this post was submitted on 20 Jul 2026
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I don't hike, but my experience with regular walking directions is that Google is regularly wrong…because it overestimates how long a trip will take.
Its directions for driving and public transport (at least where it has cooperation of the local public transport agency, as it does where I live) are excellent.
Cycling directions are the only one where I'd say a normal person's experience is likely to be a bad one, with it regularly taking you on dangerous busy roads rather than nearby quieter streets or bike paths.
So I don't find it particularly surprising at all that someone who isn't a regular hiker would make the mistake of relying on it.
It keeps sending people up my driveway to a place that doesn't exist. Labels my neighbour's driveway as a road too.
Walking speed is very subjective though. Realistically, hikers never agree on time it takes, and a lot of it comes down more to experience with your speed. In my case, I'm actually probably stronger than many people going uphill.. But, downhill, my feet start to hurt and I get slow quickly.
Gravity walking is the missing link, lift your foot and let gravity pull it down. You'll be going down almost running and it takes barely any energy.
It's best in places without other humans, as you're basically a locomotive and it takes time to slow down
I suspect that Google doesn't account for anything. If I had to guess, I'd say it assumes a certain pace as the normal walking pace, and leaves it at that. Elevation, traffic lights, fatigue, and any other factors that might affect it be damned. So its time estimations for a hiking route are going to be a lot worse than its regular walking estimations. And all that's before you account for, as you say, individual differences.
And best of all, it's based on an American average