Hiking is a rhythmic activity. It’s about putting one foot forward and then the next and repeating the step again and again. To keep up this rhythmic pattern, hiking songs can be an excellent way. After all, music plays a pivotal role in all of my adventures. In long-distance hiking, music has always massively combatted boredom for me.
In addition, by choosing the best hiking songs, you can boost your mood during the journey and keep yourself entertained. It also takes your mind off the mountain steep that is deemed to be difficult. There are services like Apple Music or Spotify that provide a unique list of playlists created by other people who are involved in similar activities.
Still, I prefer creating my own hiking playlist to avoid any distractions. Since music can elevate your mood, I select the music carefully especially for hiking, trekking, or backpacking. Keep on reading to discover my favorite hiking songs so far.
15 Favorite Hiking Songs
I’ll be sharing my favorite hiking songs that you can include in your playlist and listen to on the go to keep yourself motivated, and entertained throughout the journey.
The list of my favorite hiking songs include:
- Green River
- Won’t Back Down
- Born to Be Wild
- Ain’t no Mountain High Enough
- Paradise
- Lose Yourself
- The Nights
- Society
- Scar Tissue
- Free Bird
- Fortunate Son
- Shadow on the Sun
- A Sky Full of Stars
- The Woods
- Take Me Home, Country Roads
What Do People Like to Listen to When They Hike?
The choice of music always depends on individuals. However, there are similarities in the type of music everyone listens to who are involved in similar activities. Therefore, the hiking songs have to be of a specific type to help you rejuvenate and motivate yourself. It’s always better to listen to both slow and fast music while hiking on the trails.
If you keep listening to slow music, it may end up sounding too depressed for you especially when you’re hiking solo. Alternatively, if you always listen to fast music, it won’t help you to soothe and rejuvenate yourself which is the primary purpose of hiking. Furthermore, I hope you enjoy listening to the list of my favorite hiking songs so far.
Should You Listen to Music While Hiking?
It’s backed by studies that music helps you to become more focused and determined on a given task. Since it releases dopamine, a chemical that assists in keeping up your mood, goal-oriented behavior, and motivation, listening to music can significantly help you to regulate your mood throughout the journey.
Nevertheless, the music should be wisely picked. If you pick any songs that stimulate your negative memories of the past, it could be a massive distraction while you’re hiking. Therefore, I listen to songs that keep me focused and motivated while I’m hiking in the mountains. There are a few reasons to listen to music while you’re hiking.
The reasons that I figured for listening to music while hiking is:
Motivation
The thought of getting up early in the morning or at midnight and going hiking can be daunting. However, if you start a good playlist after pulling yourself out of the bed, you won’t hesitate to become determined with your activity. Besides, walking upon the difficult trails and sweating involves a lot of physical effort.
Sometimes, your mind will trick you to give up easily and take a rest. Nonetheless, if you listen to good music, it will prevent your mind from thinking lethargically. Instead, it will boost you to keep going and motivate you to keep up the pace. This is the primary reason why I prefer listening to music while on the go.
Pace Regulation
It’s important to decrease or increase the intensity at different points of the mountain while hiking. Hence, I create my hiking playlist by combining both slow and fast music to help me regulate my pace. Playing fast songs while hiking briskly helps to stay motivated and finish off the task quickly.
Alternatively, when you’re resting in the woods with picturesque scenery surrounding you, then listening to slow and reverb music can help you rejuvenate yourself. You can also switch between both slow and fast songs to keep your pace up during the entire journey.
Performance Tracking
Performance tracking is crucial while hiking. You should know the number of hours or minutes you have walked, the distance covered, and many more. The majority of these tasks are done with hiking apps. Still listening to the music and tracking your performance through this is a fun way.
You can create a playlist of 30 minutes or one hour and keep a track of your hiking while listening to the music. This way you can focus on the trails instead of focusing on the numbers and live data of the apps.
These are the few reasons behind listening to music while hiking. Personally, music helps me in all of my wild adventures including hiking.
