Trails & Inspiration

Instagram Hiking Report UK

It seems hiking has undergone a change of image, with a recent story from The Telegraph looking at how the outdoor pursuit has now become ′peak chic′. The interest in hiking in the UK has increased year on year over the last five years (according to Google Trends) and our latest hiking report of the millennial generation looks at how 18-30 year olds in the UK are embracing the activity.

One of the key places to look to when hunting down new trends and the causes behind them is Instagram, and certainly American celebrities such as Kendall Jenner, Gigi Hadid, Vanessa Hudgens and Reese Witherspoon sharing their amazing photos from their hikes has inspired the UK population.

Over the last three years there have been 677K mentions of hiking in UK Instagram posts and we've analysed the locations of these posts in order to report which routes and trails across Britain are proving the most popular on social media.

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MOST MENTIONED COUNTRIES FOR HIKING IN THE UK

Scotland takes first place as the most frequently mentioned country in the UK for a hike on Instagram:

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MOST MENTIONED COUNTIES FOR HIKING IN THE UK

The South West counties take prime position for hiking mentions on Instagram, thanks to their heady mix of coastal routes and wild moor trails:

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MOST MENTIONED ROUTES FOR HIKES IN THE UK

Snowdonia came out as the most talked-about hiking area with 20,418 mentions on Instagram, followed by the Lake District (6,051 mentions) and then the Peak District (4,536). However, we took a deeper dive into the specific trails that appeared within these areas, and the rest of the UK, to determine the most popular hiking routes on Instagram:

MOST MENTIONED ROUTES FOR HIKES IN THE UK

The analysis showed a surprising amount of city locations mentioned in relation to hiking and walks in the UK. With hiking capturing the attention of millennials, the concept of an urban hike is gathering momentum, and the following cities were revealed as the most popular places for an urban hiking adventure:

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Source: Brandwatch data analysis of 677K Instagram posts dating August 2015 to early September 2018 from the UK.

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