Warning Signs That Your Hiking Route Isn't Beginner-Friendly

When some people say that they want to "go on a hike," they mean that they want a leisurely stroll across flat dirt while admiring some trees. Other people mean that they want to practically risk their lives grappling stone outcrops and surmounting mountainous humps. Beginners, especially, ought to know their limits before venturing into the great outdoors, lest they get locked into a hike like one of Yosemite National Park's most dangerous treks. Certain signs can clue you in before a hike — or during a hike — that things are going to get too tough for comfort.

Ultimately, there are two common sense metrics that define a trail's difficulty: length and elevation gain. If a trail is short, it's going to be relatively easy. The tiny trail from the parking lot at picturesque Kent Falls in Connecticut to the top of the falls is a mere 0.41 miles long. That's not tough by any stretch. The long and iconic Laugavegur Trail in Iceland, meanwhile, is a 32.4-mile trek past geothermal pools and fields of hardened lava. That's pretty tough.

As far as elevation gain is concerned, the higher you've got to climb (and then descend), the harder a hike will be. Some people get winded on a single flight of stairs. Thankfully, sites like AllTrails can help quite a bit, as they outline trail difficulties across the world, stating their length, elevation, time to completion, and rating them as easy, medium, or hard. Once you've set out on a trail, you've got a separate set of signs to tell you if the hike isn't beginner-friendly. Color-coded markers on trees can indicate how difficult a trail will get, as can posts or flags, provided you know what they mean.

Out and about on a hike, your first line of defense for recognizing trail difficulty is your own two eyes. If things are flat, the foliage is thin, the trails are obvious (sometimes even paved), and other hikers are walking their chihuahuas off-leash, then it's safe to say everything is pretty kosher and easy-peasy. Beyond such assessments, trails are usually marked one way or another to indicate difficulty, especially difficulty that might not be apparent at the moment you begin the trek.

Trail blazes are the most common on-the-trail way to communicate impending difficulty. Blazes are simple slashes of paint streaked on trees and visible from certain approaches. On the Appalachian Trail, for instance, a double white blaze means that there's a sharp turn ahead. A blue blaze indicates some branching path, landmark, vista, or even a dead end. Such systems aren't universal, though, so would-be hikers should look up the trail symbols at the location where they're hiking (if it's available to search and find). Paint can also fade, or trees fall, so take extra care. Also, flags, ribbons, or arrow-shaped etchings can play the role of blazes on various trails.

Trail markers also act as trail guides, meaning they get more complex the more complex a trail gets. A good rule of thumb is: If you're feeling overwhelmed by markers, find them confusing, don't really understand what they mean, etc., then you're probably too much of a beginner for that particular trail. A trail doesn't need to be physically strenuous to be "difficult" — it can be winding, convoluted, and generally unclear. So if you're out on a trail and find things too tough, there's no shame in turning around. Better safe than sorry.