Best Hikes for Advanced Hikers: 12 US Trails
Most lists of hard hikes stop at the numbers. Miles and feet of gain matter, but they rarely explain why people get hurt or turned back on a given mountain. On one peak it's the weather above treeline, on another it's a class 3 gully, and on a third it's 4,000 feet of climbing with no shade and no water. This roundup of the best advanced hikes US hikers can work toward groups 12 strenuous trails from our own guides by the thing that actually makes each one hard. They're spread from New Hampshire to Alaska and from the Columbia Gorge to the Mojave, and every stat comes straight from the matching TrailMates guide. For each trail you'll get the distance and climb, the crux, the season it works in, and any ticket, permit or closure you need to know about before you drive out. Read the safety section first. It's the part that keeps a hard day from turning into a rescue.
What are the best hikes for advanced hikers?
The best hikes for advanced hikers combine a real crux with a long, committing day: Mount Washington via Tuckerman Ravine and the Franconia Ridge Loop for weather above treeline, Old Rag and Mount Olympus for exposed scrambling, Mount Si and Dog Mountain for sustained vertical, and Telegraph Peak and the La Luz Trail for distance, heat and altitude. The 12 trails below are all rated strenuous in our guides, and the sections that follow explain what makes each one hard and how to prepare for it.
What advanced means here, and the rules that keep you safe
Every trail below is rated strenuous in our guides, but that label covers very different problems. We sorted the 12 into four groups: hikes where weather is the main danger, hikes that ask you to use your hands on exposed rock, hikes that are simply relentless vertical, and long days in dry, high country where heat, altitude and distance stack up. Knowing which kind of hard you're signing up for tells you how to train and what to pack. A few habits apply to all of them. Pick a turnaround time before you leave the car and stick to it, even if the summit looks close. Check a mountain-specific forecast, not your city's, because conditions at 6,000 or 14,000 feet can be nothing like the trailhead. Carry more water than the mileage suggests, a headlamp, a warm layer and a shell on every one of these routes, whatever the season. Tell someone your route and when you expect to be back. Seasons matter too. Several of these trails, including Telegraph Peak, Mount Bierstadt, Franconia Ridge and Mount Washington, turn into mountaineering objectives once snow and ice arrive, and the desert picks are dangerous in summer heat. Each entry tells you the window our guide records.
Set the turnaround before you see the summit
Turnaround times work because you choose them while you're rested and thinking clearly. Base yours on when you need to be off exposed ground, such as noon on a Colorado fourteener in storm season, or before afternoon heat on a desert climb. Many of our guides name a sensible bail point, like the saddle below Mount Olympus or the basin in Siphon Draw. Stopping there still counts as a good day.
When weather is the crux: New Hampshire and Colorado
These three aren't technical in good conditions. What makes them advanced is how fast conditions above treeline can change, and how far you are from shelter when they do.
1. Mount Washington via Tuckerman Ravine, New Hampshire
From Pinkham Notch the Tuckerman Ravine Trail is 8.4 miles round trip with 4,250 feet of gain. The first 2.4 miles to Hermit Lake are a rocky but wide path. Above that you climb the headwall on steep rock that needs hands in places, then cross boulder fields to the highest summit in the Northeast. Forest Service signs at treeline warn that the area has the worst weather in America. Freezing temperatures, hurricane-force winds and zero visibility can happen in any month, so check the Higher Summits forecast and pack winter layers in July. The headwall section closes each spring for snow and crevasse hazards, and from late fall to early summer the mountain needs ice axe, crampons and experience. Many hikers come down via the Lion Head Trail instead of the headwall.
2. Franconia Ridge Loop, New Hampshire
This loop from Lafayette Place runs about 8.9 miles with 3,900 feet of gain, up Falling Waters, along the ridge over Little Haystack and Lincoln to Lafayette, and down past Greenleaf Hut, where you can refill water. Roughly two miles are above treeline with nowhere to hide from wind, cloud or lightning. Falling Waters now runs on a new switchbacking line near Cloudland Falls; NH State Parks closed the old streamside sections on September 22, 2026, so follow the fresh blazes. The weekend hiker shuttle from the Cannon Tramway lot ran through October 18, 2026. Parking on the I-93 shoulder is illegal.
3. Mount Bierstadt, Colorado
Bierstadt is often called a beginner fourteener, but our guide is blunt that non-technical doesn't mean easy. It's 7 miles and 2,391 feet from Guanella Pass, and the whole hike sits above 11,600 feet, with the last thousand feet on talus in thin air. Summer thunderstorms build almost every afternoon, so plan to summit early and start down before midday, which means a headlamp start. Turn around if you get a headache or nausea. Mid-June through September is the usual window. After that the peak becomes a winter mountaineering objective, and the pass road closes seasonally with snow.
Hands on rock: Virginia, Arizona and Utah
These three include scrambling where a slip has real consequences. Each one has a sensible place to stop short of the hardest moves, and our guides say plainly that stopping there is a good choice.
4. Old Rag Mountain, Virginia
The Park Service rates the 9.4-mile circuit, with 2,348 feet of gain, as very strenuous and allows 7.5 to 8 hours for it. The crux is a granite scramble that needs upper-body strength and some comfort with exposure. From March 1 to November 30 every hiker needs a $2 Old Rag day-use ticket from Recreation.gov, plus the Shenandoah entrance fee. The main lot closed in May 2026 for trailhead work expected to finish around November 2026, so plan on the overflow lots. Skip the scramble in rain or ice, and start early on weekends to avoid queues in the narrow sections.
5. Siphon Draw to the Flatiron, Arizona
This climb in Lost Dutchman State Park gains 2,641 feet in 5.5 miles round trip, most of it in under three miles. An easy desert approach leads into a slick rock basin, then a loose class 3 gully. Our guide notes that the descent is more dangerous than the climb, and that poles become a hazard once you need both hands. Go November through March only. Summer attempts are a known cause of heat emergencies in the Superstitions. Start at first light, set a hard turnaround, and treat the basin as a perfectly good finish.
6. Mount Olympus, Utah
The trail leaves Wasatch Boulevard and climbs 4,000 feet in 6.9 miles round trip, averaging well over a thousand feet per mile with no warm-up. A class 3 limestone scramble with real exposure guards the summit, and plenty of people finish at the saddle below it. The west-facing slope has no water and bakes in the afternoon, so carry three to four litres in warm weather. Late spring to autumn is the window, because snow turns the upper mountain into mountaineering. Leashed dogs are allowed here because the trail sits outside the protected watershed.
Pure vertical: Washington, the Columbia Gorge and Alaska
None of these needs technical skill on the main route. They're hard because the climbing barely lets up, and the descent punishes tired legs.
7. Mount Si, Washington
Seattle's benchmark climb is 8 miles and 3,150 feet of steady uphill on good tread from North Bend. You need a Discover Pass to park, and enforcement is routine. The true summit is the Haystack, an exposed class 3 block where people have died, so most hikers stop at the boulder field below it, where the view is anyway. From late autumn into spring, expect snow up high and bring microspikes even if the lot is dry. Little Si makes a good warm-up if you're building toward it.
8. Dog Mountain, Washington side of the Columbia Gorge
Dog Mountain climbs 2,800 feet in 7 miles from near Stevenson, with open upper meadows that catch the full force of the Gorge wind. Our guide warns that wildflower photos draw people onto a climb they haven't trained for. During the spring bloom you need a Recreation.gov permit on weekends and holidays, and in 2026 that ran on weekends from April 11 to June 7, plus Memorial Day. You also need a Northwest Forest Pass to park. Autumn is quiet, with the same views and no permit needed.
9. Bird Ridge, Alaska
Alaska State Parks lists Bird Ridge at 5 miles round trip with 3,400 feet of gain, so most of the trail is steep. It starts on the Seward Highway along Turnagain Arm, climbs through forest onto an open ridge with some scrambling higher up, and has no water anywhere. Because it faces south, it melts out before any other trail in Chugach State Park, which makes it a spring favourite. Parking costs $5 a day. Carry bear spray, and choose a turnaround point on the ridge rather than pushing for the very top.
Long days in dry, high country: New Mexico, California and Nevada
Out here, the danger comes from distance, heat and altitude adding up. Water is the main thing to plan around, and one of these trails has an active closure you need to know about.
10. La Luz Trail, New Mexico (partial closure)
La Luz climbs 3,775 feet over 7.7 miles one way, from hot, sunny desert through a talus field to spruce-fir forest above 10,000 feet. It's partly closed right now. Under a Forest Service order, the Sandia Crest area is closed until January 15, 2027. The trail is open to the top of the Sandia Peak Tramway, but the Crest Spur to Sandia Crest is closed, so turn around at the tram top. Many hikers ride the tram down on a separate ticket and arrange a car shuttle. The trailhead fee is $5 per vehicle, cash or check. Be off the upper trail by early afternoon during the July to September monsoon.
11. Telegraph Peak, California
This one is 13.2 miles with 4,700 feet of gain from Mt Baldy Village, through Icehouse Canyon to the saddle and then along an up-and-down ridge past Timber Mountain to an 8,900-foot summit. You need a free Cucamonga Wilderness permit. Summer and fall are the seasons. Once ice coats the steep upper slopes, Telegraph and its Baldy-area neighbours become mountaineering with unforgiving runouts. Summer thunderstorms build over the ridge, there's no reliable water above Icehouse Canyon, and our guide treats turning back at Timber Mountain as a good outcome.
12. Turtlehead Peak, Nevada
Turtlehead shares the Sandstone Quarry lot with the much easier Calico Tanks, yet climbs 2,020 feet in 4.6 miles round trip, much of it on loose scree marked by cairns, not signs. Several use-paths braid across the slope, so aim for the saddle and pick your descent line carefully. From October 1 through May 31, Red Rock Canyon's Scenic Drive requires a timed-entry booking if you arrive from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., on top of the entrance fee. October to April is the season. There's no shade or water, and Red Rock has had heat rescues on this route in summer.
Frequently Asked Questions
What counts as an advanced hike?
In this roundup, it means a trail our guides rate strenuous. That usually means roughly 2,000 to 4,700 feet of gain, plus at least one serious hazard, such as scrambling, exposure, altitude, severe weather or heat with no water. Distance matters less than you'd think. Mount Olympus gains 4,000 feet in under 7 miles round trip.
Which of these hikes need permits or tickets?
Old Rag needs a $2 day-use ticket from March through November. Dog Mountain needs a weekend permit during the spring bloom, plus a Northwest Forest Pass. Telegraph Peak needs a free Cucamonga Wilderness permit. Turtlehead needs a Red Rock timed-entry reservation from October to May for daytime entry. Mount Si needs a Discover Pass to park, and La Luz has a $5 vehicle fee.
Should I hike these alone?
Experienced hikers do some of them solo, but a partner makes a real difference on scrambles like Old Rag and Siphon Draw and on remote ridges like Telegraph. Two people can share decisions about weather and turnaround times, and one can go for help if needed. If you do go alone, leave a detailed plan with someone and carry a way to call for help.