Summer has arrived and, with the sunny days, the desire to get back on the trails arises. Hiking, recognized as the French’s favorite physical activity, has never been so popular. According to the latest study on walking practices, published in January by the French Hiking Federation (FFRandonnée), 62% of French people have undertaken at least one hike (a walking route completed in more than four hours, according to the federation’s definition) during the twelve months of 2025, or nearly 30 million people. A jump of 10% and 3 million practitioners compared to 2021.
If walking is particularly popular today, its history tells something else. The first hikers were first “despised and rejected by mountaineers, but also by the proponents of sport walking which developed spectacularly at the end of the 19th centurye century”traces Antoine de Baecque, historian and film critic, in his essay A history of walkingpublished in 2016 by Editions Perrin. The work recalls that practitioners began to trace, mark and maintain paths in the 1830s, particularly in the forest of Fontainebleau (Seine-et-Marne).
For Grégory Quin, historian and teacher-researcher at the Institute of Sports Sciences at the University of Lausanne (Switzerland), one of the significant milestones of modern hiking in the West remains the publication of Reveries of the solitary walkerby Jean-Jacques Rousseau, in 1782. “From then on, it appears that walking can have a benefit for the soul”he reports. However, we will have to wait until the second half of the 19th century.e century for this activity to be recognized as a sporting practice.
“To hike, you need to have free timecontinues Grégory Quin. The progressive liberation of working time for the benefit of leisure initially benefited the bourgeois classes. In the 20the century, the practice is becoming more widespread, particularly around the great Alpine massifs.” The rise of a first version soft mountaineering then accompanies the development of mountain tourism.
Since Covid-19, we have been walking more and more
More recently, the Covid-19 pandemic has given the discipline a real boost. In its 2022 national barometer of sports practices, the National Institute of Youth and Popular Education (Injep) noted an increase in regular sports practice, largely driven by walking and hiking. 58% of women reported hiking at least once a week (+7 points in four years), as did 62% of men (compared to 57% in 2018).
A dynamic also observed by researchers. “In the summer of 2020, health restrictions led many vacationers to favor domestic destinationssupports Grégory Quin. The Alpine arc then experienced an unprecedented influx of visitors, particularly young adults who until then found the mountains a little boring.”
“Since 2021, we have observed a marked interest in homelessness. Longe-Côte is also gaining ground.”
Laura, a 30-year-old lawyer based in Strasbourg (Bas-Rhin), has experienced this. As a child, she “underwent” Sunday walks. During the summer of 2020, she experienced a real breakthrough after spending a stay mixing “camping and hiking” in Switzerland. “Since then, I started to enjoy hikingshe says. I now practice trail running. The sporting aspect immediately appealed to me.”
Like Laura, many walkers are turning to trail running, this type of running practiced in the great outdoors, often in the mountains and on steep terrain. A study published in December 2025 by the Kantar Media group illustrates this enthusiasm: a little more than 2.6 million French people now devote themselves to this discipline, 38% of whom assiduously.
Homelessness appeals to Generation Z
The French Hiking Federation also notes this appetite for trail running, but highlights other developments, starting with roaming (i.e. walking several days in a row). “Since 2021, we have observed a marked interest in homelessness. Particularly among young people, who aspire to cut and disconnect”underlines Frédéric Montoya, president of the FFRandonnée.
More than half of 18-24 year olds have already experienced this form of immersive hiking. The economic argument certainly plays a role: with vacation budgets often constrained, combining walking and camping allows you to limit expenses – provided you appreciate the hazards of life in the great outdoors.
Others prefer to combine walking and water activities. “Longe-Côte is gaining ground”confirms Frédéric Montoya. This discipline consists of hiking in the ocean, sea or lake, with a water height above the navel. For a decade, there has been a sports version in competition. Organized at the beginning of June in La Baule (Loire-Atlantique), the eleventh French longe-côte championship brought together more than 500 athletes and, for the first time, 107 middle school students who came to learn this still little-known practice.
A diversification of routes
Gradually, another reality came to disrupt practices. The days of long expeditions with backpacks that weigh almost half our weight seem to be a thing of the past. “People want to walk differentlyspecifies Frédéric Montoya. The idea of doing 30 kilometers with 30 kilos on your back hardly interests anyone anymore.” Like other players, the FFRandonnée has diversified its offer, by developing routes combining walking with the discovery of a vineyard, a territory or its local players.
“Barefoot, we feel a sensation of calm, of direct contact with nature. It allows you to become one with the ground.”
More discreet, certain alternative practices are also on the rise. In France, barefoot hiking is becoming more and more popular, “for about five years”observes Clément Menetrier, manager of La Forêt des Vert’tiges, a forest leisure park located north of Pau (Pyrénées-Atlantiques) which offers a one-kilometer sensory trail. “I took up this concept because no barefoot walking trail existed near my home”he explains.
According to Clément Menetrier, walking without shoes allows you to reconnect with the very essence of walking: “Barefoot, we feel a sensation of calm, of direct contact with nature. It allows you to become one with the ground.” According to several studies, this practice can help improve foot strength and gait, while promoting muscle development. For Clément Menetrier, it is above all a matter of rediscovering “pleasant and a little less pleasant sensations”by placing the sole of the foot on clay, straw, pebbles, charcoal or even bark. With more than 6,000 visitors per year, the path to La Forêt des Vert’tiges mainly attracts families and, at the end of the school year, many classes on educational outings.
The “undeniable” impact of digital
Hiking has not escaped the digitalization of society. According to figures from the federation, 47% of practitioners now use a dedicated application, compared to 33% in 2021. A figure which rises to 69% among the youngest. Digital platforms are spreading: AllTrails, Strava, Visorando, OutdoorActive, Komoot and, more recently, MaRando, the application launched by FFRandonnée in 2022. “Our strength lies in the quality of the routes offered, which are maintained, secure and signposted. More than 9,500 volunteers maintain some 228,000 kilometers of trails.assures President Frédéric Montoya.
Social networks also act as a powerful vector of diffusion. The publication of the documentary Kaizenin which YouTuber Inoxtag recounts his ascent of Everest, has pushed many young people towards hiking, as detailed in an article in Le Monde in September 2025.
On TikTok, the #hiking tag has nearly nine million publications. “It is undeniable that digital tools have contributed to further popularizing hiking”underlines the president of the FFRandonnée. He cites in particular the participation of influencer Florian Fiquet (@flo_climatrek, nearly 150,000 subscribers on Instagram) in a marking operation in Hérault. “A publication viewed more than 700,000 times, which illustrates the ability of content creators to reach a large audience”he summarizes.
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The historian Grégory Quin evokes a “Tower of Pisa effect”: the desire to take the perfect shot, popularized by social networks, has extended to certain mountain landscapes. “Above Lake Geneva, between Aigle and Montreux (in Switzerland, editor’s note)a point of view widely relayed online has, for example, experienced an excessive number of neo-hikers, between 2020 and 2022”he observes. Visitors who came above all to immortalize their passage.
Benefits for body and mind
While practices evolve, the benefits of walking have spanned the centuries. Frédéric Montoya describes physical activity “beneficial for well-being, where we take the time to create social bonds” and can be “conducive to meditation”. The rise of the logic of performance has, however, transformed the relationship with hiking. Many practitioners are now looking “to surpass oneself and improve”points out Grégory Quin. With positive effects on the body and mind.
Laura can testify, trail running has changed her daily life, from her diet to recovery, including her alcohol consumption. But hiking mainly brings him “lots of serenity” and allows him to “get away from the rush of the city”.
An almost philosophical dimension also claimed by the sociologist David Le Breton. In a column published in July 2022 by the media Reporterre, the professor emeritus of the University of Strasbourg indicated that he saw in the march an invitation to slow down within a society that is ever more connected and galvanized by urgency and the immediate: “Anachronistic in the world of speed, utility, output, efficiency, walking is an act of civic resistance favoring slowness, availability, conversation, curiosity, friendship, gratuity, generosity, so many values opposed to the neoliberal demands which now condition our lives.”
