, to experience and learn: that is to live.” Tenzing Norgay
50.  “The mountains are calling and I must go.” John Muir

Hope you enjoyed my 50 favorite hiking quotes. Happy trails!