Hiking is a Great Date Option | Consider This a Date

Last updated on April 14th, 2021 at 05:24 pm

What we seek in nature can be akin to what we seek in a partner. We want to find someone who just feels right to be around. All too often, though, we can let finding a significant other become too complicated. Dating shouldn’t have to feel difficult or forced though. Rather, it should be simple, comfortable, and fun. You don’t need to be rich to take someone out on a nice date either. So, what’s a date option that has all the ingredients for a great time and a promise for future dates? Hiking.

Its one of the best date options out there, and below we go into the reasons why your next date should include the trails.

Hiking Dates Are Free

Taking someone out on a date that costs little or no money does not send a bad message to the right partner. Rather, it demonstrates that you don’t need money to show him or her a good time. It can even show that you know how and when to use your hard-earned dollars and that you aren’t wasteful.

We live in a country that protects and celebrates its most beautiful natural wonders through protected parks and trails that are free to use. Why not take advantage of this incredible gift? You can always spruce up the hiking date by spending a few dollars on food that you pack for a mid-hike picnic.

Just have the most romantic spot you can think of scoped out before you go.

Hiking Shows You Are Physically Active

It is always beneficial to demonstrate to someone you are interested in that you are fit and athletic. You don’t have to be an Olympic athlete, but health and wellness tend to be very important to people seeking partners.

The fact that you are even considering hiking as a date option shows that you have some level of fitness, which you’ll also want to see in your partner. Hiking gives you a chance to show off (modestly) the attention you’ve paid to your health, and you’ll get a good picture of your date’s fitness. Seeing each other’s bodies in action can also lead to even more physical attraction than you may already have for each other.

Endorphins Will Help the Date End Well

Both of you will be feeling good from the flowing endorphins that resulted from such great exercise. The physiological effects of hiking and physical exertion, in general, improve the odds that your date is going to end with both parties feeling good. Even if the date doesn’t go perfectly, you’ll both have a generally positive mental state because your blood was flowing and endorphins were kicking in.

Hiking Takes the Pressure Off

Sure, going to the movies can be really fun. But surrounding yourself in an interesting environment instead of sitting and staring at a screen can be even more fun. And going on a dinner date can sometimes lead to awkward silences and forced conversation. Hiking can take the pressure off the conversation and the weird eye contact.

Less Pressure for Eye Contact

Instead of looking at each other all night, you’re both looking around at the same things. You’ll naturally talk about interesting things you come across along the hike. You’ll have a chance to look at each other, but you’ll both have the relief of looking forward instead of at each other the whole time.

A Chance to Help Each Other

There may even be some modest chance physical contact with your date to help each other past potentially difficult terrain. Helping each other over fallen branches is a small moment of bonding.

There will be times during your walk when neither one of you will be talking, and instead of thinking frantically about what you should be saying, you’ll be taking in the beautiful surroundings and feeling at peace.

Hiking Provides a Sense of Adventure

Every hike is different, even if it takes place along a trail you have done a thousand times. You’re going to come across a break in the trail, or might see some interesting wildlife, and it’s all going to be something that you discovered together.

The Unexpected Turns Are Exciting

You may have a plan for the hike but find that your date wants to explore something along the way. Or maybe you’ll have a run-in with a friendly tortoise that’s crossing your path. Perhaps you’ll find a hidden message that was written on a tree trunk thirty years ago or see a beautiful flower that neither of you has ever seen. The possibilities are endless, and that’s what makes it fun.

Letting Your Partner Know What You’re All About

In addition to being an actual adventure, it could be exactly what you want to convey to your potential partner. That is to say, you are so adventurous you may feel it important to express that as soon in the relationship as possible. What better way to start on the right foot that having an adventurous first date?

Being Out in Nature is Romantic and Memorable

Taking to the trails for your date is inevitably going to lead you somewhere beautiful. Maybe it’s a huge redwood tree, a peaceful creek, a bird’s eye view of a valley below, or a striking mountaintop.

There will be plenty of opportunities to stop and stare, and maybe you’ll even want to take a photo together. If all goes well, this hiking spot may become an important part of your life that you’ll revisit for years because of the memory you created there on your date.

Maybe one day you’ll take your family there and say, “This is where we fell in love.”

Hiking Date Tips

Below are some extremely important tips to follow when planning a hiking date. Following the tips below will help prevent awkward moments and lack of preparedness.

Pre-Hike Communication

Because you will be doing something a little unconventional, and because it is physical, you should clearly communicate to your date what to expect. If you want the activity and location to be a surprise, you can certainly still do that. Just provide the appropriate information so that he or she is prepared, such as:

Type of attire to wear, including shoes and layers if necessary. This will give them an impression of the type of activity they will be doing.
How long you expect the date to be
Whether or not they should eat beforehand (This depends on if you are bringing any food or snacks to eat during the hike. More on that below.)

Planning What to Bring on a Hiking Date

Being prepared for some standard hiking situations can be very attractive to your date. No, you don’t want to be overly prepared to the point where it’s distracting. You’re not going to need a 65L hiking pack for your walk. But carrying a small backpack with some essential items will make your date comfortable and keep the focus on the fun. Here are some ideas on what to bring along:

Small first aid kit, just in case
Water for both of you
Something to eat (either enough for a picnic, or just a small snack)
Sunscreen
Bug repellent (especially if you know they will be along your route)
Appropriate attire and maybe a spare piece of clothing in case your date forgets something
A map or other interesting information about the area you are hiking in

Determining How Long to Hike on a Date

This is really a judgment call based on your abilities and your assessed abilities of your date. Generally, you’re not going to want the date to be so long it stops being enjoyable. This isn’t meant to be a significant physical challenge; it’s meant to be a fun way to get to know each other and enjoy nature.

A good rule of thumb would be to make the hike no more than 2-3 hours, round trip. That’s about the same length of time as a movie. Since you’re expending energy along the way, you may both be hungry afterward. If all is going well, have a couple suggested places to eat at following the hike to extend the date!

When Not to Go on a Hiking Date

It may go without saying, but the weather is a very important factor in deciding if you should go on a hiking date or not.

Weather

If it’s going to be uncomfortable to the point of being distracting, you shouldn’t go. If it’s too hot, cold, windy, rainy, humid, or any other reason, that’s what will be remembered at the end of the date. Just find an alternative if the forecast is looking grim.

Only One of you Enjoy Hikes

If you have a pretty strong inclination that your date is not the type that likes to go hiking, you may want to pass. You may also want to consider whether or not this person is for you, especially if hiking or doing outdoor activities is an important part of your life.

You do Not Feel Safe

Safety is first. In a hiking date scenario, safety has to do with more than just the hiking terrain. Safety means both parties of the date need to completely trust one another and feel comfortable around each other.

Hiking will often require being alone with each other deep in nature. While this is absolute bliss for people who trust each other fully it can also be a bit unsettling if you have never met each other before. If planning a hike for a first date it is advisable to do the hike at a highly trafficked locale. This ensures that everyone can be more comfortable getting to know each other in a safer setting.

Hiking Enlivens the Senses

There is just something about being out in nature that makes us feel more alive. Our senses turn on and everything seems more vibrant. There is nothing comparable to it. The Japanese shed light on the benefits of immersing ourselves in nature through the practice of forest bathing.

Nature is Where We’re Meant to Be

Spending time in the undeveloped beauty of the world has actual health benefits such as reduced blood pressure and stress levels. But to describe its value in this manner isn’t the whole picture, is it? Taking a stroll in the woods has inspired literature from the likes of Muir, Emerson, and Thoreau, to mention just a few. These works of literature that will continue to impact the world for centuries to come. And that is the point. Nature is inspiring. It is simple and beautiful and real. It is where we came from and where we are meant to be.

I felt my lungs inflate with the onrush of scenery – air, mountains, trees, people. I thought, “This is what it is to be happy.” Sylvia Plath

Go on a Hiking Date Already!

As long as you communicate and prepare appropriately, you will find that hiking is a wonderful way to impress and get to know your date. You will likely earn points for being creative, fun, active, and adventurous.

By choosing to go on a hike together, you’re choosing to explore and appreciate the world with someone you care about, making memories along the way. Both of your senses will be heightened, you’ll have a buzzing feeling of anticipation inside because you won’t know exactly what to expect on the trail, and you’ll be relaxed in comfortable clothing.

At the very least, you’ll get to go on an enlivening hike. And at the very most, you’ll get a lasting memory of the time you took your life partner out on a stroll in the woods for the very first time.

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