Terrain

From Trail-Finder -- Dedicated to getting you outside

Overview

Terrain refers to the general ground conditions. This is both small-scale (muddy, grassy, etc) and large-scale (mountainous, forested, etc). The terrain is often what you're there to see, but different terrains also require different Gear and different skills.

Microterrains

Microterrains are small-scale terrains. These are the things that your boots hit when you're hiking through them.

• Flat -
• Hilly -
• Wet - Requires waterproof boots and wicking socks to prevent blisters.
• Rocky - Requires boots with good ankle support. Rocky terrain will slow you down, and may conceal hidden dangers, such as snakes.
• Sand - Pretty harmless terrain, but sand, especially dry, loose sand, will slow you down and sap your strength fast. Wet sand provides a better walking surface. When faced with a long beach along the trail, some hikers remove their boots and walk in the wet sand at the water's edge.
• Forest litter - Found in mature forest, the ground is usually hard packed and covered in dead leaves and pine needles. One of the easier surfaces to walk on.
• Clay - When wet, one of the most difficult and, sometimes, one of the most dangerous surfaces to walk on. Trekking poles help.

Macroterrains

Macroterrains are large-scale terrains. Your boots don't notice macroterrains, but your eyes do. Boots see the microterrains of hilly and rocky. Eyes see the macroterrain of mountainous.

• Forest - Usually easy hiking.
• Desert - Sand deserts, like the Sahara Desert are very hard hiking. Other deserts, though, are composed of rock and hard packed dirt, and are much easier hiking. All deserts, however, have a major risk to hikers, which is a general lack of water. Usually, water must either be cached along your route, or carried with you, since there's little or no surface water to filter.
• Beach - Beaches can provide a welcome break from forest, or can be followed for an entire hike.
• Valley - Following a river course, valleys don't usually provide wide-open vistas, but do often contain more life, and more varied forms of life, than the surrounding area. One of the most well-known valley hikes is through Grand Canyon National Park.
• Slot Canyon - Slot canyons are valleys taken to extremes. Often combining intense beauty with high risk, especially from rock fall and flash floods, some are easy to hike, while others require special gear and training to survive. Zion National Park and the surrounding areas have well-known slot canyons.
• Mountains - Ranging from the well-worn Appalachian Mountains of the Eastern United States to the rugged Andes and Alps mountain chains of South American and Eurasia, mountains provide some of the more physically demanding hikes on the planet, but also some of the most rewarding. Due to difficult access, the more rugged areas have generally been left mostly untouched by man, so you can get exposure to raw nature, rather than reclaimed areas post-clearcutting and post-farming.