What Is Switchbacks Hiking?

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Last Updated on March 2, 2025 by Paul Clayton

What Is Switchbacks Hiking?

Have you ever wondered what hiking switchbacks are? Well, these are pretty important segments of a hiking trail. While it may seem that they allow you to cover rough terrain, they serve a much more important purpose.

Key Takeaways:

• • Definition & Purpose: Switchbacks are zigzag trails designed to help hikers ascend steep terrain more gradually. They are also used in roads and railroads to reduce construction challenges.
  • Erosion Prevention: The primary reason for switchbacks in hiking is to prevent soil erosion by slowing water runoff and preserving vegetation.
  • Trail Etiquette: Cutting through switchbacks accelerates erosion and damages the environment, making trails unsafe and unsustainable.
  • Hiking Strategy: Preparing for switchbacks requires endurance training, steady pacing, hydration, and trekking poles.
  • Resource Management: The keys to successfully navigating switchbacks are keeping a light backpack, taking strategic breaks, and staying hydrated.
  • Leave No Trace Principles: Staying on marked trails, minimizing waste, and respecting wildlife help maintain the integrity of switchback trails.

Let’s discover why switchbacks are important and why you should care about them.

The term switchback is used in fields other than hiking, but it has the same meaning – a switchback is a zigzag trail that goes up a steep hill or mountain. Switchbacks are commonly used when building roads and railroad tracks.

The rationale behind using switchbacks in road or railroad buildings is to minimize the need for tunnels and heavy earthworks. In other words, switchbacks cut construction costs.

You could argue that hiking switchbacks follow the same rationale as road or railroad switchbacks. However, there is one more important reason for the wide application of switchbacks on hiking trails.

Why Are Switchbacks Important?

The purpose of switchbacks is to protect the earth from excessive erosion. Trails straight up a slope allow water to move down faster than through zigzag trails. This sooner or later hollows out the trail, as well as washes vegetation and soil down the hill

A straight trail would eventually become unusable and even dangerous due to erosion. Switchbacks are used to address this issue. Not only that, but switchbacks are often complemented by rolling dips that allow water to be conveyed off the trail.

Can You Cut Through Switchbacks?

Now, switchbacks help preserve the environment, but they also make climbing the hill much longer. So, can you cut through switchbacks to reach the top of the hill faster?

Well, you can, but you really shouldn’t. The reason for this is erosion. Cutting through a switchback will kill the vegetation and promote soil loosening. And while you may think that only a few people do cut through switchbacks and that the damage can’t be too severe, things aren’t as simple.

This will be true in the beginning. However, the damage will become more pronounced in the long term as more people cut straight through a switchback. Eventually, the entire trail may become unusable due to soil erosion.

So please follow trail etiquette and do not cut straight through a switchback.

Next, you should realize that you are making the ascent more difficult by attempting to cut through a switchback. Switchbacks allow you to go uphill more easily – you won’t have to deal with the dramatic slope straight up the hill.

And while the distance will surely be longer, it will be easier for you to cover the entire switchback than to try and challenge the incline. Not only that, but the risk of falling off the trail is much lower due to the lower incline of switchback trails.

A switchback is a shortcut by itself, and by cutting through a switchback, you are defeating its purpose and making things more difficult for yourself. And if this wasn’t enough, you are also harming the environment, as described above.

Click here to read what cross-country hiking is.

How to Prepare for a Switchback

Even though switchbacks allow you to cut down the effort while ascending a hill, they remain quite challenging. Switchbacks can be quite long, and they still have some slope. And as you probably know, it’s one thing to cover relatively level terrain and completely another to go up even not-too-inclined hills.

Compare going up the stairs and walking on a flat surface like a level street. Needless to say, going up the stairs is much more strenuous.

Speaking of stairs, it’s one of the best exercises you could do to prepare yourself for conquering your first switchback. Training on stairs may be a little over-the-top, but once you can jump two steps at a time without significant fatigue, you can be sure that switchbacks won’t be able to defeat you.

Another tip is to try to build endurance on other, simpler trails. While your first switchback ascent will undoubtedly be challenging, building your way up to 15-20 miles a day on a more level trail will make things much easier for yourself.

Tips on Conquering Switchbacks

Now, we want to give you a few tips on conquering switchbacks easily.

The tips below apply to hiking in general. However, when it comes to challenging trail segments like switchbacks, you must be more careful and conscious about your resource management.

No matter where you are, you must adapt your pace to the segment you are currently experiencing.

With that said, let’s move on to our 5 tips on conquering switchbacks.

Click here to read about the best time to hike Mount Washington

Keep a Steady Pace

First, you should keep a steady pace. This tip applies to hiking no matter where you are, and switchbacks are no exception.

Furthermore, as you step on a switchback, you must be more careful about your speed.

We suggest slowing down your pace when you step on a switchback. As with hiking in general, if you put all your effort into the early stages, you will get exhausted and won’t be able to continue the journey at the same pace later.

You need to conserve energy to cover the entire switchback without struggling and pushing yourself to the limit. Besides, you should avoid giving it all to the switchback if there is still plenty of the trail left. You want to conserve your energy not only for the switchback but also for whatever awaits you next.

By the way, if you know at the beginning of the journey that there will be a switchback along the trail, be a little more careful with your energy expenditure since you’ll need it sooner or later when going uphill.

Stay hydrated

Again, you want to stay hydrated throughout the entire hiking trip. But while ascending a switchback, you may need more water than on easier trail segments.

No one can tell you how much you should increase your water intake when dealing with switchbacks. You may not even need to do so if you feel well. Overall, we suggest that you drink water when you feel the need for it.

By the way, you may want to take a little more water with you if you will be hiking on a trail with one or more switchbacks. The same applies to snacks. The more difficult the terrain, the more food and water you should take.

Make Use of Trekking Poles

If you haven’t been using trekking poles, it’s the right time to give them a shot at a switchback. Trekking poles can be insanely helpful in hiking, especially when covering rough terrain.

Make sure to pick adjustable trekking poles—you will want to shorten them to account for the incline. You can also go up the hill with fixed-length trekking poles, but the ascent will be less comfortable.

Avoid Sitting On Your Breaks

When taking breaks on your way up the switchback, avoid sitting. It will take less time for your heart rate to go back to normal if you sit.

Rest only enough to catch your breath. You don’t want to get cold during your break, as picking your pace back up will be more difficult.

Minimize Your Backpack Weight

This is another universal tip that applies no matter where you hike. However, being efficient about your backpack weight is more important when the trail has difficult sections.

Well, the best bet is having less stuff in your backpack, right? It’s easier said than done.

On one hand, you will want to have a little more food and water when dealing with switchbacks; on the other, you want your backpack to be lighter.

The situation is a bit weird. You must make some compromises if you want to minimize the weight of your backpack.

If you can remove unnecessary items to make your backpack lighter, go ahead. Make sure to keep all your essentials in your backpack, though, because lowering the weight of your backpack at the cost of necessary items isn’t worth it.

If you can’t lower the weight of your backpack, at least try to keep it around the same mark. Again, you can remove unnecessary items to do so.

But what if there’s nothing to get rid of in your backpack?

In this case, you have no other option than to take a heavier backpack. You shouldn’t leave out necessary items or cut your food short to meet some weight milestones.

You must be a little more conscious about resource management if you have a heavy backpack. For example, you may need to slow down your pace so you don’t get exhausted quickly. Remember that doing so will reduce the distance you’ll be able to cover.

If slowing down isn’t an option, you must work on your endurance before the trip to the challenging trail. As mentioned above, you can build up your endurance on easier trails.

The Seven Leave No Trace Principles

Since switchbacks are intended to preserve the environment, we think it’s worth discussing hiking etiquette, particularly the seven Leave No Trace principles.

These principles promote minimizing our impact on the environment when we hike. The seven principles aren’t important merely because they promote environmental friendliness—they are also important because you don’t want to encourage others to violate the etiquette.

If people see you cutting straight through the trail, they will likely follow you. Besides, seeing an obvious shortcut through the trail will be very inviting to hikers. By sticking to the seven Leave No Trace rules, you can keep the environment as it is and discourage others from breaking hiking etiquette.

The seven Leave No Trace rules are as follows.

Plan and Prepare

The first rule states that you must be conscious of when to plan your trip. This rule promotes smaller parties and hiking on less busy days to help preserve the environment. Finally, the first Leave No Traces rule advises you to pack properly to manage waste.

Travel and Camp on Durable Surfaces

The second tip is closely tied to the issue of switchbacks. Overall, this rule promotes traveling on durable surfaces that are safe and not damaging to the environment. Staying on trails is the best bet since they have been adapted specifically for hiking.

This rule also suggests wearing the lightest footwear possible to avoid leaving deep treads in the soil and tearing up the trail.

Dispose of Waste Properly

This one is pretty self-explanatory. Disposing of waste in proper areas is important in the context of switchbacks since polluting the area outside switchbacks will encourage others to do the same.

Leave What You Find

This rule doesn’t apply to switchbacks, but it’s important to follow it. Don’t take home souvenirs and leave everything in its place—you will thus reduce your footprint and allow others to enjoy nature.

Minimize the Impact of Fires

Again, the sixth tip doesn’t apply to switchbacks, but you should do everything possible to reduce your footprint and keep things natural when building campfires.

Respect Wildlife

And finally, respect wildlife. In the context of switchbacks, remember that your laziness to cover a switchback may (and probably will) end badly in the long term. Don’t cut through switchbacks, and encourage others to follow your example.

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