The easiest hikes in Pennsylvania, by the numbers
Of the 62 trails in Pennsylvania in our dataset, 16 (26 percent) rate easiest on the gain-and-distance scale we use, run 1 to 6 miles and climb 500 ft or less; all 16 are listed here, lowest rating first.
Hickory Run Trail has the lowest rating: 25 ft of gain over 1.4 miles, 18 ft per mile.
Across the 16, gain runs from 25 to 436 ft and distance from 1 mile to 3.7 miles; the median gain is 130 ft and the median distance 2.0 miles.
14 of the 16 are point-to-point routes; the rest are loop (2).
How this list is ranked
Rating = the square root of 2 x elevation gain (ft) x distance (miles), the gain-and-distance formula Shenandoah National Park publishes for its own trails. Bands: under 50 easiest, 50 to 100 moderate, 100 to 150 moderately strenuous, 150 to 200 strenuous, 200 and over very strenuous.
This list: band easiest (under 50), 1 to 6 miles, no more than 500 ft of gain, ordered by rating asc, miles asc, capped at 25. The rating column is computed from the miles and gain printed in the same row, the numbers each trail page uses, so every row can be checked from the row itself. The rating says nothing about exposure, scrambling, altitude or conditions.
Only trails with a full page count, so "Pennsylvania" here means the 62 trails in Pennsylvania in our dataset, not every trail in Pennsylvania.
Each trail page shows the full elevation profile behind these numbers and the same data drawn as a topographic print, made to order. Start with Hickory Run Trail.
Easiest hikes elsewhere.
The same ranking for other states in our dataset.