7 Best Hiking Movies Of All Time

There are some movies that resonate so deeply with us we feel inspired to take action right after watching them. For me, there are seven movies I have watched that inspired me to get outdoors and hit the nearest hiking trail right after. The seven movies below are, to me, the best hiking movies of all time. While each is very different, and some are even downright disturbing, they are without a doubt motivational and will likely tug at your heart strings.

A Walk In The Woods (2015)

After spending two decades in Britain, Bill Bryson, a celebrated travel humorist, returns to the United states to brave the wilderness along the 2,200-mile Appalachian Trail with little outdoors experience or knowledge of the trail’s difficulty. He plans on walking the entire trail in one season, starting at Springer Mountain in Georgia and ending at Mt. Katharine in Maine. He brings an equally unprepared travel companion, Stephen Katz, along his trek.

Beginning with the difficulties of getting used to their equipment; Bryson also realizes how difficult it is to travel with his friend, who happens to be crude, overweight, recovering alcoholic. Despite the duos thoughtful plans to complete the entire trail, they end up skipping a huge part of it starting in Roanoke, Virginia, hiking nearly 800 miles total. Later, Bryson reunites with Katz to hike the Hundred Mile Wilderness in Maine, which again proves to be too challenging. The fact that Bryson did not complete the trail is not entirely surprising, since less than 25% of thru-hike attempts are successful. These two help lay out the realistic expectations and challenges experienced with thru-hiking.

Wild (2014)

What does someone do when her marriage dissolves and she has trouble getting over the death of her mother? For Cheryl Strayed, she hikes more than a thousand miles along the Pacific Crest Trail, alone. After years of destructive behavior and letting her life slip through the cracks, Cheryl decides to take action to change her life. With no outdoors experience, a backpack packed to the brim and little else to motivate her besides her own will, Cheryl embarks on one of the country’s longest and toughest through-trails.

Based on Cheryl Strayed’s 2012 memoir: Wild: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail , Strayed spends her time along the trail reflecting on her path to self-destruction, which ultimately lead to her divorce. On September 15, after 94 days of hiking, Strayed reaches the Bridge of the Gods, ending her journey. Her 2,650-mile adventure strengthens, maddens, and ultimately heals her. Wild will leave you itching to explore the Pacific Crest Trail and other hiking trails in general.

127 Hours (2010)

127 Hours is an epic biographical survival story about real-life canyoneer Aron Ralston, who became trapped by a boulder in an isolated slot canyon in Blue John Canyon, Utah. Alone, Ralston has to find a way to free himself from the boulder while rationing the food and water he packed for himself for what was supposed to be a day hike.

Based on the book “ Between a Rock and a Hard Place ” by Aron Ralston, there are scenes in this movie that are hard to take in, yet are what any outdoorsman would have done in Ralston’s predicament. To say this movie gets under your skin is an understatement. If anything it makes you want to be fully prepared for your next outdoor adventure, bringing a friend along for the journey and letting plenty of people know exactly where you will be hiking.

Into the Wild (2007)

Based on a true story, Emory University graduate Christopher Mccandleuss abandons his possessions, destroys his credit cards and identification documents, gives his entire $24,000 savings to charity and hitchhikes to Alaska to live alone in the wilderness. In the 20 months leading up to his Alaskan adventure, his travels lead him on a path to self-discovery, seeking and ultimately finding pleasure and joy along with a sense of truth and purpose he had been lacking all his life, and heals him from his troubled childhood. Throughout his epic journey he meets people who both influence and are influenced by the realization that “happiness is only real when shared.” Upon this realization, he seeks to return from he wild to his family and friends.

Based on the 1996 non-fiction book Into The Wild by Jon Krakauer on the travels of Christopher McCandless across North America.

Touching The Void (2003)

Touching The Void is a 2003 documentary based on the book of the same name by Joe Simpson about Simpson’s and Simon Yates near fatal attempt to climb Siula Grande in the Cordillera Huayhuash in the Peruvian Andes in 1985. Both climbers successfully make their way to the top of the summit on a previously unclimbed West Face of Siula Grande in Peru. During the descent, Joe is injured in a fall, resulting in a broken leg. The pair decide to lower Joe down the snow-covered slope with the help of ropes, in the midst of a raging storm. At one point in the journey, Simon cannot see where he is lowering Joe and Joe drops off a cliff, suspended by the rope in mid-air. Simon stops his fall but cannot see or hear Joe due to the storm.

With both men in a terrible situation, Simon must decide whether he should cut Joe’s rope, or if Joe is even alive. Both men’s test of survival is widely regarded by mountaineers nationwide, and may even prompt you to hit the mountains—albeit probably a much easier mountain.

Vertical Limit (2000)

Vertical limit is a survival thriller, not based on a true story, about siblings Peter and Annie Garrett who lose their father, Royce, while climbing in Monument Valley. After two falling amateurs leave the family dangling, Royce forces Peter to cut him loose in hopes of saving Peter and his sister.

After the fatal fall, Peter retires from climbing to become a full-time wildlife photographer, and Annie becomes a renowned mountain climber. Three years later, Annie attempts to climb K2, the world’s second highest mountain due to tough conditions which await at the summit. After inclement weather causes Annie and her crew to become trapped, Peter must assemble a rescue team to try to save his sister from the same fate as their father.

Cliffhanger (1993)

Cliffhanger is a movie that will have you gripping the armrests of your seat, although it is a fictional outdoor thriller. A group of thieves hijack a $100,000,000 delivery en route to a Denver credit union, planning to transfer the money mid-air to collaborators in another plane when their plans go awry. The hijackers crash land and lose the money in the surrounding Rocky Mountains landscape. They radio for help and former ranger Gabe Walker and his partner Hal Tucker come to the rescue. The bank thieves force their rescuers to guide them along the rock face in the middle of a snow storm to collect their stolen loot, despite the unfavorable conditions.

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Photo Credit : Wikipedia , Daveynin , Wikipedia , U.S. Department of Agriculture , Wikipedia , Maria Ly , U.S. Geological Survey