As someone who loves the mountains and has a deep fascination with history, I often find myself wondering on the trail: have people always hiked for enjoyment? To get at this, I turned to a more fundamental question: who built the trails in the first place? A few conversations with local mountain folk, along with some digging online, revealed the answer: most trails were originally laid down by shepherds guiding their flocks, or by soldiers during the world wars. In other words, these paths were carved out of necessity for survival, not leisure.
In fact, recreational hiking is a relatively recent phenomenon, emerging largely from 18th- and 19th-century European cultural shifts, particularly among the white, educated elite. This origin story not only explains why hiking trails were once the domain of shepherds and pilgrims but also sheds light on the persistent racial disparities in who participates in outdoor activities like hiking in the United States today.
Let's unpack the history, bust some myths about ancient adventurers, and look at the data and stories that highlight hiking's uneven distribution.
The Pre-Hiking Era: Trails for Necessity, Not Leisure
Before the late 18th century, the idea of wandering into the wilderness purely for enjoyment would have seemed absurd to most people. Trails existed, sure - but they were practical paths used by shepherds herding livestock, hunters tracking game, traders transporting goods, or pilgrims on religious journeys. Nature wasn't romanticized; it was often seen as dangerous, untamed, and something to conquer or avoid. In Europe, for instance, mountains like the Alps were viewed as "hideous" and foreboding until the Enlightenment era began to shift perceptions.
One notable early exception is Francesco Petrarca's (Petrarch) ascent of Mont Ventoux in 1336. In his famous letter, the Italian poet describes climbing the peak motivated simply by the desire to see the view. This account is frequently hailed as a precursor to modern hiking, though it remained an outlier in a time when such pursuits were rare and not yet culturally widespread.
Take the ancient Greeks as a prime example. Mount Olympus, the fabled home of the gods, towered in their imagination. But did they actually scale its slopes to see who was up there? Not at all. If they had, they would have quickly discovered that Zeus wasn’t lounging on a cloud-top throne, and their whole religion might have collapsed centuries early. In fact, no one is recorded as having stood on the summit until 1913, when Swiss climber Daniel Baud-Bovy, along with Greek guide Christos Kakkalos, made the first documented ascent.
Similarly, across ancient civilizations from Rome to China, walking long distances was tied to survival, warfare, or devotion, not leisure. This practical use of trails persisted for centuries. It wasn't until the Romantic Movement in the late 18th century that attitudes changed dramatically.
The European Invention of Mountaineering and Hiking
The turning point came with the Romantic era, when poets, artists, and philosophers like William Wordsworth and Jean-Jacques Rousseau began glorifying nature as a source of inspiration and spiritual renewal. This shift in perception directly fueled the birth of modern mountaineering and hiking as formalized sports.
The first mountaineering expedition generally recognized by modern standards is the 1786 ascent of Mont Blanc by Jacques Balmat and Dr. Michel-Gabriel Paccard. However, the term can also apply to the 1492 ascent of Mont Aiguille by Antoine de Ville and his companions, which was the first technically difficult climb to be officially verified, making it a pioneering feat of mountaineering history. The subsequent exploration of the Alps, including the first female ascent of Mont Blanc by Maria Paradis in 1808, cemented these activities as European pursuits.
Parallel to mountaineering, the structured leisure activity of hiking took root. In the 1770s-1790s, German writers and intellectuals popularized "Wanderlust" - the urge to roam for aesthetic pleasure - sparking a trend among the bourgeoisie. The word "hiking" itself emerged around this time.
In France, figures like Claude-François Denecourt created marked trails in the Fontainebleau Forest in the 1830s, essentially inventing the concept of guided hikes for the public. Across the Atlantic, this European influence hit the U.S. in the mid-19th century with transcendentalists like Henry David Thoreau. Hiking clubs popped up, trails were formalized, and by the late 1800s, activities like mountain climbing and backpacking became symbols of rugged individualism - often tied to white, middle-class ideals.
Remarkably, despite Sherpas living in close proximity to Mount Everest and possessing genetic adaptations for high-altitude environments, they did not summit the peak until British-organized expeditions culminated in the first confirmed ascent in 1953, when Edmund Hillary and Sherpa Tenzing Norgay succeeded after several earlier unsuccessful attempts.
Members of the 1953 British Mount Everest expedition, the first confirmed team to reach the summit. New Zealander Edmund Hillary and Nepali-Indian Tenzing Norgay achieved the summit on May 29, 1953.
Hiking in the U.S. Today: Stark Racial Disparities
Fast-forward to the present, and hiking's origins continue to echo in participation rates. While outdoor recreation has boomed, it's far from inclusive. According to the Outdoor Industry Association's 2022 report, overall outdoor participation rates vary significantly by race and ethnicity.
But when we zoom in on hiking specifically, the gaps widen. On long-distance trails like the Appalachian Trail (AT), surveys show overwhelming whiteness: 94-96% of thru-hikers identify as white, with African Americans at less than 1%, Hispanics at 2%, and Asians at 1-1.4%. National park visitation tells a similar story.
Could Culture - or Genes - Play a Hidden Role?
Despite the clearly documented under-representation of minorities in hiking and outdoor recreation, the reasons frequently cited - socioeconomic barriers, historical discrimination, or cultural exclusion - may not tell the whole story. Plenty of research shows that people of color are less likely to visit national parks and trails, often citing practical obstacles like distance, cost, and a lack of welcoming cultural narratives.
Yet, one could argue these disparities also reflect deeply rooted cultural preferences - or, yes, even biological moderators interacting with modern environments. The "subcultural values" hypothesis suggests that different groups may simply have different recreational values, passed down through generations.
What’s more, the marked emergence of hiking as a leisure pursuit only in the 18th–19th centuries - even among privileged Europeans - it’s not a universal human urge. If love of the outdoors were innate, we’d expect it to manifest more widely and consistently across cultures and eras.
Perhaps certain genetic predispositions - toward novelty-seeking, “love of nature” - interact with industrialized environments where nature is divorced from daily life. In that context, those predispositions might translate into hiking, climbing, or trail-running. But without cultural reinforcement - stories, representation, early exposure—the spark simply never ignites.
So yes: it might be partly genetic - but only in the sense that some traits find expression when the environment and culture support them. In the absence of those conditions, the genotype remains silent.
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